What's up, chicken butt?

The Commander is in Kansas tonight so it is just me and The Boy holding down the fort.

When he called from Oklahoma earlier today, he said, "IT'S HOT HERE!"

It hasn't gotten very warm here in Iowa yet. It did get into the 90s for a couple of days and The Commander thought it was necessary to turn the AC on. (I called him a wimp.) It hasn't gotten that hot again. Right now it is in the mid 60s. An hour or so ago, I was sitting out on the deck reading a book and watching them bale hay in the pasture behind us. I was thinking about how cool the weather was and how I needed to go make some coffee. (I had some White Chocolate Raspberry ground at the coffee shop today.) Then I said to myself, "Woman. That is all you need. Up all night peeing." Then I thought how maybe I could make some tomorrow morning and sit out on the deck enjoying the weather, but I remembered I'm not a morning person and maybe mid-afternoon coffee might be better.

Then I watched the weather forecast. High in the low 60s tomorrow. Good. 70% chance of rain. Not so good for sitting on the deck. I may just open all of the windows and pretend to be outside.

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Speaking of chilly. The city pool is open for the summer and evidently, the water is a titch cold. Doesn't stop The Boy. I dropped him off about 4pm today and told him I was headed to the library* and would be back around 5pm. I went back to pick him up and decided to let him stay a while longer. All of the other kids had gone home for supper and he was the only person at the pool besides the five life guards. They were taking turns throwing diving rings and things for him into the pool. I opened the windows in the car to catch the breeze, picked one of the books I checked out at the library and read for an hour. It was nice.

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We are quickly filling up our calendar for the summer. I'm hoping to make it to Oklahoma sometime, but I don't know when. The Boy is taking golf lessons this month and swimming lessons next month. He is signed up for the library's program for this month too. Later this month he has Cub Scout Camp and then Church Camp. Luckily, both are over at the lakes and we will be able to camp over there while these are going on. We are going to spend a few days before Church Camp starts at the RV resort too. Then in August, the four of us are headed to The Black Hills, South Dakota for a real, genuine, honest-to-goodness, family vacation!!! It has been forever since we had one of those.

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*It is possible that I will be a part-time librarian come July! Two part-time jobs around things I love - food and books.

Sweet.

I'm not complaining.

Really, I'm not. It is just going to take some getting used to.

The Cold! (And it isn't really that cold yet!)

Things that bother me so far...

1. Cold nose. I hate having a cold nose.

2. Leather furniture is very cold in the morning.

3. When you walk to the football concession stand and buy some crazy delicious concession stand nachos? By the time you get back to the bleachers, your cheese is cold. (I ate them anyway.)

4. I can't wear a stocking cap for any length of time. I put one on and about ten minutes later, I yank it off and start scratching my head like I have cooties. I've tried stocking caps, wool caps, caps with fleece lining, etc. I guess it is the tightness around my head. I don't itch on the top of my head, just around the sides and my forehead. I can wear a sweatshirt hood and have no problem, but a cap, no go. Any suggestions my peeps from the land of the coldness?

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A couple of photos of our trip to the patch...




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If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It's a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it's time to reflect on what's come before. - Mitchell Burgess, Northern Exposure, Thanksgiving, 1992

Chillin'

Unlike some people, I've turned on the gas fireplace for the last 14 mornings or so and have turned on the heater in the bedroom for the last 5 evenings.

But you know what? I can light the fire or throw on a hoodie and I'm good. For now. Ask me in a couple of months.

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I stepped outside just a few minutes ago to take some photos of the full moon and when I opened the door, I thought, "It smells like snow!" Maybe it was just my imagination.