On my mind...

On my mind
For Today...
June 17, 2010


Outside my window...It's not quite 8am and it's already 80 degrees.  Supposedly, yesterday was the hottest day of the year and today it's supposed to cool down by five whopping degrees to a high of 95, but it's also supposed to be more humid than it was yesterday, so what's the point?!

I've promised the kids (Julia and my niece and nephew) that I would take them out for a morning swim in the little pool that we've put up in the backyard.  They wanted to swim last night, but the water was literally hotter than the air.  It would NOT have been pleasant. 

I am thinking...  that I only have 10 minutes tops to finish this post before I have to make good on this promise.  I can hear the girls milling around in their bedroom, putting on their bathing suits first thing.  :)


I am thankful for..all of this time that we have spent with my sister and her kids.  It's been a fun couple of weeks and I'm sad that they are leaving on Sunday.  But we'll spend another couple of weeks together in August when we go do our family vacation in Maine!  Yay!!!  Can't wait. 

I'm wearing...yeah, yeah... I know that in my last "on my mind" post I said something about getting all dressed up just so I would have something new to put here, but it's 8am and I'm still in my PJ's.  If you want to know details... I'm wearing a light turquoise blue yoga pant and a fuschia tank top, bare feet and messy hair.  And I'm going outside with the kids looking like this too!

I am remembering...what it is to have another adult in the house.  It's nice to have someone to talk to and to bounce ideas off of.  My sister is filling that role right now, but I only have a couple of weeks to wait until I get my husband back and he can be my sounding board.  (Among many other things.)

I am creating...well... I'm working on a series of photos for "Picture Summer."   They send me photo prompts via e-mail for me to work on each day.  I'm not posting them right now, but plan to do some sort of mosaic and post it all at the end of July. 

I am going...to have to finish this post later... the kids just ran through with their bathing suits on and they are in the pool!
Well... that didn't last long.  The pool felt weird, the water tasted weird and the air smelled weird, according to the girls.  "So go in the house." I said.

I am reading...Home in Carolina by Sherryl Woods.  I'm only 30 pages into it, but so far it's good.  I just finished Chill Factor by Sandra Brown.  That book turned out much better than I thought it would.  I'm just glad that I've finally got my reading groove back and am enjoying some summer reading.

Song that is playing over and over in my head...Night Swimming by REM.  That song has been stuck in my head since we let the kids swim with glow sticks on the 4th of July.  Good thing I like that song, or I might have gone crazy by now, singing the same song for five days!



I am still hoping...that we find good tenants to fill our house in Washington State for the next year.  I'm also hoping that the heat and humidity give us a little break.  Is that too much to ask in July, in DC?
Yeah... I thought maybe. 

Noticing that... I really like REM. 

From the kitchen...at some point today, I will be making french toast.  Probably for lunch since everyone is working on a breakfast of cereal and toast.  French toast is a big deal around here.  The kids LOVE it.  I'm pretty good at it, if I say so myself. 
Funny story... When I was 12ish,  I made french toast for my aunt.  I was so pleased with myself, making breakfast for my aunt and uncle.  My aunt watched as I picked out the spices and gently questioned my choice of paprika, but I cheerily claimed that "my mother always uses this in her french toast."  Wonderful aunt that she is, she just nodded and let me proceed.  Fortunately, the paprika didn't have much flavor and I didn't use enough to make a difference, so the toast turned out okay after all.  Now that I know better, I'm amazed that she let me go through with it. 

Around the house...things are good.  The air conditioner has been on overtime this week. The "formal" living room has been turned into a club room (the girls on one side, the boys on the other) complete with decorations. 

To catch up on old news around the house... the mice still haven't returned and the washer has been fixed free of charge by Whirlpool.   Thank you very much!

One of my favorite things...oh, I have so many favorites this week.   BBQ food, teens that cook, cute nieces and nephews, fireworks, good books, and shopping with my sister.

 A few plans for the rest of the week... fabric shopping with Leslie, buying a new battery charger for my camera (I can't find the other one and my batteries are dead and I NEED to take pictures!), keeping little ones entertained, then, sadly, saying goodbye to my sister on Sunday.

A picture I would like to share...

The dogbane beetle that my nephew carried around for a good portion of yesterday morning.