Rain or Not to Rain

7-31-09

Seems to be the question of the month. Typically we see little, if any rain, by this time of our summer. This year, however, we have seen more summer rains than any other summer we have been here. Grass is green and growing happily and skies are cloudy nearly as often as they are sunny. Makes a person wee-guilty for not taking the time to truly enjoy the sunny days when at work.

School starts in just a couple weeks. I know it's cliche, but summer most certainly has gone by quick. We've been kicking along over this past month and even have most, if not all, of Javyn's back-to-school shopping done. Impressed? So am I! Both saxophones - the alto and the tenor - have even been reconditioned and picked up from the music store already. What could we be missing? I'm sure something will rear it's ugly head.

Troy's in Salina the first part of this week and will be gone to Philly for all of next. Starting a new 'tradition' and the kids will be traveling with him. Will be a great adventure for them while he's busy with his conference during the day - a great Brother-Sister bonding experience, I am sure. What will I do? Have no worries, kind souls, I have plenty of close-to-home options to choose as well as a good book and some jewelry designs I'm anxious to put together. Not to mention a tapestry body pillow cover to put together and oh-so-many-things!

Been doing more training with Zayda & Jaz. . . sure is fun to watch Zayda just literally cannonball into the lake after the launch dummy. Jaz kind of scoots himself in, paddles frantically, forgets what he's doing and scrambles back out. Not Zayda - it's dive, swim, retrieve, dash up the side, drop it at your feet and repeat. Beautiful dogs!!

Kitties are really growing and their personalities are really shining. Frazer is incredibly soft and laid back. He'll walk around and yowl if he's lonely and let you carry him around by his tail if you so choose. Just wants to be with you. Fritzie has gotten fuzzy and loves to ride on your shoulder. She purrs incredibly loud and chirps to tell you she's upset or wants something. Yes. chirps. They are both amazing!

Kids are both doing well and look toward school - Javyn as a high school freshman and Jori as a college sophomore. They've both been following their own paths and paving some new ones. Swim team came to a rather abrupt end for Javyn, but he didn't seem upset by one iota. Jori is on the perennial job hunt. . . seems she just can't get enough. Has 3 now. . . and keeps looking to improve her prospects. Best time to find a job is when you already have one. Speaking of, Javyn's enjoyed his mini-job of mowing a yard every other week - has esp. liked getting paid;-)

Troy's broken foot is healing well - another 2 weeks in 'The Boot' until the next x-ray. Must be more careful going up steps - a definite skill needed for this 3 story house! His accident was a great motivator for us to hire a fella and install some great railings on both set of steps on the front, and on both sides of the back porch steps. I'll get to painting them to match the house come fall. Watch for photos!

One thing we missed this summer is all of the lake time. With Troy's foot 'out of sorts' left us out of the boat. Hopefully he'll be done with all of that soon and fall will linger awhile so we can get some boat time in. Fingers are crossed.

What are your end of summer plans?