Bench of the Day!
So the fourth is over, but summer is really just beginning for some people! This is a bench encouraging you to go take a vacation! As a bonus we get to use motorcycles, cars, trains or planes! Much faster! Mostly safer.
Some of these benches have designs on the back too. This is one of them! If you get the chance, go take a walk and see them for yourself. Later!
I want a refund!
One hundred degrees of blistering sunshine and heat stroke have been replaced by 70 degrees of overcast and drizzle. NOT that I am complaining. Too much.
My air conditioner is OFF. Money saved.
BF is at work. Rode his bike there because it’s so nice and dry today. Hmmm. I guess rain-riding experience is necessary. Still…
My kids are gone. They went to the beach. Again, because it was supposed to be nice and hot. They may or may not be in tornado conditions along the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana. I don’t know. It’s probably not a good thing when you have to rely on Facebook for the status of your children. BUT, I do trust who they are with and it is just threat of rain right now. Apparently the super heat wave that rolled in down from the north last night and caused us all that trouble, swooped up all the hotness and carried it away to the east somewhere. Cause it sure ain’t here.
I, on the other hand, had many plans for this day of hot and alone. I did get up early. Check. I did shower, shave, hygiene, blah blah blah. Check. I did pay one bill. Check. I did do one load of laundry. Check. And this is where the happy story ends. I am at an impasse. I need to study, but I want to drink. I need to balance the checking account, but I want to drink. I need to finish the laundry, but…you get the idea. Just a little. Not drunk. Just for…fun? Because it is July 1, it’s Friday, and I have, truly, nothing to do today? I don’t need to drive anywhere. I wouldn’t anyway. And it’s not even hot! And that makes it all the better! Now I won’t get overly sweaty or tipsy too fast! Plus, I can still do that other stuff while drinking.
Then it’s settled. I am inviting my friend Jack over and we are going to BS thru the afternoon. Thank you sounding board/inner conscious/internet. However, I better get on that check book thing first. Numbers tend to go all loopy after a few hours of the sippy juice. Later.
When it rains it pours
Not literally. The weather is so last Thursday. I mean that I had a bunch of stuff lined up and ready to go and a bunch of other crap happened that disrupted my nothing. I can’t even keep up with the weather anymore. It’s like Florida here every day now. Rain in the morning. Sunshine. Threat of rain in the afternoon, maybe a sprinkle or wind or dark, ominous clouding, then sun again. Humid too. It’s annoying. Throw in unexpected driving trips, long distances and sketchy computer-looking eyes late at night and you have the perfect storm of nothing but boring rainfall posts.
On the good side, the minute I mention I am waiting, and content to wait for, a test date, the e-mails start to appear. People are beginning to plan their futures! But not me. Still no word. Eligibility pending. So I still wait. I’m not the only one so I won’t jump on the panic wagon yet. My plan is now for the first week of August. Kids will be on their annual vacation with their dad so that’s what I am aiming for. I should be done and over by the time they get back. Jobbed and registered for the next degree. Wishful thinking.
Anyway, we made a new goal to aim for, so this already boring and monotonous site may become even more deserted and bland. Stevie wants to do a 34 day exercise/food/burn the fat/wear a bikini to Indiana Beach/crazy workout/summer slim down. And I think that’s a pretty good idea. (34 days is starting tomorrow and ending July 31.) What the hell right? We could all stand to lose a few. We’re making it official and everything with a weigh in and promises of special sandals and new swimsuits. My kids are kinda strange sometimes. The first week is always the hardest right? Especially when you have issues like, love of food, love of the couch, love of xbox and air conditioning, and a still broken foot.
Oh yeah. It’s going to be GOOD!! Do you wanna hear about it every day? This is my plan for the summer. (I mean, besides scheduling the nclex, studying for the nclex, taking the nclex, passing the nclex (probably the KEY part of the whole plan), then getting a job, taking more classes, and eventually moving to a house that actually has enough rooms for all of us). There is no 5-Mile to aim for this year and no other races that I will be entering. Can’t take the pressure.
So follow us here. Leave a comment. Leave two or three…hell…you can join us if you want. Get up tomorrow. Weigh yourself and start exercising! Post here and let us know what you are doing to eat better, workout harder, burn more calories. (I could really use some ideas to get a boy up and out of the house who would really rather not. And make it FUN!) We don’t need specifics. We don’t care what you weigh exactly, just tell us what you lost! Or what you gained! Strength, agility, speed, a tan! Let me know! You inspire me and I will try my very hardest to inspire you!
Now, I have to go meet my BF for one last bit of the crazy, then I’ll post on the progress and all the other random stuff in between. Up and out. Sky is clear. Looks like no rain for tonight. Ha…had to get in one more little weather bit. Have a great night wherever you are!
FYI–that’s a pic of my morning life as reflected in the grill. See, no kidding. RAN–DUM(B).
Since it’s raining again…
It’s a good reason for me to post these pictures that I have from the last few rainstorms. This is not near my house. This is by my sissy’s. She gets the better rain. The kind that floods more streets and fills up low places. We get it too, but not so severe. And anyway, I happened to have my camera that day.
Except for a few little things to do today, band practice and bowling, I think I will try and work on this site. I should be studying for my most important test, but I guess the paperwork is a bit messed up and it may take longer to get a date, so I have a few days/weeks (??) of extra studying I’ll be able to get in later. Procrastination is a bitch. It gets me every time. But I work well under pressure so we will see.
Sleep Pic of the Day! 2-For-1 Special, Official Summer Kick-Off!
My daughter didn’t know she would be featured in her very own daily picture post! This is at the ungodly hour of 7 am. Straight legged, looking kind of stiff but snoring ever so slightly, hands over her head. I remember reading a long time ago, when I was fresh mom, that when babies, or kids, sleep with their arms thrown up over their head like that, they are in the most relaxing sleep they can be in. It’s a sign of their pure comfort. No inner baby stress, I guess. I always thought that was a nice thing for new moms to know. You can be assured that you ARE NOT doing a completely crap job if your kid can lay like he/she has no cares in the world, even if it is for a short time, and even though they really don’t have any cares in the world, except food/sleep/poo. Hmm. Actually, I know alot of people like that….but anyway…. even if ALL the babies in the world sleep like that just because they do, it’s still a plus in the parent department.
Here’s a pic after I woke her up at 8 am. I know, I am a MONSTER! She managed to make it all the way to the couch. At least she was out of her bed. That’s half the battle.
Summer. All official like.
June 21. Longest day of the year and looking like it’s going to be gorgeous here in the Midwest/Chicago area. They say rain, but I don’t see it. Makes me want to get outside and run run run. Bruising on the foot has shifted to a mostly central location and my toes don’t hurt that bad.
Time to get up and get out. Band and bowling. Benches and bugs. Birds and Bruises. I could probably keep going, but you get the idea. I have alot of “B” stuff on here. How strange, but I think we’re going to do an outdoor theme. Better get on it, it’s going to be a long day.
Time to Drive
Gotta get these kids up and out of the house. Doctors and dentists. Fun summer vacation so far. But, I like to get all their appointments out of the way in the first week of break, that way they don’t have anything hanging over their heads for the whole summer. Just late nights playing video games and later mornings sleeping it off. They’re like mini-addicts. Perfect for a slacker mom like me that needs to get things done without their input and while they are crashed out. It’s the best way to have kids. Quiet and in the other room! They’ll thank me when they are older.
Well it’s not real original but…
YOWZA!! That’s HOT! 101.3 degrees F at 2PM on 6/7, here in the ChicagoLand area. That’s pretty high for us. In June. ZERO to 100, that’s how we roll out here. Wednesday was a little cooler (only got to 98 so no one cares too much about that) but today—Thursday, it’s back down to 65. And it’s storming again. Raining and flooding. The usual. I have to go to school now, so I’ll be outside breathing in all of that good pneumonia atmosphere. My chest is NEVER going to feel better.
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:
just shy of pretty 
