They're baaaack...

Yep, those excessive heat watches and warnings have returned. Yuck, yuck, and double yuck. It's just not fun when no one wants to do anything because it's too hot. Today has been spent on laundry and packing, and then we are on the road tomorrow...at least we get to be in the air conditioned vehicle!

Creeping up

Or should I say, creeping back up? The temps that is...rising back into the 90's. The humidity was very tolerable yesterday, so that helped a great deal, but this is definitely one of the longest heat waves we've ever experienced. While we've certainly had days where the heat would hit 100 degrees and that isn't happening here (although the heat index is way over that) it's the fact that it simply isn't let up that is really the problem. My wonderful husband used the one not-so-bad day yesterday and resealed our driveway. I ran errands and began mentally preparing for a long weekend trip we are taking that requires first driving our kids to my in-laws, then coming back to meet our friends for the weekend...all in the same day! Next week we have another trip planned to visit dear friends so there will be frantic laundry and re-packing, but I am so grateful we have these opportunities!

Big news!

Our big news...we are not under a heat advisory (sorry I couldn't resist)! I don't even remember the last time that big red box wasn't glaring at me when I checked weather.com, although I'm pretty sure it was over a week ago. And I've also got to be honest, I'm not seeing our heat index of 93 degrees as being that much of a victory. But I suppose it does feel a little better. It won't last long though...we are headed back to overly oppressive heat later in the week!

Our entry into the world of football

I guess this is misleading...after all, I LOVE football, and my husband coached at the high school level for a decade. However, tonight is our entry into the world of football parents. I'll be honest, I've got some serious reservations about this. Not because it can be such a dangerous sport, although I certainly know there are risks. There are also risks walking to school every day but we do that too. No, my concern is the mental side. This town is a football town. We are a small, very small town, and our school won three state football titles in the 1990's. The stores/shops shut down on football Friday nights and it's pretty much expected that is where everyone will be. I'm less than thrilled by the attitude towards football in this town. Having been a sub in the schools, I'm aware that many of the players behave as though they are untouchable with discipline just because they play football. While I don't tolerate that and neither do many of the teachers, so many parents feed into that mindset. To be a football player in this town is "where it's at". I've had some concerns that JR is playing just because he wants to fit in "the crowd". I'm not entirely sure exactly what his motivation is, but tonight the practices/conditioning start. He's going to miss quite a bit the first two weeks because of previously planned trips and that's just the way it goes. I'm grateful that my husband volunteered to be an assistant coach because a) he knows just as much as anyone there and b) he can keep an eye on how things are going for JR. I'm sure this is going to interesting, but more importantly, I hope it's fun!

Reunited

JR got home from scout camp about 9:00 last night. I hadn't been able to attend the family night dinner because of the heat warning and my asthma and allergies. Just not a good combination. I was really disappointed because I really wanted to see him. My husband had called at one point and said that it might be 10:30 or later before he got home and I just started crying. I had my heart set on seeing him and had been fine, but when I thought it was going to be another couple of extra hours my resolve broke. I never let JR know of course, but I begged my husband to go ahead and bring him home. He was filthy, exhausted, hot, thirsty, and apparently hadn't used much sun block, but to me he'd never looked better. He had so many great stories to share and I know that I still haven't heard all of them. More than anything, I was just glad he was home. It reminds me to cherish these days when he enjoys being here as well!

Going out of business

I was saddened to learn this morning that Borders, the book store, is going out of business. I knew they had filed bankruptcy, and our local store had already closed, but I hadn't known the entire company was going under. The part that made me really sad, is that they own Waldenbooks. I have such wonderful, wonderful memories of that bookstore. I remember exactly where it was located in the mall we shopped when I was a child. I was a voracious reader as a child (still am, but parenting responsibilities tend to limit available time) and every year my aunt would give me a gift certificate for Waldenbooks. I can still vividly picture shopping in the store, and the excitement that went with looking through all of the books before choosing which treasure to take home. One of my greatest joys as a parent has been adding to my children's own library of books here at our house. Perhaps too much so, as we are hoping to go shopping for more shelves today. One of the challenges that Borders faced in addition to the economy is the electronic versions of books that have become available. We have never particularly embraced technology, and an ereader is no different. My husband and I both agree that we just love the feel of sitting down with a book. We just can't quite describe it. At the same time, I can appreciate the convenience of ereaders, and especially for those who travel often. Most importantly, I just hope my children have fond memories of childhood reading, regardless of the form in which they read!

Remembering our blessings

As I've mentioned, we are under quite a heat wave here with no end in sight. At 10:30 this morning, the heat index was already 103 degrees. I did learn yesterday that our scout boys are receiving extra swim time at camp, and I'm glad to hear that. The heat and humidity make it very difficult for me to breathe outdoors, and I've pretty much been staying in. I'm not a huge "outdoorsy" person so this doesn't really bother me. It's easy to complain about the heat, because even in the a/c it can be pretty uncomfortable. However I read something this morning that reminded me how blessed we are here. Thinking about our soldiers overseas, these temps are still cooler than what they deal with for months on end with no relief in sight. We are tucked in with our families every night, not thousands of miles away, and we aren't in danger of being shot. It was a good reminder of how blessed we are, and that this heat shall pass.

Mid-week

We are half way through JR being off to scout camp. It really feels as though this week is dragging! We just aren't used to only have two kids, and we miss him. There have also been some issues that have developed at camp that don't involve the boys. Parents can be such a joy to deal with! There was some chaos and drama on the adult end yesterday, but fortunately the boys don't really know about it. From everything we've heard, JR is doing great.

The one down side about this week of camp is that it is HOT. The temps have been in the 90's all week, and at night it's only "cooling" down into the mid 70's. Poor guys! The heat indexes have been over 105, and at one point I saw it reached 112 degrees. They are mostly in the shade though, and drinking lots, and lots, and lots of water, so I'm confidant he'll be safe. I'll still be glad when he's home though!

End of the week

We made it through all of our frustrations of last week. Thursday was a really crazy day, but JR was a huge help in getting things moved out of Dad's cottage. While we are sad, Dad seems at peace and for that I'm extremely grateful. We are now looking at a garage sale to try to get rid of so many things that have accumulated here, there and everywhere.

We also spent the end of the week getting JR ready for scout camp. He leaves in a couple of hours and will be gone until Friday night. I really, really can't believe I'm going to go five entire days without seeing him. I am completely confident that he'll be safe, although the heat is going to be borderline dangerous this week. I just know that I'm going to miss him, and I'm looking forward to seeing him again at the end of next week!

Frustrations

This has been a week where not exactly everything has gone according to plan...very, very little in fact. On the upside, nothing major, nothing at all, but little frustrations have been abundant.

As I mentioned previously, our cable went out Monday evening. Honestly not a huge deal, but it still must be dealt with. When my husband called yesterday morning he was told they couldn't come out until tomorrow evening. We now will make sure one of us (preferably my husband) will be home between 4 & 6. We had friends over for dinner last evening and one of them is terribly allergic to cats. I was doing major cleaning in an effort to make it bearable for her, and about mid-afternoon our vacuum started smoking. AGH!!!! I could come up with alternatives for most cleaning issues, except of course, vacuuming the rug. My husband borrowed one from our neighbors, but in a twist of irony it didn't work very well either. Today after we made sure we were home this afternoon in order for the a/c to be disconnected, we ran to buy a new vacuum cleaner. Tomorrow is the part I'm really dreading. Not only is there going to be chaos involving the chimney, I am taking the kids and heading to the cottage to help move out for the last time. I'm glad I can be of assistance, but I had really hoped to avoid it. It just makes me emotional. Tomorrow evening JR has a scout meeting to get ready for camp next week. I already had plans and my husband needs to be home for the cable, so we need to make arrangements for JR. He is supposed to have his physical form to take with him tomorrow evening, but the doctor couldn't work him in until Friday morning...of course at the same time as the a/c people are coming to reconnect the unit.

Like I said, none of this is major and it is all going to work out just fine. I just feel as though "work" is the key word right now!

Going old school

Monday evening our cable went out. We really didn't think much about it since it was in the middle of a thunderstorm. However, when we got up yesterday there was still no cable. My husband called the cable company and apparently there is no wide spread outage, it's just us. Of course the earliest they could get out here is tomorrow evening. So no cable all day yesterday, today, or tomorrow. It's really not that bad. The kids, knowing that turning on the TV yesterday wasn't an option, never asked and truly found other ways to entertain themselves. We did let them watch a DVD last night. Today has been slightly trickier, but overall it's going really well. Tomorrow I'm taking all three kids and heading up to Dad's cottage for the last time to help move them out. Clearly there will be no time to miss TV, but I'm sure there will be lots of other emotions to deal with instead.

Anyway, in addition to no cable, we have no a/c. Our chimney has been "removing itself" from our house for the last year. Since the house was built in 1855, I think the fact that it took so long is pretty darn good! Regardless, in order to jack the chimney back up against the house the a/c had to be disconnected and moved out of the way. They will be back out Friday (tomorrow is chimney day) to reconnect it. We are more grateful than words can express how gorgeous the weather is here. We wouldn't have had it turned on anyway, and we are so lucky it wasn't Monday when the heat index hit 111 degrees.

So no a/c, and although we have rabbit ears for the TV, we haven't put them back on. It's really just like summers when I was a kid...children are OUTSIDE PLAYING!

Girls Time

Thursday morning three of my girlfriends picked me up for my first ever "mom's away" vacation. In all the years my husband and I have been married, he'd never slept alone in our house, let alone having to take care of the kids. My wonderful husband kept insisting that I take this trip, and I'm so glad that I did! We did lots of shopping, saw a movie, and mostly just laughed and spent time together. It was a tremendous 2-1/2 days, and it was really just the right amount of time. I felt completely safe and confident that things were fine at home, and yesterday when I got home I was so ready to be home. The kids got to hit the pool and spent an evening with friends. It was wonderful for us all!

Back at home

We made it home safely Sunday. It was a much more pleasant trip than the drive down because we had no pouring rain this time. The kids really do well with traveling, but I had to laugh at HT. The kids were up at 5AM Sunday having only had seven hours of sleep. They had all day to sleep in the car, and JR did a little. JC is just not a sleeper so she was awake the entire time. HT though was not a particularly pleasant person. He was sitting next to JC though, and fought so hard to stay awake. He succeeded until hour 13 of our 13-1/2 hour car ride. That's right, just 30 minutes away from home and he finally fell asleep. The kids were a big help in unloading and unpacking, and it was nice to be home early enough to get some things put away and relax.

I noticed about 3/4 of the way home that I had developed a strange rash all over my arms. By yesterday morning, it was on my neck and chin as well. I took Benadryl Sunday night, and again yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, I was asleep most of the day. It's better today though, so I don't think I'm going to worry about going to the doctor. My husband took the kids to our July 4th plans and I stayed home and slept and watched TV. In my own way, I enjoyed the quiet 4th...I've never been a big fan of big parties on the holiday. Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

Drama

Just as I had been concerned about before we left, there is a little bit of family drama ensuing here. On the upside, the kids aren't aware of it. How is that possible? Because no one is yelling or screaming, they just aren't saying anything. It's a little bit on the frustrating side, but at least it isn't ruining the kids' vacation.

There is some tension at home as well. My uncle has been in the hospital since Tuesday with blood clots in his lungs. He is improving and doing fairly well, but it always bothers me when we are away from home and someone has a medical emergency. And we also got word yesterday that Dad sold his cottage. I'm so grateful, so very grateful, for all of the memories we created there. I know that while he is sad, he is also a little relieved that it's done and he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. He's already assured me that he will take the bikes that are up there to his house, and we are looking into locations that have handicapped accessible fishing so he can still take JR fishing. I haven't told the kids yet. There's just no reason.

I've also noticed in this vacation a sense of change. My in-laws are definitely, without question, aging. My father-in-law is nearly 76 and my mother-in-law nearly 72. They function well at home, within their comfort zone. But I'm noticing that they just aren't comfortable outside of their comfort zone and it's more stressful on them. At the same time, because our kids are older, we don't need them on vacation to help like we used to need them. I'm not saying that we aren't enjoying our week because we certainly are. But at the same time, we aren't necessarily doing almost everything together as we had in other vacations.

And as we come to the end of the week, I'm noticing that the kids are getting pretty tired. They've had a tremendous week full of shopping, good food, miniature golf, and lots and lots and lots of swimming. There have been late bedtimes, and because they are so excited about each days' adventures, not so much sleeping in. Their behavior is starting to indicate how tired they are. Hopefully everyone can get back on track and have a nice afternoon.

The thing I love about these vacations is that a week is just the right amount. We get to do so many wonderful things and have a great time, but I'm always ready to head home at the end!