Summer's Heating Up

Summer is here! Can I get a great big, "Hallelujah!"? The warm weather and blue skies are making us all feel happier and more cooperative. I know weather is crazy everywhere, and considering we've not been hit by anything catastrophic, I have little room to complain, so I will just make an observation. We have gone from highs in the low 50's about two weeks ago to a possible 98 degrees this weekend. It might be nice to have had a real spring and eased into the high temps, maybe hung out in the 70's or low 80's for a couple weeks, or so. Anyway, glad both of our cars have air conditioning and that we should not need to replace the a/c compressor in either vehicle. We did some costly work to Wife's AC last year, I believe it was, plus had a heat pump installed in the house a couple summers ago, so we are ready for the heat! Get out the kiddie pool and bring it on! (Though I would be happy to not experience a true heat wave....just putting it out there....)

Shifting from School to Summer

I wonder how many of my classmates are good at switching from academic mode to real life. I am doing quite well. I am feeling really good about not reading 200+ pages of case law each week and struggling to stay awake during night classes. I am loving driving home in the sunshine and seeing my family during dinner.

What I have discoverd is that my creative self starts getting very loud and demanding. Wife and I have both noticed this pattern. Once I can turn off a big piece of the regimented, linear thinking, my mind goes wild and wants to create - on the computer, in the garden, on the digital camera, on paper - anywhere, everywhere!

I don't want to think about serious things like politics and the economy, talk to mortgage lenders, or read the paper. I want to be surrounded by positive things, have fun with my family, spend time in the sunshine, and focus on creating rather than worrying about all the things in life there are to worry about.

Boy Wonder's last day of Kindergarten was yesterday. (How did that happen?) We celebrated with a trip to Red Robin last night (his choice), today is a gorgeous, sunny day, and it feels like summer can really begin. Though it is supposed to be a wet weekend, maybe by next weekend we can set up the tent in the backyard and really welcome summer with a backyard camp out, completed with campfire and S'mores!

I'm Baa-aaacck :)

I have battled a cold for about three weeks. At the end of last week it turned into a horrible sinus infection and possibly pneumonia. It wasn't such a great weekend, with my head feeling like it would explode every time I bent slightly to one side, but it was gorgeous weather! I got to spend some time with Wife enjoying our outdoor furniture, and watching the kids play in the yard.

This week, though feeling like I was successfully beating the sinus infection, we were unsure about my lungs and some other symptoms, so finally I went to the doctor. She agreed my body was fighting successfully, that I possibly had "pre-pneumonia" and to come back in two days if I was worse or not at all better. Fortunately, today I feel better than I have in weeks! I am still a bit drained, but in comparison with earlier this week, feelin' great! Wife and kids seemed to have avoided the worst of this, so we are now ready for a fun and healthy summer!

The Sun is Here!

Being deprived of the sunshine for so long makes it that much sweeter when it finally arrives. People are leaving my work building in droves to soak up a little happiness. We are literally going outside, turning our faces skyward, and basking in the glory shining down upon us. This morning - gray, gloomy, cold (in the 40's). This afternoon - beautiful, sunny, blue sky, temps in the 70's.

LOVING IT!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

My sweet little princess was trying to trace her hands a couple nights ago. I was cooking dinner, and when she asked for help, I hurried over between tasks, traced her hands, and went back to what I was doing. She took the pencil and tried to do what I had done. I heard a few sounds of frustration and then "Damn it! I can't do this."

It took all I had not to laugh and to tell her that was an adult word (Damnit - one word?) and she was not to use it. I think she settled on "nuts" instead. As I was trying to recover, I ventured towards the back of the house where Wife was folding laundry or cleaning slipcovers, or something. We met in the hall since she had heard part of the conversation, and both of us burst into laughter when I told her what our darling daughter had just said.

I have to admit, I was very impressed with her proper use of the word, and perfect inflection, expressing her defeat and frustration. Too cute.

Free Time?

I was just talking to a friend/co-worker who asked what I was doing with all my free time now that I am not in school. I just laughed and referenced my kids. By the time I get home, spend a little time with them, make dinner, play a bit more, do baths, stories and bedtime, it is about 7:00 or 7:30 and I am wiped out. It occurred to me last night that normally at that time I would still be facing an 8:00 class. There are so many summer projects I'd love to tackle - gardening, reading some mindless summer books, perhaps a writing project, and I won't even go into the disaster that is our garage, but wow, after working all day and only spending a couple hours with the kids, I am exhausted. Thank you, Wife. I know you do this every day, and I totally see how by the end of the day all you have the energy left to do is read or write blogs. At this rate, I'll need to go back to school to get some rest! I think, with the sun coming (yes, it is coming!), that should increase my energy level. I hope!

Helicopter Seeds

I love the little helicopter seeds from maple trees. You know the ones - you throw them up in the air and they spin back down like, well, little helicopters. A couple days ago I was out on a walk (trying to pretend it was a nice, sunny day, suitable for a walk) and the wind blew this down nearly in front of my face. I'd never seen a bunch of the seeds still hanging on the tree. I thought this was pretty cool, and I love how sharp the picture turned out despite the fact I used my phone to take it.

Not about the weather

I am guessing my readers would like to read about something other than me griping about the weather, which was my first thought. Out of sheer determination, I am avoiding that topic. I feel like I should write about something a little deeper than the weather (or the snow expected in the mountains today). Maybe I should discuss my thoughts about the meaning of life, what our purpose on this planet is, and how it is not about material possessions or power or who makes the most money. Sure, it is nice to buy expensive cars and jewelry and go on exotic vacations sunny locales, where there is not rain and temperatures in the 40's in June. Life is about feeling good about who we are and who we love and how much we enjoy spending time with them out in the backyard, huddled in our winter coats, using our umbrellas to block the wind as we plant our tiny tomoto plants which will nourish us in the fall (if they survive the cold temperatures and rain). It's not about the weather. No. Not about the weather.

Email Intruders - Spam and Such

Is there something about me that screams that I need Viagra? I think I've gotten about 50 email solicitation for the the little blue pill in the past 3 days. Is is so hard to believe I am not worried about improving my performance and increasing the size of my you-know-what in order to "make chicks go wild"? (Yes, pretty sure that was one of the headlines.) Do subject lines on emails that start with "You are stupid..." or "You are ugly..." really make so many people rush to open that email that it is profitable?

My email filter catches a ton of spam, but clearly, not everything. I recently found out I'd been spamming myself. (Yes, a dirty little secret I'd been keeping...) I got a sordid email, actually, several emails, and started clicking away in order to block the sender from sending more messages to my email box. Imagine my surprise when my own email address popped up under "sender". Great. Apparently my email address had been hijacked and was now being used to send nasty emails to half the population of the world. There goes my next job interview...

It is easy enough to delete the emails not caught by spam filters, but I am still bothered with wondering if so much money is made on spam ads that it makes them worthwhile, or if it is more along the lines of a virus? Do people just enjoy clogging up the email systems with junk? I don't know, but seems likely these people could use their powers for good and we'd all be a lot farther ahead. At the very least, maybe I'd be better informed about a kitchen gadget that slices, dices, makes dried fruit, creates the world's best smoothies, opens any can without creating sharp edges and comes with a fine set of knives if I order right away.

Trying to Embrace the Weather

The weather has me down. It has been a hard week for both Wife and I....not interpersonally, but rather hard mentally due to lack of energy brought on my the cold cloudiness. She heard that out of the past 4 months we have had only 5 days that were sunny all day long. That is a lot of cloudy days.

Yesterday afternoon I thought, "I'm going out on a walk anyway!" If it was a sunny day I would surely take a walk on my break, so I decided to go anyway. I walked. I took a few pictures on my camera phone. Am thinking I may need to stick a real camera in my work bag. I know we have a spare, just no memory card for it right now. Anyway, here's what I took. Notice that the one looking up through the trees makes the day appear to be sunny. It was not. At approximately the same time I was looking up, rain drops were trying to make their way down on top of my head.





After about 10 minutes, or so, my hands were freezing, and I was cranky that it had actually gotten so cold that I could see my breath. The moss on the tree was pretty cool though, so all was not a total loss. See the beauty where you can.

Take Another Look

I took a fresh look at my word cloud today, and the phrase that jumped out was "kids law." Pretty funny!

Oh, see Wife's Blog for the lastest our Boy Wonder's big accomplishment! We are so proud!

Law School Mama's Word Cloud

Here is the current word cloud of my blog. I love the way some of these phrases flow together, like "fun garden getting girl" (that would be our little Princess), "weekend wife" (sounds abour right during the school year, right Honey?, "exicted family feel" and "workyear zoo."

beach being bit blog boy cats class click comments dakota dogs envelope everyone excited family feel friend full fun garden getting girl going graduation happy kids law life mama nice night posted probably really school send shopping summer sun things today trip until week weekend wife wonder work year zoo

created at TagCrowd.com

Growing Things

Despite the lack of sunshine, it is finally almost feeling like summer. The past school year is behind me, I can register for the last section of my classes for next year today, we've already had a mini-vacation to the beach, Boy Wonder is almost out of school, the garden is underway, the sandbox is built, we've been to our first garage sales, and the propane tank on the barbecue is full. (I know this because I had to fill it after some hot dogs ended up conspicuously under-cooked last week.)

I feel myself taking nice, deep breaths and contemplating more than just getting through the next task - work, school, home/sleep, work, school, home/sleep. It feels like I have a life to live for a bit. Not that I am unhappy or not living life while at school, but summer is different. It is full of possibilities. It consists of my family, of days that last longer as the sun (?) stays out until late, of weekends that last for 2 whole days - not study day and then one other day to cram in all the chores and fun we can.

It is during this time that I feel the need to feed the non-academic side of my life. I want to let the artist roam free - create art in some manner - through writing, through gardening, through whatever strikes me. Wife asked me last night, after I'd decided to give up on the book I was trying to get into, if I'd like to read the one she'd just finished "unless I didn't want to be in touch with what everyone is reading and expand my mind."

Hmmm....actually, no, I don't want to expand my mind. I want to be entertained. She assured me the book was an easy read, requires little brain-power to get through, but does make you think. OK, I could probably do that, but it might have to wait until I get through the Kinsey Millhone alphabet mystery I picked up. No, I am not a big mystery reader - I like Alex Delaware (Jonathan Kellerman's creation) and Kinsey Millhone(Sue Grafton). I mostly stumbled upon each of them by accident many, many years ago. Still enjoy them when the mood (and time) strikes.

So, my mind is wandering to fun projects today - what I can create, what I can read, what I can grow. Now where is that sun??

Summer Update

We've gotten a few occasional glimmers of the sun over the past couple of weeks. Enough to make us hopeful that it is coming, but not enough to prevent the bitterness that it is not already here.

I'm working full time at my normal day job - up from the 32 hours I usually work during the school year. I've picked up a few hours from a local law firm that I am THRILLED to be working with. They are allowing me to do project work as they need it and as my schedule allows, which is perfect for me. So, I did not actually have to say good-bye to my laptop this summer. I don't exactly need more ram to keep up with all the work, but I've gotten a project or two a week so far. Nice people - fun work - great experience.

Started digging out a new area of the yard for a vegetable garden. Most of the plants are sitting in tiny pots waiting to be planted.

Built a sandbox (with benches!) for the kids. They have had a couple of "beach parties" despite the fact of no sun. They are adorable - and living testament to life being better at the beach :)

Last night we went to Pride Night at Boy Wonder's school. It was a chance for the kids to show off what they had been doing "all year" (but really only the last couple of weeks). Our son had a couple really nice books he'd made to show us - one on farm animals and one on zoo animals. We were really done in about 5 minutes, but encouraged him to give us a tour of the school to make it seem more of an event. He also got to demonstrate recess to us, so that was fun for the kids. It was really kind of disappointing that there was not much going on. Not sure what we expected, but we all left feeling that something was missing. Maybe some music, entertainment, games, refreshments...something would have added to the experience.

Anything else? Boy Wonder is rocking his swimming lessons! We are so proud and he is having a great time. They end this week, and it looks like the next class is already full, so he may be done with lessons for a bit. At least it has been a good start and he has had a successful experience.

We've just about got the new night-time routine down. Think we are mostly settling in to being a family with two parents home at night. I forget how much of an adjustment it can be - but sure is worth it for all of us!

Graduation - Not Mine

This morning I clicked on the video link to my law school's graduation, held this past weekend. The music was not recognizable, nor were most of the faces. Still, watching everyone march in, proudly wearing their caps and gowns, full of smiles and relief made me cry. I was struck by the huge significance of this event for all these people, many of whom were my day-student classmates (day program is three years, evening is four, but we attend some classes together). I was struck by the huge significance this will have for me and my family next year. It symbolizes four years of sacrifice and hard work, huge loans, and the start of a new career. In many ways, it is the passage from one life into another.

Next year, at this time, instead of tending my garden with the kids and hoping I am getting as good of a workout as if I'd trained on ellipticals, I will have just graduated and will be stressing about taking the bar. There probably won't even be time for gardening. Oh, surely I will be able to at least put in some beans, tomatoes and a few flowers, right? Especially with the help of my little Gardener Girl/Princess/Ballerina :)

Strange to consider. One more year. One more year. In one more year I will be the proud bearer of a Juris Doctorate degree. One more year. We can do this.

What about the zoo?

You will all be happy to know there was no need for gps tracking on Boy Wonder! He arrived home safely and excited about what a great time he'd had. Yippee!

"So, what was your favorite thing about the zoo?'

"Collecting things at the information center."

The boy is a paper products junkie, and brochures are just the thing to feed his habit. He will carry them around in a plastic grocery bag for the next week, along with anything else deemed particularly special right now, and may or may not ever look at them. Odd? I don't know since I've never had a six-year-old boy before, but seems a bit peculiar. Harmless enough though, and soon he will realize he can actually read those brochures. Way Fun!

Boy Wonder's Big Field Trip

Today our son is on his first big field trip - the first time out in the real world, under someone else's care, where there are a lot of other people, too. He is at the zoo. Last summer, with his day camp/kindergarten prep class he went on local field trips, but they were about 10 minutes away. Today he is at the zoo, over 30 minutes away. Actually, at work, I am quite close to him. That's kind of nice to think about.

Realistically, we know all will be fine, but still, seems like putting a gps tracker, like used for vehicle tracking, might have been a good idea. What if he is put into a group with the parent of one quiet, well-behaved child who won't have a clue of how to handle rowdy kids who don't listen? Will he wander off and get lost? Will someone take him? Last night, wife reviewed with him, once again, all of the rules about strangers and what to do if he gets lost. We felt better when he told us that their teachers will be at the front gate the whole time. So, there should be no kids from their class passing through those gates until they are supposed to!

Boy Wonder is very excited and I think will do well. We are excited for him, too, but still, just another step for us - especially Wife - of having him out of our control and at the mercy of the world. Hopefully, it will be a wonderful day!

2 parts fun, 1 part crankiness, mix until chilled

Remember the Facts of Life theme song? OK, some of you may be too young, and some of you may not be freaks about remembering the lyrics to theme songs (I am). It starts, "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life.." Well, that certainly is the truth! Wife summarized our weekend quite well in her post today, and was actually able to leave it feeling way more positive than we felt by the end of it yesterday. As always though, looking back, there were many good times.

I took both kids to Home Depot on Saturday morning for over 2 hours and they were really good. We had fun pricing lumber and other building materials for some garden projects, then picking out some veggie plants and seeds. We chatted about things we saw, watched a forklift, and generally had a nice, easy time. Another shining time was taking our Princess out for a bit of grocery shopping on Sunday morning. We managed to be gone for two hours because that seems to be how long I take to do any shopping no matter the size of my list (right, Wife? *grin*). Our girl is just so sweet and funny - she is wonderful to spend time with alone. We bought a little doll for under a buck - and a few bathtub turtles - on the way home she took such good care of them, introducing them to each other, sharing her slice of cheese with them....just too much cuteness :)

We don't seem to have our summer groove as a family going very well, yet. It i probably partly because we haven't yet had a "normal - no real plans" weekend yet, and also, we have not had reliable summer weather. The gloom is getting to us. Yes, it was about 100 degree last week at the beach, then we had highs during the week that were in the 50's. Crazy. (Side note: grass is growing like crazy, but is too wet to mow. Not looking forward to tackling that job when it does finally dry out a bit!) Now, the Princess and I both have colds..and I know colds are not caused by temperature....but I'll blame the weather anyway. It just feels like the right thing to do.

Come on summer sun! We are ready for relaxing nights in the backyard and some barbecue weather! How about some high 70's/low 80's...perfect!

Beach Report

Many of you will have already seen pictures on Wife's blog. Our trip to the beach was fun, and naturally, we wish we were still there. It was very hot the day we arrived, so as soon as we checked into our hotel, we headed for the beach. We'd not been to this particular beach before, and found there was a tiny stream running from the shore (probably from the mountains) to the ocean. It was perfect to be able to play in safely away from the unpredictable surf. It didn't take long for the kids to find they could lay down in the water, and were soon soaked and caked with wet sand. Perhaps some swimwear would have been a better choice than their clothes, but truthfully, we don't get too uptight about those kinds of things.

After fun on the beach, we all cleaned up (way necessary!) and headed into town for a bit of shopping and dinner. After than, we got the kids to sleep at a reasonable time and then were very grateful for some wonderfully quiet time spent reading on the balcony to the sounds of the waves until the sun went down. Ah....Perfection!

We stayed three nights - with the days filled with shopping, eating, playing in the arcade, riding the carousel, and other typical beach fun. The evenings, I must confess, were my favorite times. I love it when the kids are safely asleep, exhausted, and Wife and I can read and talk with the sounds of the waves in the background, and a beautiful sunset looming on the horizon. That is some seriously good R & R. Where do I sign up for more??

Easing into the summer

So, I have been officially done with my third year of law school for just over 2 weeks now. Mostly, I am beginning to feel more relaxed and into the swing of family life, but not entirely. We've been out of town for the past two weekends, which has been fun, and exciting, but hardly "normal." The kids are getting more used to me being home, but the household still erupts into chaos the minute I walk in the door. It is fun to be greeted enthusiastically by everyone, including the dogs, but after that, the kids tend to spin a bit. We are working on normalizing this, but as I said, being away from home has prevented a certain degree of that. Oh - and the kids have started swimming lessons, and I feel so lucky that so far, I have been able to be home in time for them! That could never happen when I am in school. Boy Wonder is doing fantastic - and the Princess is a natural in the water. Swimming is such an important skill, and Wife and I are thrilled they are having so much fun.

So, I am feeling more relaxed, but finding it takes some time to come down from the internship/work/school/home to sleep mode. If only we had some extra cash and a week's worth of vacation we could do some retail therapy - preferably in and near Disneyland - new clothes, a new watch, designer jewelry, maybe some shoes, and something fun with Stitch on it :)

Short of that, it will be gardening, barbecuing and playing in the sprinkler in the backyard. Not a bad way to spend a summer :)