Tgif!

 I didn't feel like it but I took B down to the lake first thing this morning - turned out to be an awesome way to start the day! Its so humid that a walk or run is awful but out on the lake watching the sunrise? Perfect

Now back to business.

DH is still irritable from the remnants of man-flu and he has to go to the dermatologist today - ever since he had a melanoma he goes every 3-4 months and he's fairly stressed each time. All the other visits have been fine but that doesn't stop him from obsessing. I am not the best support system for him because I think its silly to stress each time, especially when there are people - like my SIL who are dealing with their second round of chemo! 

So got that off my chest!

Julie summer is so hot we tend to take our breaks in May and then in the Fall. Do keep me in the loop re WV as I would love to say hi!

That's it. It's July and its hot and humid and storms may break out at any moment = normal July weather. At least the sun shines 

I went to grab a pair of boots from the garage last night and they were all mildewed :( I've got fans running in the garage and moth balls but the 2.5 months of non-stop rain have taken their toll. 

Good Morning all.  I am sooooo looking forward to the storms tomorrow and the cooler air that's going to follow.  I have never done well with hot and humid as everyone knows, and this extended hot and humid is brutal.  We had a storm late yesterday afternoon/early evening.  Moved in really fast with very strong winds, a bit of hail and just extremely hard rain.  10 minutes later it was gone.  But, it must have dropped the temp at least 15 degrees so I appreciated that.  Can't wait for the longer term solution that's headed our way Saturday!

Vacation?  Gee Julie, that's a tempting thot!  I really need to get to MI to spend some time with my Mom, but taking time off just isn't going to happen any time soon.  Right now, and until my staff is a bit more seasoned, I'm the main support of the newspaper.  We had about 8 pages of ads in this weeks paper....all but 1/2 page were mine.  But, the excellent news is that our resident PITA is gone!  So nice to have a sales meeting without having to listen to someone gripe and complain about absolutely everything.......our meetings are relaxed and pleasant now!

Karen, prayers have been going out for your brother and SIL.  What a terrible strain they are both under now.

Off to survive the last really brutally hot day for a bit!  Hope everyone has a good one.

Jewlieee

What's everyone else doing for vacations this year?

I misread the clock this morning and thought it was 6 and got up and then realized it was only 5. No wonder Shane was so sleepy looking. Oh well, I have a lot to do today. I turned the water down in the pool last night so I wouldn't worry about it overflowing and now it still has about a foot to go. Geesh!

My MIL dropped by a bunch of peaches and nectarines last night. I wish I was a pie baker but maybe I'll make a crumble instead. Any other suggestions on what to do with them? I've sliced them up and frozen them before, so maybe I'll do that again.

Karen - I loved that picture of the lake you posted on FB. So glad you had a nice start to the day. It's supposed to be 100ish today and for the next few days. Hoping they get a handle on the fire threatening the Palm Springs area.

I have to admit that it is nice to be back here, hearing about everyone's days. It is very connecting for someone who has been self isolated for some time.

Work is work - I'm on call to a huge trucking company to assist them in programming their on board computers. It seems that there is a lot going on this weekend so I am officially working, from home, with a four year old. Please, wish me luck.

I have no business complaining about work when I haven't worked in so long. Even though I was busy with an international adoption and then staying home and going through the adjustment with kiddo I didn't go to a job each day. It's a very different pace and I also have to do kiddo stuff now. It's been a hard adjustment and my paycheck really just pays for daycare/preschool.

For anyone outside the USA, please realize that daycare runs over $200 a week and for our kiddo, we pay $300 a week because we needed a place that wouldn't blink an eye at his special needs.

I think I'm just tired today.

Off to get more coffee.....

Sarah, it's great that you are back on here!

Vacation? What's that?

TGIF is right.

 Julie - I heard on the radio news this morning that the UP is experiencing some serious horrific winds and that some big tractor/trailer had gotten "blown over" on a bridge of some sort?? What kind of havoc would that wreck on everyone.  I hope it's nowhere near you!!!

Vacation? oh yes please!!  After my little 2 1/2 month trip to Mr. Wheelchair, I so want to do something fun. As it happened because I had to ride in/out with David, my actual time off from work was only a bit more than a week, so I actually DO have (dare I say it??) shhhhhhhh 'vacation time'.  Me being me -- I told David for my birthday I want to go over to Clearwater (overnight would be nice) and go to the Marine Acquarium and see "Winter" the dolphin with the prosthetic tail.  This place only deals in rehabbed animals -- it's not like SeaWorld which just takes healthy animals and imprisons them (oops - personal rant).  All the animals at this facility can't go back into the wild for some reason.

But gosh I'd love to just "go" somewhere.  

VanMorrison

I have to admit that it is nice to be back here

It's nice to 'see' you -- I don't do FB much so I'm loving seeing you around.  

Cathy -- If I discovered that I was up an hour early I'd be back snoring so fast .... sleep is a precious thing LOL

Karen -- if I believed in reincarnation I would hope like heck that next time A) I'd be an incredibly zoomie dog, & B) That I'd be yours!!  Wow that sounds fun (both A and B)

Cathy, I love making fruit salad when I've got really good fresh fruit.  I always make too much though and we have to eat it three times a day. :) 

Sarah, I too am happy to see you back here even though I've kept up with you and your big adventures on FB.  You were one of the first people here on the forum who reached out to me and made me feel welcome. 

We don't usually take the typical two week vacation.  Too expensive and with multiple dogs, that adds to the expense.  We generally take an extra day off and do some three day weekends but even that has been rare lately.  I'm a homebody for the most part and really like just puttering around the house. 

Lots to do so I guess I should get with it.

Karen, DH had golf on at 5 this morning.  lol 

VanMorrison

I have to admit that it is nice to be back here, hearing about everyone's days. It is very connecting for someone who has been self isolated for some time.

This will be the 1st vacation we'll have taken in 4 or 5 yrs. When we had Sassy and Buffy, it was hard to find someone who could manage them both. Shane should be easier but we've spoiled him and he's so rarely alone that we worry about someone who just came and went if they stayed here. We're going to board him with HB and Jody (the owner) will keep him at her house and spoil him like crazy. My best friend is flying out in mid-August but we'll mostly just do stuff around here. Neither of us has extra $$ right now. I did buy us tickets to go see the play Chicago, so that should be fun.

Fruit salad sounds like a great idea. I don't have any other fruit but I can pick some up. Anyone have a good and easy cobbler recipe?

Yeah, they got an 80 mph wind gust across the straights of Mackinac which blew over a semi-truck going across the mackinac bridge. I bet that scared the living daylights out of that driver. If he had gone over the railing, that is death for sure. No living through a drop like

Poopie work and logistics, like having a USA passport for Little Man instead of his original (less than a year old) passport, are getting in the way. The cool thing is that all three of us in the family have passports from different countries. We even have a picture to prove it! LOL

The other part is that we normally stay with my Dad but his place is definitely NOT four year old friendly. Sigh

 Julie - kinda makes my little drive in "no big deal".  A few years ago a wreck happened on a bridge/overpass over the St. Johns River -- lady's car went over the side of the overpass (typical bumper-type fencing in front of a 4' concrete wall ... and literally the whole car hung by ONE wheel and ultimately the whole shebang was held by ONE bolt.  She wasn't even over water -- it was the part of the overpass that went over another road at the edge of the river.

She had the presence of mind to use her cell phone and she just speed dialed her husband and said "I'm hanging by one wheel over the St. Johns -- call 911 for me would you??  I literally can't move my hand any further or I'll probably fall."

 And she MADE IT.  Those sorts of stories, Julie, are those that made ME get a cell phone LOL  Thanks for the picture!  Wow. lucky guy

Wednesday DS #1 came over with the little peanut (almot 3) and after they left I noticed a huge triangular shaped rip in the screen on the sliding door.  At first I thought maybe Max had done it, but figured if doggy toenails had hit it the tear would have been jagged. They came back on Thursday and Aly went over to the rip and very proudly announced "I ripped this for you."  When I asked her why she ripped it, she said "to make it pretty for you."  Can't argue with the decorator.  Hopefully one of the boys will be able to replace the screen.

Cathy, from earlier in the week on the discussion of getting tune ups on the heater/ac unit: a lot of heater/ac places now have this set up where they deduct about $11 a month from your checking account and that takes care of a complete tune up and cleaning twice a year - once in the fall and once in the spring.  It's pretty painless to do it that way and if something is falling apart, they catch it before the unit conks out on you. I figure if it's going to die, it will do it either during a freeze or during a heat wave. They'll just call you twice a year to set up an appt.

Joyce

Wow, that's crazy. I guess the bridge is closed? Didn't someone get blown off there in a Yugo several years ago?

 Whew, made it through 2 weeks worth of company...meals and all!  Playing catch-up today with laundry and stuff.

I'm a bit worried about my 90 yr Mom in  MA with this heat.  It is supposed to hit 98 today.  She has a window AC unit, but refuses to put it in the house, saying it's too hard to go from room to room changing temperatures.  My brother set the unit up in the garage, and she goes out there occasionally to cool down.  She has always been stubborn about AC, preferring to leave windows open and run a couple ceiling fans.  Guess there is not much anyone can do to convince her otherwise...sigh.

Vacations with dogs...lol!  I put Buffy in a boarding kennel for 5 days, while I went to FL to see my daughter and family.  She didn't eat for almost 3 days until they bought her some Bubba Burgers (got my permission first).  That puts a damper on thoughts of me going to MA in Sept .