A Midsummer Night's Whine

I believe the heat and humidity has sucked the life out of me. I don't like summer. My apologies to those who love summer, but summer holds no magic for me. The average summer day here is over 90 degrees with high humidity. The mosquitoes are thick and hungry. The only relief is in the water. We are fortunate to live near a lake, but we can't swim all the time. It looks we are headed back into a drought this summer. Water restrictions are soon to come.

The children aren't dealing well with all of the inside time. Sweetie and Wild Thing keep fighting (any suggestions?). The Crafter whines “I'm bored” all day long, but she's starting school again in a couple of weeks. Wild Thing needs more outside time to get out his boyish energy. If he doesn't get his running time, he is nearly uncontrollable. I would take them on more outings, but we are trying to stay home to save on gas. It cost $70 to fill up the mini van today. I need for a tank to last longer than a week.

I haven't been sleeping well lately. I feel tired and lazy. I need to get my act together and order the rest of the Crafter's curriculum so she can go ahead and start 4^th grade. I need to purge books and clutter. I need to get back to meal planning. I need to stop neglecting the housework. I need to work out a homeschool schedule for next year. I just can't seem to get enough motivation to do anything beyond the necessities for survival.

I'm a bit depressed. My 35^th birthday was last week. The Historian had his days mixed up and thought that it was the next day. I've gained some weight and my summer shorts are tight. I'm in the midst of a full blown pity party and I need to snap out of it now.

I know that I have nothing to complain about. I know that I am blessed beyond measure. My children and parents are healthy. My husband has a decent job. The vehicles are running. We can still afford to put gas in the cars and food on the table. The air conditioner works.  The house needs some repairs, but God will provide. I have to remember to count my blessings and not my problems.

Whine over.

Wordless Wednesday

This is an email I received a while back.  It is really cool.

See the baby?

  

A Nice Anniversary and Some Random Comments

My husband and I just celebrated our 15^th anniversary.  We had an absolutely wonderful time.  Some friends agreed to babysit overnight for us. We went to Fayetteville which is about an hour away.  We enjoyed some child-free meals and a nice hotel room.  We ended up going to the local mall Thursday night because it was too smoky to walk outside due to a forest fire near the NC coast.  I haven't been to a mall in a long time, and now I remember why. 

Friday, we went to the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens.  It was beautiful.   I highly recommend a trip there. I want to go back when the camillias are in bloom. The weather was breezy and surprisingly comfortable.  We had a nice hand-in-hand stroll.

On these excursions, I observed a lack of fashion sense among the late teens/early twenties crowd.  Granted, I am no expert.  You may laugh at my "mom uniform" of jeans, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes, but I can assure everyone that nothing is showin' that shouldn't be.  I would now like to address some of those young people.

To the young men with your pants falling down to the point you have to use one hand to hold them up:  Congratulations on your weight loss!  It is a great accomplishment to lose those 50 extra pounds.  I think you should all get together and write a diet book. Then maybe you can afford some pants that fit or maybe JUST USE A BELT!  I do not want to see your underwear!

To the young ladies with the low, low rise pants or shorts:  I don't want to see your underwear either.  If someone walking behind you can tell that you are wearing a thong, your pants are too low.  

To those wearing mini skirts:  BE CAREFUL HOW YOU BEND OVER!  Enough said.

To the mothers-to-be with the exposed bellies:  Congratulations on your expected bundle of joy.  I know that you are excited and want everyone to know, but most people can tell that you are pregnant without full flesh exposure.  If I was mistaken about you being with child, my apologies.

To the tube top wearers:  If you choose to wear one, please be aware that your bra straps will show at the top.  Yes, even the flesh colored ones show.   If you chose not to wear a bra, gravity is taking its toll and I could tell.

To the lady wearing 3 inch white heels at the botanical garden:  What were you thinking? I know they matched the rest of your expensive white outfit, but you were touring a garden.  Gardens have dirt and grass.  High heels sink.  I know you suffered.  Sorry if you saw me giggle.

I hope I have the sarcasm out of my system now.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

It's hot here in NC.  We have had 100+ temperatures with high humidity since Saturday.  It's typical weather for late July, not early June.  My children are cranky and bored.  They are constantly fighting among themselves.  I would throw them out, but they are not very heat tolerant.  They have red, sweaty faces after a few minutes outside.  The mosquitoes are also horrible in our yard this year.  I have to coat them in Off before I can let them out or they come in covered in bites.

I had intended for us to take a real break from school until July, but that's not going to happen.  We need to do something.  We are continuing on with history and a bit of math for the Crafter.  I'm working on getting a bee unit study together for everyone.  I have a Hands of a Child lapbook from a free download that I hope to use.  It will be our first lapbook.

Yesterday, I tried to keep the kids happy by letting them play on the Slip and Slide for a while.  I can't let them use it everyday because I don't want a huge water bill.  They played  peacefully for about 30 minutes, then I had to turn the water off.  I told them to come in for baths.  I had started running a tub when I heard screaming.  Wild Thing came in with his face covered in blood.  I put my screaming child in the tub and started looking for the source.  He had a half inch cut right in the center of his forehead.   After a few minutes of direct pressure, it stopped bleeding, but the tears didn't.  It took him a while to calm down.  Wild Thing was pretty scraped up.  He was running away after antagonizing his sisters when he tripped in the gravel driveway and face planted on the rocks.  Thank God he wasn't hurt worse.  He's fine now.  It's amazing what a couple of Band Aids can do.