Rest the brain, rest the body. Running will have to wait a few more days.
Sunny and hot followed by dark and violent. The day is just oppressive as hell until it suddenly isn’t. The Earth is surely trying to tell us something. Spinning wildly and throwing storms all over its surface. Tossing more limbs into my world anyway. Luckily most of the big ones are gone now. The winds are going to have to try a bit harder and go for a whole tree, although I’d appreciate it if they all just stayed where they belong. Anyway, this was after our walk in the woods. Temp dropped about 25 degrees, wind picked up, sky went dark and kind of green, and the rain poured down. Sideways, actually. It was bizarre. But it was fast. The camera didn’t even really capture how menacing the sky looked. The auto focus kept lightening up the pictures. I don’t have the right equipment for the really threatening storms. I can only catch my views from under a shelter. It was nice after though. Humid still, but cooler. Just getting us ready for yesterday.
The thing we learned from this last week of rainfall is that our gutters are crap. They are full of so much junk that water can’t even collect in them, it just pours over the top and makes a nice waterfall around the perimeter of the house. And I had steel, mesh guards over the tops. They were being slowly destroyed, one by one, due to the basketball hoop in the driveway. Seems the roof and gutters are easier to hit with the basketball then the net. The house and garage looked like they were missing teeth.
Thanks to another day of heat and boredom, we decided to take all the guards down and clean the gutters, finally. Should have done it about five storms ago, but it’s such a pain and I can’t reach them without a ladder, and isn’t that really a man’s job?? It is.
Before I get a nasty comment here, let me just clarify that by “we”, I mean, the BF. He, and he alone, did the actual gutter cleaning. Climbing up and down, hands in the muck, removing the soggy, stinky, rotting leaves and whatever the hell else sits in there and blocks the drainage. He even had to dismantle one of the downspouts to get it unclogged. But they do all flow so nicely now. So thank you. I do appreciate all the hard work you do. And we didn’t spend any money! That’s a good weekend project right?!? Now I can hardly wait for the next rainfall!
I did do some stuff to help. I did accessory things, like move the garbage can closer and hand him the hose to flush out the small debris. I think I even moved a ladder at one point. Don’t judge. I am sick. I can’t breathe remember? Besides, I also pulled my dead daffodil and wildflower plants out. I raked the dirt and fixed the border so we can put something prettier there. What I like to call my “wildflower” area in front of the house, most everybody else calls weeds. Things grow in that spot so well, that they just look weedy.
At any rate, we accomplished a lot and the front of the house doesn’t look like like derelicts live there anymore. It’s plain, but we can add some pizzazz next weekend. That’s when we’ll spend some money. Timbers, rocks, flowers…I have pics of all the “before’s” and I’ll get the “after’s”. You know I will. And hopefully, I seem to be getting a little more consistent posting lately, so hold onto your hats people, it’s going to be a crazy summer! I guess it’s not as exciting as some things, but this site is free and you can feel better about your house by comparing it to mine!
I need to get some “going out in public” clothes on before my kids get here. My son has another doctor appointment today to make sure he’s cured and can participate in the last two weeks of “school”. Which is basically field trips every day. He’s going to Springfield tomorrow. It’s the whole history-Constitution-Land of Lincoln thing. Very exciting. Hopefully he’ll take good pics and you can see it too!
I’ve got a few other ideas to spice up this site and get it flowing faster. More pictures, less words. Here’s a few small teasers: “Benches. 2011.” “Stevie Shadows.” “Target Summer Fun.” “Nerf Guns.” “Stink Bug.” Oh yeah. It will be as thrilling as it sounds. Until later.
5 and 6
After 2 nights of barely breathing I think I’ve recovered. At least good enough to go back to school. Boo. Seriously, whatever my son had, has transferred itself fully to me now. My chest was tight and burning and I was struggling for those deep breaths. I feel like an old lady, propped up on a stack of pillows because I can’t lay flat, trying to sleep. The worst appears to be over now. I loved having that one-week break of school just to stay home with my son every day and then get sick anyway! And now I have to go back tomorrow. Boo and boo. I shouldn’t even complain. I need to study. I have been really avoiding any type of school and I need to focus. Only a few more weeks now and then I can rest the brain.
Anyhow, at last post, my daughter and I did go for the walk in the woods. It was lovely, hot and humid. Very still and pressing. But my chest didn’t feel so bad. It’s really more bothersome with the back and forth from heat to cold, like with air conditioning. But it’s staying on now, even if it’s just to keep the peace. And anyway, we are about to be steamed in a three day, 90+ degree pot of boiling summer fun, so I’ll just keep it on.
Here is a pic of my daughter, on a rock, amid the trees and mosquitos:
Hope your Memorial Day was a good one! It’s officially summer now by the holiday calendar!
Despite all the gloom and doom I was posting about for the last few days, the weather took another drastic turn and became sunny and warm! We really do get it all here in the Midwest!
By 4 or 5 pm Sunday night, all the clouds cleared, the sun came out, and the temps started rising. By Monday morning, holy cow!, nothing but sun and 90 degrees. Everyone gets pneumonia!! It’s the motto of “summer” here in Chicago.
At any rate, my kids were back and forth all weekend too. They were in Michigan, and everything here just trots its way right up to the North and East, at a slow enough rate to give me mini-heart attacks all day and night. And I wasn’t even with them! I can only watch it on the radar. Their dad assured me they were fine. Minimal tornadic activity. Dad and his brother were able to tarp the area and manual hold it until the winds died down. Just standing in the rain making sure no one blows away. Now that’s camping! And that’s why I choose to city-camp. It’s where you pick someplace with an ocean or a lake, and things to do, like fishing, museums, zoo’s, parks, etc, but, it also has a place to go inside. Like a hotel or a cabin even. You get the outdoors but you don’t have to sleep there! You can go in a structure. with a bathroom. That’s all. It’s still camping. You still have to pack stuff. Anyway, we all have our own things!
Of course with that nice weather comes beach time. So both kids are a little sunburned, and my son has a chest cold, but it just wouldn’t be the start of summer without those kinds of memories! Today is going to be hot, then rainy for a brief hour or so, then back to hot. As usual I am unpopular in my household because I refuse to turn the air conditioning on. Sorry, but I am against using the air when it’s not really hot yet. It’s still fake hot, ’cause it goes back and forth, and I hate opening and closing the windows. I like to save the air for July. Then everyone will really thank me AND appreciate it. Now it’s just indulgent. Besides, it’s windy outside, and some of it gets in the house! Free breezes! Spoiled!
Alright, let me go pretend to study a bit and check e-mail and I’ll be back to post some fluff and get this site back to it’s usual silliness for the summer.
Looks like Vegas may not be where I wake up tomorrow
Not for $2000 per person. Just for the airplane. How can that even be the right price?!?
Anyway…In my vodka haze I must have misread the channel guide. 2½ Men was done at 7 pm. But hey! Role Models! And I’m recording Turistas. I think I remember hearing that it was scary, so that should be good in a few hours after more of the vodka soaks in.
For now, here’s a picture of my Pocket Poker game. I have been playing it non-stop throughout my school year but never with the big wins like I had last summer. Well guess what?
That’s right. I hit the Royal Flush. Again. It’s not quite as satisfying since I was at, like, ZERO points, but I still got 5000 for it! Now I’m trying to hit it again to beat my all time high score. What? Did you say you needed a picture to remind you of what that was? Great! I have one!
That’s 7130. Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard right? But it is. And so addicting to someone like me with OCD tendencies. It’s prob good we aren’t going to Vegas after all. Having credit cards with no balance and a high limit is just too easy. But, oh man, the sun, the pool, the casino’s…I love playing poker all night and laying by the pool all day. With drinks. In that hot, desert sun and those cool air conditioned hotels. Torture. I need to stop. The drinks are totally kicking in and I would pay any amount and hop on a plane right now, with those awesome airline mini-alcohol bottles, flight in the night, with the lights of Las Vegas shining in the distance as we approach McCarran International ….man I could be in Vegas in 5 hours! License first. Vacation later.
Have a great night wherever you are!
Now why does this seem so familiar?
Another long weekend is upon us. Memorial Day! (Take a vodka soaked minute to honor and think about all our soldiers please, past and present, and currently serving to protect our right to drink too much and act stupid all weekend. Thank you.)
Anyway…long weekend, kids are gone (camping with their dad), no school, nothing to study, it’s getting dark, kind of cool outside, the BF is trying to find us a cheap flight to Vegas, we’re watching 2½ Men on TV, drinking martini’s and playing my favorite game–we drink when Charlie drinks–, and I’m posting about it!
It’s like the best kind of déjà vu! Here’s the difference:
Swords! For the olives. They add a fun touch and they were the only kind of sticks available at the store. Rainbow colored!
Also, we are watching 2½ Men on TV, but….
We do own the last season on DVD. We watched it already though. Three discs. Three straight nights in a row. I probably shouldn’t let the kids watch it, but most of the jokes go right over the heads and my son looks just like Jake…really, and they think it’s pretty funny for what they do get. So I have a soft spot for the show. But I don’t want to get off the subject or start over thinking about my kids because then I’ll miss them and that really kills the buzz. But anyway, luckily, FX Network is playing the show tonight until 8 pm, so I can be pretty blotto-ed by then! (They’re also running a marathon on Monday, but sitting around all day watching that would be lame right…?)
Alright, well it seems that my glass is empty and this episode is almost over so I gotta go make another one and get ready for the next hour. Later.
just shy of pretty 