tidbits of a very random nature...

Holy crap...and now the first week of August is gone, too. Please slow down summer--you're moving way too fast! It was another week of home improvements around here, but we managed to slip in some moments of fun as well.

*Thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad for coming up and working your butts off again! We wouldn't have gotten half as much done around here this summer if not for both of you! Really, there just are no words adequate enough to expression our gratitude. Love you!

*Thank you, thank you, thank you Ana. You know why. No, I don't have it all figured out...but I actually feel like I'm on the way to happier me now. I love you!

*The biggest project during the past week was getting the living room and hall painted. And it looks fabulous, if I do say so myself. (Unless you look at the baseboards, that is. We did not repaint them because we're going to have the carpet replaced in the spring and would just have had to paint them again. So we'll do it when we pull the carpet out, but before the new carpet goes in.) The walls are a very subtle shade of sage green--but they look anywhere from beige to green to taupe depending on the light. And all the wood trim and the closet and hallway doors are now a crisp white. And damn was there a lot of wood trim! My hand pretty much gave up on me holding a paintbrush before we finished. Now we just have to put the room back together. Will be ever so nice to get all these boxes out of our bedroom, Max's room, the kitchen...

*One night after all the brushes had been washed, we sat down at the kitchen table and played a rousing game of Apples to Apples. So much fun. :)

*Blackberries are my most favoritest berries in the world, and I've been dying to make blackberry jam but haven't been able to get any at the farmer's market. But last Monday as Rich was driving home from work he saw a elderly man sitting by the side of the road selling them. He came and got me and we went and bought the gentlemen out. :D So instead of finishing up the packing of the living room, I spent Monday afternoon making and canning blackberry jam. Six pints of jam with enough left over for a cobbler. :D

*The ridiculously wet summer followed by this ridiculously dry summer has not been kind to many of our plants. Everything from brown rot for our cherry tree to blossom end rot for our tomatoes. (Though I do think hope like hell that we nipped the blossom end rot in the bud and only lost about a dozen tomatoes to it.) Anyway, we've still been enjoying a few fruits of our labor. Lots and lots of jalapenos. And there's a handful of green peppers ready to pick. And if the rest of the tomatoes make it, we'll have plenty for fresh eating and for canning. Can't wait till they start ripening! Made some fresh salsa the other night. The onion, garlic, cilantro, and jalapenos all came from our yard. :) In a few weeks, the tomatoes will, too...and the only thing I'll have to buy will be the lime.

*Before we painted, I let Max have one last day of climbing the walls. ;)

*I am trying very, very hard not to panic over how unbelievably much school planning and prep I have to do over the next few weeks. As I said earlier, please slow down summer!

*We've got this really pretty fungus growing on our compost pile.

*I still haven't gotten much blog reading and catching up done, but I'm trying.

*I've yet to finish a single book this month. *sigh*

*And last, but by no freakin' means least--I am so over-the-top giddy thinking about next week. Why? Because that's when Chris will be here. The only down side--he's not staying nearly long enough!

Yep, that was pretty random.