It's the real 31st

Yesterday when I blogged I thought it was the last day of the month but I was one day premature. Now it's the real end of the month.

Next week is also the real end of Joe's 2nd grade year and Cayna's Kindergarten. I always get a little sad and a LOT nostalgic about endings. This time is no different, but the beginnings ahead are more than a little exciting.

So bring it on, August! We're going to have a month off of school. Time to "unlearn" our old routine and get ready to welcome the new.

I got my hair cut today, and while I waited for my appointment, I read some of the January issue of Real Simple magazine, which I love (but to keep my life real simple, I do not subscribe to). As I've enjoyed doing, people made lists of things they would NOT do in the new year. I'll end with my new month list of things NOT to do in August.

I won't fret that our family won't be vacationing this month. I won't miss the opportunity to enjoy time to just be and to enjoy things closer to home.

I won't put off trying to get this article published.

I will not think about things that don't fall into the categories of true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, or praiseworthy. (I love Philippians.)

Just When I Thought It Was Safe To Go Back By the Floorboards

Another scorpion. It's been a while. Long enough that I had fooled myself into believing that they had moved on. Apparently not. Kevin squished it and flushed it and I was thankful that he found it, and not Cayna. It was her hat the sucker was hiding under.

Other news:

Tonight was night four of VBS at our church. Our parish's first ever, since we're fairly new in town and since it takes a LOT of work to pull it off. I want to show you a photo of me and three of my kids in our Cat Chat t-shirts, but I have to have the energy to download photos first. Don't let anybody tell you that there's no such thing as a Catholic VBS! Moses the talking cat is quite the catechist.

I'm working toward writing an article about homeschooling fears or a related topic and tying them together with extreme sports. Interviewed an acrobat, and now am seeking a hang glider to spend a half an hour with. Wish me luck. And pray I have the chutzpah to say no when he or she invites me to hit the sky.

We might see the light at the end of the home improvement tunnel as far as the school room is concerned. More photos of that when it's all done.

It's August Eve. Another month. More of the hottest time in Vegas. Praise God the neighbors have a pool, and we have air conditioning. The kids currently have "inclement weather schedule" where they play board games inside rather than bake their flesh on the asphalt outside. Anyone in Saskatchewan care to compare and contrast "inclement" weather?

All the haps

I've been putting a LOT of miles on my paintbrush. We finally finished painting the office/study/schoolroom from top to bottom and including the bookshelves Kevin built. Then we moved the desk into the "closet". In the last few days, we designed, Kevin built, and I painted another shelf to go over my desk. Kevin's assembling the whole thing in his 100-degree garage workshop (I suppose the swamp cooler out there makes it a few degrees cooler, but not much) and we'll put it up hopefully tonight. Other than that, we're just trying to stay out of the heat. Here are some photos of recent days:

The Love women out to dinner-



Cayna doing some painting of her own-



All the kids helped with the school room, but Bethanie was the most interested-



Other families may enjoy deeper, richer traditions - but we enjoy the yearly free Slurpees at 7-11 on 7/11-



My dedicated Dad won an award for 50 years of outstanding service as an airplane mechanic recently. (It is the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award, named for the Wright Brothers' mechanic.) It was presented in a surprise ceremony and Kevin and the kids took the day off work and school to be there. Lots of his friends were there and it was a great honor for him personally and career-wise. Here he is receiving the award from an FAA official-



Finally, Joe has become a cup-stacking enthusiast. Never knew they taught such things in P.E., didja? He's quite a champ!

Cinderella and her pet bunny

A photo of another scene compliments of Bethanie. Cinderella and her bunny-booty.

I'm guessing a Disney princess might opt for the pet carrier so as to avoid getting rabbit fur on her ball gown?

39, Baby!

It's my birthday today!

I'm excited to be 39. I have some weird sense of pride that it doesn't upset me the way it seems to upset some of my contemporaries.

As for celebrating, I had to solicit hugs from my kids, and I have laundry and errands to do. But tonight --- Irish food and some ice cream cake with my family.

My friend Kirsten gave me a card where she wrote, "have a wonderful 'go crazy before your 40s' kind of a year!" I like that. I think I will. Maybe I can come up with something crazy to do even today! (Other than laundry, of course.)

Paint!

I am obsessed with painting, because I want to get the to-be homeschool room finished. I'm taking before, during, and after shots to share later. Currently, I'm working on a bright pinkish-red shelf that goes three-fourths of the way around the room. It is a giant difficulty to paint with deep, bright, red.

As much as this occupies my mind right now, it can't be that exciting for everyone else, so I'll just finish off by listing the names of all the colors I'm using. If I ever lose my day job, I want to name paint colors for a living. These particular shades are Behr Paints. Behr is my favorite.

On the main portion of the three walls: Brown Teepee

On the built-in shelves and cubbies: Three Cheers for Pooh (gotta love their Disney line - this one is crazy red)

On the upper wall (above the high shelves): Sunporch (yellow)

And on the accent wall: Americana (blue)

There you have it. Considering the names of the colors, I might at any given time feel like I'm shacked up in a folksy teepee with a honey-loving bear sipping lemonade on the veranda. Do you think that was Behr's intention?

And, oh, as long as I'm advertising for Behr free of charge, I might as well throw in a plug for Purdy brushes (shown above) --- they are the best brushes in the world even when you're dealing with a psychedelic red.

Recipe Exchange

How did I get myself included in this?

Tonight I'm joining some women from church to exchange recipes (and the food they make) for dinner. And wine. Everyone knows I'm not a cook. I must be going for the wine.

There is a T-Rex on my piano.

It has been a day of accomplishment. In list form:

1) I ran. And didn't hate it this time. Had a lot to do with The Goo Goo Dolls, "Iris" and the lines:

And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything seems like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

Not that those words made a major contribution to my outlook, just that when I realized I was enjoying the run --- that's the song that was on.

2) I painted my toenails. This, in my life nowadays, is a feat! (Get it? A feat!!! HA HA HA HA HA!) When I can actually find the time to give myself a pedicure, it doesn't matter if the whole rest of the day goes in the crapper, I've completed something big - and something that will last for a couple weeks!

3) Did some laundry. This is not exceptional. It's as much a part of my everyday as breathing. If only it was as involuntary.

4) Grocery shopped (along with everyone else and their uncle) for fourth of July food. Kevin was installing a new R.O. faucet (John snapped the old one clean off) so I took John with me to the overcrowded grocery-mart (to keep him from "interfering" in Kevin's work). Please take a moment and picture me leaving the store pulling the cart loaded down with piles of holiday junk food, two twenty-pound bags of ice, and a seventeen-dollar kiddie pool which was MUCH too large to cram in the mini van but I managed quite deftly.

5) Observed Kevin and Joe putting together the replica of a T-Rex skeleton. Had I known it was destined to adorn the top of my piano, in the living room, I might not have watched so nonchalantly.

6) Shopped Aaron Brothers "Buy One Frame Get the Second for a Penny" sale. Re-framed my four "sleeping newborn" photos and had Kevin hang them up.

7) While he had the toolbox out, he also hung the new guest room curtain rod and curtain AND the now three-month-old photo of Joseph on the day of his Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation.

8) Made dinner, ate dinner, packed 11 snack bags for kids, and tromped across the street for our ongoing Vatican II study group.

9) Am blogging while Kevin works on the desk for the office/study/homeschool room.

10) Ready to go "examine my conscience" for Confession tomorrow...

First of July

A new month yet again. They just keep coming.

This one started with me getting my sedentary butt back out running again. For the first time since going with my neighbor, Mike. Which was the first time since my half-marathon. Talk about getting back on the horse...

Kevin bribed me into it. He knows I'm a different (and happier) person when I run.

So out I went at sunup today. Nice to see the rays of sun shining out of the clouds; nice to see our church where our two new priests start work today; great to visit the neighborhood pigeons gathered at the end of the street discussing who to poop on; depressing to see how quick I was out of breath. Oh, well - you gotta start somewhere... AGAIN.

I am running a 5K in December with my father-in-law. I will be under 30 minutes. And another 5K or 10K before that (maybe both). Today is registration day.

July is also my doctor appointment month. With every doctor I should see yearly, the dermatologist, the dentist, etc. I always think, "I'll have my appointment in July, that way I'll remember." Because July is my birth month. It doesn't work. I'm pretty sure I'm due for the dermatologist, but I can't remember which other physicians I already saw more recently. Ah, well.

Finally, today is Canada Day. Most of us might not care about this, but when you have recently-relocated Canadians living next door, you get invited to a Canada Day celebration. All I know is that it involves swimming, dinner, and some sort of game. "Brush up on your knowledge of bears, snow, and hockey!" my neighbor said the other day. I might also look up "Mounties" on Wikipedia. Just to give myself that extra edge.

Happy July 1st to you and yours! And only three shopping days to stock up on illegal fireworks for 4th of July.

Sassy

I just love these. I have one on my frig, and see many more on some of the blogs I like to read. Can't pick just one to decorate my blog - but this one was new to me yesterday, so I'm putting it here.