My knight in shining scrubs

I was mowing the grass when the hubbie came home last week but he had the difficult job. I asked him if he was interested in rescuing a damsel in distress. When he looked slightly befuddled, I explained that we had a dragon in our garage.

He responded simply, "another one?"

OK--so they don't breathe fire and they are not technically dragons but they take up a whole glue trap!

I will admit that this creature was in much more need of rescuing than I was but I know there is no way to actually remove him (or her) from the glue trap. After debating whether to leave him to squirm in the garage until he'd made it to greener pastures--flowing with ants and grasshoppers--or just put him out of his misery, I was happy to just let the hubbie take care of it. Always on the lookout for maidens needing assistance, he sweetly took care of the problem without sharing the details.

This time we did not put a new glue trap down. (While they are ostensibly rodent traps, we use them to catch bugs wandering under the garage door. I don't have nearly as much guilt about the pill bugs that get stuck. )

Construction fun!

The city came out Thursday to tear up our street and pour some new concrete.


The kids were thrilled and even took a few photos themselves:

Summer days driftin' away

I should put a disclaimer on my blog that during the summer, I will offer more weekly posts than daily posts!

It was great to have my sister, brother-in-law and their kids here last week! While we always enjoy our visits "home" to Florida and love seeing everyone there, we do see everyone there! It was nice to have a little one-on-one time with one of my sisters and her family. My kids had a blast!

Upon completion of kindergarten, my niece learned a song with words put to the tune of "Summer Nights" from Grease. It was extremely cute but the song has been running through my head for a week now!

Father's Day was relaxing. After Mass, we drove the hubbie out-of-town to a community theater production of CATS. While it was a bit too long for C, everyone seemed to enjoy it and we found a new Italian restaurant afterwards so it was quite a success!

The hubbie has another interview this weekend and this time we will go, too! It is in Kansas City, so it is not too far but we enjoy playing in the "big city" once in a while!

N and C had their first official swimming lesson yesterday. (We have been swimming but I thought some "formal" instruction could not hurt--especially as C just put his face entirely under water this summer.) However, the thunder is roaring this morning and the rain is falling so we may be staying in this morning.

I hope you are enjoying your summer, whether or not it includes any type of vacation!

Monday morning update

Birthday parties (both N's and friends') were fun and we've been spending time at the local pool.

Hubbie returned from another interview on Friday evening. He really likes both practices that he's interviewed with so far (still a few more to go) but it looks like these are at the top of the list. Both have their advantages so it may come down to a preference in climate---one is in Indiana and the other in Texas. We will accompany him on the next two trips--Kansas City (not far) and Arkansas--so I'll keep you updated!

Our houseguests completed their nest. We can't see but are sure that eggs are inside now--one bird remains close by at all times and they're much more protective of our front porch! I'll post the pic of the nest soon and will let you know when the little ones arrive! (C is already having trouble waiting. He was checking on the nest each morning when he got up but this morning asked if I could check the nest and just tell him if I could see baby birds.)

We have human guests arriving soon, too! My sister and her family are due to arrive this evening so my posts may remain infrequent for a few more days!

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

This is for the birds

There was a construction delay!

While I suspect I might have given up -- or at least stopped for lunch-- the bird who was standing on the nest when it collapsed flew off and returned a moment later with a new branch. In the meantime, the partner flew up, looked around for a second but added another branch and they kept working. I did not hear a chirp or squawk that could have been interpreted as "what did you do?", "I just put that piece there!" or even "I told you that mud was too soft!"

They just kept taking turns, quietly rebuilding the nest.

Nesting

No -- not me -- our fine feathered friends!

We had a bird family in the corner of our porch two years ago. Once the babies learned to fly and the entire family took off, a man-made storm (hubbie with the hose on jet-stream) took out their home. Though I suspect they flew by last year, they did not take up residence.

This past weekend, they began building a new nest. These photos were taken yesterday.

Summer vacation

As you may have suspected--noting the infrequent posts--the kids are home.

We celebrated the last day of Vacation Bible School and N's birthday with a sleepover party last night. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, while I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, I am capable of learning. After surviving last year's party -- the one I called "the more the merrier/what's one more girl?" debaucle -- N was allowed to invite only four girls. Of those invited, only two could attend. This was the first of her sleepovers that the hubbie was home for and was the easiest one so far. While he takes full credit--suggesting that we all behaved better knowing the master was home--it did alleviate the stress level considerably knowing that there was another adult around.

Tomorrow is N's actual birthday so I may do something ridiculous like make the 45-minute drive to Chuck E. Cheese's or something along those lines and then we'll settle in for our summer! Poor C loved his graduation but now is so ready for kindergarten, he just can't believe that he has more "vacation" to get through! I'm sure he'll manage ~ we have cousins coming to visit, swim lessons to attend and even a trip or two with hubbie while he's interviewing.

For my relatives looking for dates here when we will be visiting--you won't find them. We will visit but I have not managed to plan that far ahead yet. It will not be June. I will keep you posted!

Thank You

Do you act your age?

You Are 35 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Catholic guilt?

I was exhausted after traveling with the kids all afternoon yesterday and yet still stayed up for an hour or two after they went to bed. I watched Jay Leno interview Julia Stiles who was promoting her new movie. She talked about her character who feels guilty that she has no love for her son: the Devil.

This interview came to mind this afternoon when my daughter, who was tired, hot and cranky, hit her brother on the arm because his new toothbrush was on the conveyor belt ahead of hers at the supermarket. When he wailed (it was quite dramatic as he, too, was tired, hot and cranky) she smiled with pure pleasure.

As siblings will, she alternated between torturing him and playing with him once we got home. Once everyone was settled in bed, she called me back up to give me a hug. She said she was "sorry for today" and is now praying her rosary!

I don't know whether to be proud that she has remorse or worry that she is just lulling me into a false sense of security before launching a new plan of attack tomorrow.

Then I left and now I'm back!

Without a coherent post but I wanted to say hello before everyone quits visiting altogether!

C was sick with a fever for several days last week and recovered just in time for us to head out-of-town on Friday! We visited one city that my hubbie is interviewing in before heading on to South Bend for his graduation on Sunday. It was chilly for the outdoor graduation but worth it to see the hubbie graduate (with honors!) from Notre Dame! He can now add M.B.A. to all the other letters that follow his name! He is still in Indiana but the kids and I returned last night.

Both kids had separate "field days" today so we are all light pink and very tired but we have lotion and at least they are already in bed!

I am very, very behind in my bloghopping but hope to catch up this week. (It is the last week of school for the kids and I'm certain that they have more activities in the last two weeks of school than the rest of the year!) So it may take me a few days to catch up but I will!

I'm still here...

Physically, anyway! I don't know where the past week has gone!

Mother's Day was relaxing. C got sick and is just now really recovering. A fever from Sunday through Tuesday night with no other symptoms! (Of course, we broke the fever with Motrin every six hours. If nothing else, that kid is consistent! (Or Motrin is!) The bottle says dosages should last 6-8 hours but with C, you can tell when six hours is up without a clock!

Otherwise, I did get some time alone to read upstairs (wrote a little and snuck a nap in too!) and I got a small digital camera! I've borrowed hubbie's from time to time but it's a few years old now and much larger than the cute little cameras I see moms bringing to school functions. It's almost like lugging the video camera and I have no idea what most of the functions on that thing are. Now I have one! All I asked for was for everyone to leave or duct tape for children's mouths! I did not get those but they behaved most of the day and now I can easily take photos of the little angels to share!

I've just got to figure out how to share now! Another little book to read...

Did you save room for dessert?

When you've finished reading that book on your nightstand and are wondering what to open next, you'll want to try a few pages of this.

Honestly, I haven't finished it yet. I'm three-quarters of the way through but savoring every page. This book is like a whole cheesecake. I could not possibly eat the whole thing at once; it is very rich; I enjoy a little at a time but it is so good!

When I finally finish the entire book, I'll give you a more complete report. In the meantime, as you look through the menu of books available, I highly recommend this one! And you won't just find it on the dessert page; it can be a light snack or a hearty entree, too!

As an appetizer: Feiler's humor is a great place to start! Even when you start to feel tired and dusty with him in the dessert, he'll say something to make you laugh!

Nutritious salads: Along with gaining a great appreciation for the locales of the Middle East, Feiler introduces you to some fascinating people.

Entrees:
*all entrees are served with a nutritious salad, a soup of ancient history and a reminder of manna.
Comfort foods: Adam and Eve, Noah and Moses are all here. They haven't changed but you might look at them in a new way.
Nouvelle cuisine: Feiler gets into some heavy topics and personal growth but finishes them off with a light sauce of common sense and a garnish of humor.
Milk and Honey: Walking through ancient cities in modern times, Feiler offers a new perspective on some of the messages and history of the Pentateuch.

Dessert: Rich language and vivid descriptions of life in exotic locales. (If that isn't enough, the photo on the back cover is a treat, too!) ;)

I did not make it

I kept putting the B4B entry off this month. To write honestly about cheating would be awfully revealing and to come up with a clever way to cheat on this one was beyond me!

Then, in the shower today, only three hours after the official deadline had passed, I remembered something I could use.

I took a look and it looks like the comments are not actually closed but I can't enter it now. That would be cheating. I lied but I'm not cheating.

Hooray!

The last day of classes was yesterday;
The hubbie has earned his MBA!
His graduation is later in May!
Yay!

I'd invite you over but then I'd have to clean my house

So I blog. This way, I can sit down and "chat" without having to wash the kitchen floor.
(OK--those of you who actually do visit know I rarely do that anyway--but you get the idea).

I keep saying that I can write from home. I say I can have a load of laundry washing, pay a bill and write all at the same time. I usually do wash laundry, have a snack, pay a bill, have a snack and read blogs. Though I keep saying that I need to physically leave the house and go to a coffee shop to write, I rarely do it. So I'm usually pleased with myself when I write 300 words in a day.

Wednesday I decided to take action. I grabbed the hubbie's laptop and went to a coffee shop attached to a discount bookstore. In a little over an hour, I'd written 1,535 new words for the WIP!

This was a good idea! I had coffee, I had no internet access and I was surrounded by my favorite authors!
This was a bad idea! I had too much coffee and after a successful hour, I decided to go shop for my favorite authors.

I'm a slow learner but I can be taught. I will go back today but I'm only bringing $5.
(That might not be enough for two cups but it certainly will keep me from adding another book to the TBR pile! It should cut down on unnecessary posts, too!)

Pass it on! B4B is Live!

It's time again for Blogging for Books! I WILL get my entry in this month and I hope you all will join me!

...blog about cheating. Any old kind of cheating will do. Games, Lovers, Tests, it's all fair game until you admit in writing that you've cheated on the ever-faithful IRS....
GO!

How to play: You blog on a chosen topic. You post a link to your blog entry in the comments below this entry on Joshilyn Jackson's blog.

B4B closes next Monday when the comments close on this entry, EXACTLY seven days from the very second this posted. <----note the slight rule change. If you have no blog, you write the essay and cut and paste it (no attachments please) into an email to Ann Fitten (the Bloggess behind Edgy Mama) and ask her sweetly to host it for you.

Purple Haze II

These were my first photos, with the flash still on...
but these are what inspired the title of this and the last post.

Purple haze

There was a pretty pink sunset to go along with these but I did not capture it.
(Though I FINALLY stopped trying to take photos with the flash on and at least got something!)
I thought the hedge was lilac but after looking up the word online, it turns out lilacs look like this. That photo helped me identify what is growing in my backyard but I still don't know what my hedge is made up of! The blossoms are very fragrant, they're lavender-colored and the more we trim the hedge each summer, the more blooms we have each spring! I'll try to get a close-up of whatever these are when the sun comes back out but it's a blustery, dreary afternoon!

If only there were a magic pill

I've been overwhelmed with the idea of putting the whole book together. I know I have holes but I have so many scattered files that need to be edited and merged together. So I thought I would do a better job if I printed everything out, sorted it into piles/chapters and then started going through it.

I have killed at least one adult tree.

That may not be the only casualty.

My plan is literally spiraling out of control. The idea of neat stacks was a dream. I have parts to insert so right now, I have what looks like a white and black pinwheel on my office floor. So much for a linear progression!

While I complain, whine and stress about daily parenting issues, parenting is a different type of stress than I used to experience in college and the working world. The kind that would put my back in knots. The knots are back today! I just have not determined if the stress is over the thousands of words strewn about my floor, crying to be organized or if the pain is a result of the HALF-HOUR I had to fight with my printer to get it to start spitting out pages. That fight brought back many memories of fighting with printers, copiers and computers back when I earned a paycheck. So maybe I could finish this book with less stress if I went back to an old manual typewriter.

(As you can see, the whole project is affecting my judgement!)

It will all be fine. I will keep printing and tonight I'll have a glass of wine as I sit down with the papers and the red pen.

Or maybe I can find one of these!