All's Quiet on the Home Front

Summer is one month under our belt, and it's not going at all the way I thought it would. I shouldn't be surprised - life rarely goes the way I think it should or the way I plan it. Luckily, I'm pretty good at rolling with it.

We re-upped our membership at the Tallahassee Museum. I really should investigate whether or not there's a lifetime membership rather than doing this renewing thing every year. That way I could do it once and not worry about it anymore. ZBoy went to camp there last year and had a marvelous time. We couldn't do camp this year (our "spare" money was required elsewhere), but we can still visit as often as we want. Z developed a special relationship with Carmella the Cow last year, and so we went to visit her.

I love cows, but you really need to be able to shower afterwards. Cows like to lick salt and humans are FULL of salt in the summer. Their tongues are large, muscular and rough - kind of like being licked by a gigantic cat. But they are also quite slobbery, like a lot of dogs. You walk away from the experience feeling like you've had dermabrasion and very wet. Ah... cow love!

We then walked the nature trail, checking out the red wolves, otters (though one seems to be missing), bobcats, skunks, white squirrels and Florida Panthers. The panther cracked me up - looked like it was sitting in the corner... actually, she was waiting for lunch, which was being served while we were there.



The nature trail features lots of boardwalk, since much of it is built in the swamp. After years of little or no water in the swamp, we were grateful for the boardwalks this year as the water was almost up to the underside! They also have these lovely benches built in where you can sit down, take a load off and enjoy the peace and quiet of being in the middle of the swamp.

At least you can try.


In other news, I had my first pedicure ever, courtesy of my friend Jennifer. I'd spent a day helping her get her house ready for a family visit, cleaning and painting. The kitchen was in the midst of renovation, and there wasn't much we could do about that, but the family would understand about renovations... but the dust that comes from it can wreak havoc on a father with allergies. So we concentrated on cleaning and painted the hallway for fun. And she gave me pampered feet a week or so later.

I don't recall ever having polish on my toes before, so I went with a fairly neutral color. But the polish wasn't the thing for me... it was having my feet washed, buffed and massaged. I don't pay much attention to my feet. They are not pretty so I look at them as a rather utilitarian appendage. But I have to tell you, they really appreciated the love.


After much hemming and hawing, Darling Man decided he wanted to revive the pool. After watching one of our co-workers struggle with putting his own above-ground pool together, we decided (since we don't know much about it) to hire a couple of pool guys to do it for us. They ordered the liner and when it came in, made short work of removing the old, regrading the bottom, and installing the new one. Two days afterwards, we had a pool full of water (THAT took the most time) and a delicious way to cool off.

We are lovin' it!


Doesn't she look all innocent? This is Tottie - the embodiment of "dumb blonde". She has suddenly (after nearly three years) decided that she is our cat. She snuggles up to you, asks for pets, sits on your lap... and turns the bedroom into a circus tent after the lights go out. She's jumping on chairs and racing around under the bed. It does disrupt the sleep a little, but after she wears herself out, she's a lovely sleeping companion.

On the nights she decides to stay outside overnight, I get marvelous sleep. When she decides to stay in, it takes a while to get there.


I do have a few gardening projects in the works. The pool revival changed some of my plans, but as I've said before, I'm flexible. I will take pictures of what I've been doing gardening-wise and share later.

We are also going to redo ZBoy's room. It's a dark hunter green at the moment, and honestly, it's just too dark. He says he just doesn't know what he was thinking when he picked that color. He then decided he wanted a yellow room. Yesterday, when we were buying him some new sheets, he admitted that he wanted to recreate his room from Wakulla County. That's going to take a little more effort, but will be well worth it when it's all done. Again, will share more later!

In between all of this, I still need to get 40 hours of work done. I'm working at home in the mornings and in the office in the afternoons. It's a great compromise for summer, but difficult in a way - because when I'm home, I think about work constantly. I feel like I'm never off the clock. This holiday weekend will be a bit of a challenge for me. I will try very hard to NOT work or even think about work. We have family coming into town for the fourth, so I'll be otherwise engaged for at least one day!!!

Hope you're all having a great summer!