Summer is here

If only my little kids weren’t still in school!!!  The weather has been beautiful and the summer twilight lasts and lasts … too bad I have to put my kids to bed for school the next morning.

Last night Andrew would not go to bed – or at least, he was in his room, but would not stop playing.  At 9:30 I went in and scolded him.  5 minutes later I heard noises – he was up with the caulking gun in hand (silly me, leaving it in his room).  He had emptied about half the tube into the crawl space under his window.  Lovely.  I put him out on the deck and told him to go ahead and play if he must.  After I had calmed down and done some thinking, I brought him back in and put him to work.  Got the dishwasher unloaded, a load of clothes folded, and the trash carried out to the curb.  I finally sent him back to bed about 10:00.  That kid …

Spencer left yesterday for scout camp.  He wasn’t too excited.  None of his friends in the teacher’s quorum attend the activities and he was anticipating three long days with boys that don’t share his interests.  I asked him why he was going and he said (and I quote), “I’m supposed to, Mom”.  That is obligation to the volunteer leaders, not his parents.  We really didn’t care one way or another if he went to camp.  Spencer might be obnoxious at times, but I’m so grateful for his ability to think of others and recognize his obligations to support others – even adults.  He doesn’t want to disappoint those men who have taken time off from work to make camp possible.  It gives me hope that he will turn out a decent guy to be around yet!!

Haley went off to school today in yet another dress (I think that is three this week).  It cracks me up.  She looks really cute in dresses and skirts, but I know there aren’t that many girls that wear dresses to school, so she has to stick out.  She just loves twirling her skirts – it’s funny!  I’m so glad my mom sews – I could never afford to keep her in dresses otherwise!  (Not to mention finding something that doesn’t look like it was made for a mini-teenager)

Tom is finding his new job a challenge, but he’s one and a half weeks in, so hopefully he’ll start to feel more comfortable and know better what his responsibilities are.  I’m so grateful for his hard work.  I can’t imagine carrying the load of providing for a family – and yet he does it without complaining or pressuring me to go to work to help.  And he does work that isn’t always very fulfilling, because that’s just the kind of guy he is.  If you are reading this, Tom, you rock!

I’m chasing a rogue mouse in the kitchen.  This is a wiley mouse.  He/she has taken up residence under the kitchen counters and keeps blocking all entrances (except for some hidden entrance it is using) with trash and shredded stuff.  I’ve set traps and Micah has taken up a permanent sentry post in the kitchen and still this mouse won’t be caught.  It’s very frustrating!  What in the heck is it eating??  There’s no sign of mouse in the pantry and we take out the garbage pretty often.  Like I said, wiley mouse!

House improvements continue … finished painting Andrew’s dresser yesterday so he’s finally got clothes back in said dresser instead of on the floor.  When we finish reinstalling the window bench and window coverings, I’ll take another picture.  Have actually planted annuals in my pots this year (after two years of nothing).  I think that is a good sign of my mental health!

Minor Aside:  It’s been almost two years (wow!) since I finally broke down and got some help for depression.  What a difference two years can make.  I just recently stopped my medication as an experiment and so far so good.  I was worried that the constant irritation and anger would creep back, but maybe just being aware of it has helped.  Last night with Andrew I never yelled or even really got upset – just stayed very calm and didn’t engage emotionally with him (though he certainly tried).  So, barring any major set-backs I would say that my depression has finally disapated.  Yea!!!

Back to home improvements:   took inventory of all stored food (freezer, pantry, storage closet) which sounds kindof silly, but since we lived on it the last few months, I wanted to see what we had left and make some plans to re-stock while Tom is employed.  This is my favorite kind of home improvement – organizing.  Some day I’m going to go into business for myself offering my organization services for a fee.  I love figuring out where things should go so that they are most convenient and look good and use the space best.  One of my favorite projects in this house was my closet mini-remodel.  Our closet is a small square that had bars mounted on two sides.  One side had one bar at dress height with a shelf above it.  The other side had two bars with shelves above each bar.  Sounds great right?  Except the corner where the bars met was completely unusable.  So – I cut the one bar and shelf off about halfway across and built a narrow set of shelves that runs from the floor to the ceiling with shelves spaced just far enough apart to fit a pair of shoes.  Attached the remaining portion of the bar and shelf to the addition.  Now we can use the two bars all the way to the wall – and all the shoes are up off the closet floor.  No one can really see this home improvement – and it isn’t all that pretty – but it WORKS and that’s why I like it so much.  Perfect example of my organizational mania – but I try to keep it in check so I don’t drive my family insane.  Spencer always complains that if I do anything in his bedroom (like we were packing for his camp yesterday) that I always end up straightening his closet or something – and it’s true!!

Well, I’m off for a walk and then to work for a couple of hours.  Thanks for reading!