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.