It has broke

The heatwave has finally broke.  Finally.

We had 11 consecutive days above 90° with several above 100° and don't forget to factor in high humidity.  That's another 10° to factor in.

The only word that comes to mind is

 GAG

Sadly, there isn't a drop of rain to be found any time soon.  But hey, it's only 83° and I'm loven' it.

The last time we had a heatwave like this was the summer I had Josie.  1995.  I remember that I'd go out the front door, sit on the bottom step to catch my breath before I made the last four steps to get into the car.  Yes, it was that hot.  I heard them talking about that heatwave on the radio this morning and surprisingly, I remembered that last month waiting for my first little one to be born like it was yesterday.  (Surprisingly?  I don't even remember what I packed Layne for lunch today!) Layne was in Japan and I just stayed in our apartment, in a slip with the AC on, and ate watermelon.  That's all.  I also remember watching the news and there were so many deaths because of the heat (even hotter than this year) they had to keep the dead bodies in refrigerated semi's.  Seventeen years later the only word that comes to mind is

GAG 



Just a side note:  The boys worked their butts off in that heat on Saturday, putting up fence with their dad.  So he thought it would be fun to take them to a Columbus Clippers game.  They were pumped.  It was 101° at the stadium and they handed sweat towels to wipe themselves off with as they walked in the gates.  Just going was fun, but the best part of the night was at the end of the game.  Mitch been waiting all night for a foul ball and the few that made it his way were a good 100 feet off.  He was pretty bummed out, but at the end of the game the right fielder tossed the ball up in the stands and Mitch caught it. He was on cloud nine for two days.  It's fun to see kids when they are beyond thrilled with life.

Happy Birthday America!

I love the Forth of July.

The craft project I had the boys do today was a yummy one.

No fighting or complaining on this project.

Enjoy your day

Enjoy your freedom



Mother Nature Said SLOW Down

This is how our town, and many others, have looked since last Friday

June 29, 2012 around 4:00 p.m.

 Normally I kind of enjoy sitting by the window and watching our big storms, but this storm was different.  In other words, this storm kind of scared me.  When we could no longer see out the window because of dust and debris and it started to sound like a freight train, Layne ushered all of us to the basement.

After it was over I went to check on some neighbors and take a peek in town.  I couldn't get very far into town because the roads were all closed because of fallen trees.  It is so sad to see great big, old trees snapped off and splintered.  Power poles were ripped out of the ground or broken in two.

Josie was in Lima and there was no cell service for a long while and so we were anxious to hear from her.  She held out inside a Texas Roadhouse. 

Remember how I said June went too quickly?  I guess Mother Nature decided to help take things down a notch (or two).  Our town has 95% of the electricity back on as of last night. (four days later) Most of the stores were closed for days because of no power and/or cash only.  Bigger cities still have a lot of people in the dark.  Can I just say that I L.O.V.E. our generator that Layne was able to just plug into an outlet and I could happily take a warm shower and not worry about the food in my fridge or freezer.  It isn't fun to go through a yucky situation like this, but it is good to see in what areas we are lacking (or doing well) in our emergency preparation.

The poor courthouse didn't fair as well.  The clock tower is damaged and it will take at least three months to get it down to fix.  They've had to move all of the courthouse comings and goings to other buildings in town.  What a pain.  The most often worry/complaint I've heard has been from people that do genealogy work and there are lots of documents and stuff like that in that building.  They are worried about getting access for the next few months.  Glad to know that work goes on strong in Logan County. 

But these guys are all safe and even the dumb dog made it though.  Our trees are still small so they fared well and the house stood strong and kept us safe.  That is all that matters.

Is it just me

or was June the fastest month ever?

It was filled with baseball and swimming lessons.  The one extra great thing in June was when I met up with Jason & Geri in North Carolina. 

http://www.meandhimblog.com/

I hadn't seen them for one whole year, so I was extra excited to spend a week together.

I hadn't been to North Carolina before (love it) and I really, really had never driven to North Carolina before.  I would have remembered.  After getting over the Appalachian Pass (pronounced   a-puh-"LATCH"-uhn  ~ we had a sister missionary here once that was from North Carolina that made sure us dumb Northerners knew our verbal mistake), I must admit I was pretty car sick, but I bounced back after a coke and a sandwich.  I made it to the Raleigh-Durham airport with 30 minutes to wait for my companions to arrive.


It wasn't the sightseeing type of vacation, unless you think beautiful old buildings at an old university, namely Duke University, is beautiful.  Let me tell you, it really is.  I wasn't very smart and I forgot my camera so you'll just have to believe me when I say that Duke is lovely as are the people that work at the hospital & clinic.  Geri has more details if you'd like to know more about that adventure.

We got really good at sitting and waiting.  And once again here we are waiting .....  Jason needs some lungs, like now.  And Duke really wants him, but there are some technical difficulties at the moment so they are doing some more waiting to get things figured out. 

Go Team Jason

One funny moment was at the end of the first night (the nicest family let us use their home while they were away on vacation) Geri & I kicked off our shoes and propped our feet up on the ottoman, next to each other, and we had to same color toe nails.  Ha!  A beautiful aqua blue color.  We picked the same summer toe nail color. 
We are such sisters.

Around our house

it is all things summer.

First things first, we got our Summer Bucket List posted.

Just so we don't forget to do some fun stuff.

There are lots of other fun things going on that didn't get put on the bucket list poster.  Because they are things that happen all the time anyway.  Like weed the garden, do laundry, mow the lawn, etc.

Well, not all of us think they are all fun, but they have to happen.  Here are a few pics Josie took around the farm from the past couple of weeks.

We've had some beautiful, HOT days that have made our gardens grow. 

A week ago.  We had just
planted the sweet potatoes.  (tiny little things
up front)  New for us this year. 
I'll have to let you know
how it went, or perhaps, what we learned.

The garden today.  Funny how much a week changes the garden.
LOTS of potatoes.  Yummmm

Layne brought in the last of the radishes last night.
I love a good radish sandwich!  He'll plant more
for me when fall comes.

We finally got the hay baled. 
I always think they look so pretty
sitting in the field.

No, not weeds.  Corn, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, more onions.

Layne's awesome raised bed.  No bending required.
For us or the deer.  ha ha

Hope your spring has been beautiful for you too.

Do you have your Summer Bucket List ready to check off?

Sometimes I Get MAD

at our dog!

But on this day I was so mad I couldn't breath.

Remember when I was going on and on about my newest, favorite toy -

my Fitbit?

I accidentally dropped my fitbit as I was getting out of my car (I didn't have it on where I should have...my fault) and Jimmer, the very naughty dog, had that thing in his mouth before I could get turned around.

This is what I had after taking it away from him.



I left it on the counter for several days.  At some point Layne said that I needed to throw it away so I would get over it.  So, I took a picture and threw it out.  Then I decided to get on the fitbit website and shut down my account because I wasn't going to replace it right away.

I couldn't find the place to turn off my account so I emailed the company.  Two sentences long, and yes, I mentioned the dog. 

The next day I got an email from Fitbit.  They asked if our dog was okay and said that they'd like to replace my fitbit for me, in exchange for a review of the tracker and the website! 

Can you believe it?  I couldn't.

You bet I sent them a review and suggestions.  They said thank you very much and what is your address and what color do you want.  I asked for a plum one.  I had a blue one last time and I decided to just start brand new.

Today this came.

And I'm so excited.  It is on its dock and I just checked...it's all charged and ready to go! 

Thank you Fitbit people!

You have a very happy customer.