Yum...

I may have lost all my squash and pumpkins, but we finally had enough green beans for a side dish tonight. They didn't need a thing, I just steamed them and the rest of the family was lucky I didn't just eat them all with my fingers before dinner. Maybe I'll have to grow more next year. And get rid of the squash bugs before they kill everything, little punks.

Musings...

These are pictures of the kids on their first day of school. I know, the one of the Girl is terrible - I was in a hurry, and just took it with the sun in her face. The Boy is in high school - crazy. I asked him how he likes it so far, and he said he liked it better than middle school. I asked him what was better, and he responded, "the teachers aren't all up in our business."

He has "business" now?

The past two days have been good. I only have 3 days left at ACS, so the girls from the office took me out for lunch at Montgomery Inn (yum) and many laughs were had. Last night we had soccer practice, and one of the moms ordered pizza and we hung out after practice. The girls played more soccer and bonded, and the parents got to know each other a little better. Then I went to another friend's for a bonfire, some beer, and more chatting. Awesome day.

Today the Girl had a soccer game. They lost, 3-2, but they did so well. And my Girl did not let the ball pass her when she was playing defense - she rocked! I was very proud. The afternoon included haircuts, lunch, and a short nap before the Boy's baseball game. They lost. Really horribly. But one of the kids admitted to being 18, and several of the kids drove themselves. It is so odd that we're playing kids with facial hair now. I'm telling you, I am not old enough.

My eyes are feeling burny, now, and my mind is beginning to blank. Probably time for bed. Good night.

This morning...

I woke up to rain this morning. I love a rainy Sunday.

I drank my coffee on the back porch with the smells and sounds of rain.

Nobody else was awake.

It was a peaceful and lovely way to start the day.

The Very Busy Family

I was off work today. My children start back to school in less than a week; I would have liked to have spent the day hanging out with them - maybe a little cleaning, a little reading, and then out to play some disc golf or ride bikes. Instead, we:
- spent the morning at the pediatrician's office. Both kids had physicals, and they couldn't get them in at the same time, so we had 45 minutes after the Boy's appointment.
- off to the bike shop to get a new chain.
- I promised them I'd take them to lunch. We went to Mai Thai, in Florence, for our favorite Thai food. The place was packed, so that was another 90 minutes down.
- Grocery store. I dropped Buggy's insulin bottle last night and it broke, so we had to get another bottle of insulin. Of course our vet is a pain, and won't prescribe any refills, so we have to get the store to call the vet's office, who then has to check with the vet, and when he finally gets around to it...plus I had to pick up the food for our Girl Scout campout tomorrow night. 1 hour down.
- Drop the groceries and the Girl at home, the Boy gets changed for his golf match, and we rush to the high school to pick up schedules and pay fees (many fees.)
- Haul rear out to Covington for the Boy's golf match. Ran errands and came home to deal with dinner and making my sit-upon sample for Brownies tomorrow night. Back out to pick up the Boy, grab some food on our way home.

Ok, you may not have signed on here to get a look at my day - this chaos is only to illustrate how I've let this summer get away from me. We spent so little of it just chilling out together, and very little of it outside. Of course, a part of that was the heat - it was really freaking hot this summer, but still, I feel like I'm letting the few precious childhood years I have left with them get away from us. The Boy is already 14 and talking about having a job next summer!

Part of this is brought on, I think, by my most recent blog-crush, Beauty that Moves:
http://beautythatmoves.typepad.com/beauty_that_moves/
Her Unplugged Sundays are really inspiring to me, and I would like to try and convince my family to try something like that. At least for an afternoon, once a month maybe? Far be it for me to suggest we turn off college football for an entire Saturday, or whatever, but we should be able to disconnect from the technology and spend an afternoon together hiking or swimming, or something.

Maybe my head will stop hurting then. 'Cuz it really does right now.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. Maybe I'll climb in with the Girl for a snuggle. 'Cuz I still can.

I love Fridays

http://fridayfillins.blogspot.com/ a blog that posts a fun new meme each Friday.

And...here we go!

1. How can I...write this blog when I can't seem to get the editing properties to work?

2. My front beds are full of ... weed(s)...but it's just going to have to wait. I've done my yard work for the day.

3. My hair ... needs trimmed and a good coloring. Soon, my pretties.

4. The mosquitoes had a ... reunion ... on my legs Monday night. They are covered in bites.

5. My favorite summer fruits ... are all of them. I love plums, peaches, berries of all kinds...yum, I'm drooling.

6. Something small just flew by my face ...what was that?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to ... a good long snuggle with the girl (and trying not to scratch), tomorrow my plans include ... a serious cleaning (and trying not to scratch)... and Sunday, I want to ... sleep! I need it. I'll try not to scratch.

Have a great weekend!

Thank*full on a Tuesday

I've had a rough last two days. Nothing that really needs to be shared, but my confidence took a good shaking and I needed to stop and reevaluate some priorities. So, to try and lift my own spirits, I'm writing a Thank*full Thursday on Tuesday. Focusing on that for which we are grateful is a sure mood-booster. And maybe it will give a little grin to someone else who needs a boost. So this happy Tuesday, I am thankful for:

1. Our first harvest of the year. I'll post pics when I upload them, but we have 3 green beans and 6! cucumbers.

2. A very yummy dinner. The crazy heat wave is still a-wavin', so I made a Mediterranian salad for dinner - tomatoes, cucumbers (from our garden!), red onion, Romaine, chickpeas, feta, and kalamata olives with a red wine vinegrette. Very refreshing and tasty.

3. Pinterest. Oh yes. I have become addicted. It's like shopping without buying!

4. A good feeling after an interview for an interesting job. I don't know if I got the job, but I felt like I had some good answers, and the position is very interesting - something I would like to do.

5. Some decent, fun people to work with. I'm going to miss them when this job is over (finally got an end date - my last day is August 31.)

6. (oh yeah, 6 - I'm feeling thankful tonight.) The next two days off. Love my coworkers, love sleeping in and being with my kids. Days off are winning.

7. McDonald's vanilla cones. Need I say more?

Feeling a little better. Off to play on Pinterest. Have a splendid night.