How is it almost August?

Wow. I just looked at the calendar and did y'all know it is already July 29? Obviously, time is zipping right on by me. If I more than a day off (in a row) from work, I tend to forget what the date is. It's Thursday and I haven't worked since Monday. That 'splains it. I work tomorrow so I better get reoriented. And Sunday is August 1. I repeat, Wow.

I apologize in advance for the randomness that will be this post but I haven't written in a while and I have a lot on my mind.

First off...today we got RAIN! A whole hour's worth of pouring, lovely, thunder and lightning filled, wet rain. It's still raining on and off even as I type. There has been no moisture to speak of since the beginning of June. Add in all the runs of 100+ degree days we've had and lemme tell ya, things here were dry, dry, dry. It will be nice not to have to water the plants tonight (we never water the grass...our weeds are very drought tolerant and tend to stay green even without help). The only downfall to the rain is that the Peninsula Pilots' baseball game the taters and I have been looking forward to all day was, yep you guessed it, rained out. Although, like little troopers, they are surviving the disappointment by watching old "Pink Panther" cartoons on a VHS tape no less and drinking Coca-Cola. Fun times. Fun times.

Speaking of "Pink Panther"...it amazes me how much my kids love those cartoons. They would rather watch that old VCR tape than any new cartoon that's on. That tickles me. Pink even. Hehe. Seriously though, I loved the Panther when I was a kid. And the Anteater and the Ant? Funny. And they're still funny today. Same goes for all the great "Looney Tunes" shows, except I haven't had any garage sale scores on those tapes yet. I'll keep looking though.

On a whole 'nother subject, we are entering week three with our Fresh Air Fund punkin, Jaybird. This is uncharted waters for us, as when he made his first visit last summer, it was just two weeks. FAF doesn't require you to be a host for four weeks, but they do make it an option if a FAF host family and a FAF kid have made a good match. For the most part, things are going pretty well. Puddin' Pie has gotten a little snappy at times (no surprise there), and even declared dramatically that he is "sooooo glad" he doesn't have a big brother. I told him that now he knows how his poor little sister feels. However, that did a fly by as empathy is not his strong suite...the good Lord knows that we are sure working on it though. I will take a second though to encourage anyone living within a few states of NY to take a gander at the FAF site. It is an awesome organization that has been helping NYC kids get a summer break since the 1800's. I'd be happy to share our story and experience with anyone interested...just ask.

Final random thought. Has anyone ever had any luck catching a rogue hermit crab? We are crabsitting Hermie this week. He belongs to Puddin' Pie's BFF Evster. Hermie is a wild thing, what with his black shell painted with flames. All he's missing are eight tiny black biker boots and the little tough guy spiky things on his shell. Even sans spikes he's so tough that when one of our rotten cats got the top off his habitat during the night, he made a run for it and is MIA. We have searched everywhere (and remember kids, my house is teeny tiny, ~850sqft) and there aren't even any hints of him. I don't think he's been eaten made anyone's entree because I'd at least find remnants of the fancy shell. I'm just hoping he shows up before rigor mortis sets in. My guess is if that happens, we won't have any trouble finding him then. However, the kids have been praying that God will help us find Hermie. I'm hoping He will too. God even cares about little, missing hermit crabs. Amen and amen.

Ooooo it's a hot one

Okay, it's a sickness I know, but I L.O.V.E. hot weather. I also love typing out words with periods in between each letter. To my eye, it really makes the word I'm trying to emphasize just P.O.P. See what I mean? I also, in my stupidly nerdy way, think it looks cool and at almost 42, I am all about being cool. Anyhoo, as usual, I digress. Back to the topic at hand.

Today is hot. It's 99 degrees Farenheit and 100% humidity. The little Weather Channel icon thingy is flashing a dangerous yellow on my tool bar. It is warning us all, that guess what? It's hot outside. The heat index is like 200 degrees. Do I worry? Am I stocking up on Gatorade and pulling the shades down low? Ohhhh no, not moi. Instead I say to Mother Nature "Bring it on baby!" You would think that as one with extra internal insulation (a.k.a. fat, adipose tissue, lots of ju-dunka-dunk in my ba-donka-donk) I wouldn't be a fan of weather like this. But I am, I am, I am. Weather like this invigorates me. Makes me do things like wash my windows (which I just finished, all 12 of them-yeah, the shack is actually big enough to have 12, although I count the big picture window as three, even though they're right next to each other). And now that the windows are sparkling clean in the afternoon inferno warmth, I am tackling the kitchen cabinets. With the windows open. Ah, summer time bliss in the Tidewater area of Virginia. Luckily the screens are keeping the mosquitos out. Although our skeeters here usually just walk in through the front door. They're big like that. And like most unwanted guests, they don't call ahead of time and they don't bring a casserole. Bastitches.

Of course my cleaning frenzy has really motivated the family. Wou-wou is doing her little part by taking an extra long nap and Sexy Beast has taken Puddin' Pie and his friend to the movies. Although I am totally psyched broken up about not getting to see "G.I. Joe" and the fabulous toy marketing goodness that it has to offer, I have the fabulousness that is known as "No one in my way while I clean like an idiot". Oh nirvana in a nutshell. I am taking a short break to honor all this by committing it to the written word. That way, when it's a miserably cold February day, I can reread this and be transported to the sunshiney happiness that is today.

I'm off to finish the cabinets and then I am heading outside, sweet tea in hand, to lounge in the swing and tempt the skeeters with the summer love offering of my red blood cells. Oh yeah baby, summertime and the living is E.A.S.Y.