[summer break in 80 days] day 22

9:43 At the playground. The boys are not excited by it anymore. They play but not with the enthusiasm they had the first day. And each time we come, it seems hotter and more humid.


(Ryan is using this as a punching bag.)

9:55 Ryan has absconded with my camera.

10:06 The boys are in the pool. I had to go back and find Andy's goggles. In his haste, Ryan swung the toy bucket and some items fell out. OK too hot! I'm going in.

The water was warm, 85, but it still felt better than sitting in the moist air. There were two overly friendly boys who asked to play with the surf skates. Ryan will not talk to strangers. The brothers kept getting closer and talking to me. I could tell they wanted attention but I am not the one to give it to them.

Andy & I did aerobics starting at 10:30. We went to the deep end which was easier for me and seemed to keep Andy contained.



1:00 The rec center was a bust. The playground is cool but I don't think it's open to the public. The gate was open so we went in. We did go inside and check it out. But it's just gymnastics and dance and the empty skate park. The mood was tolerant but not welcoming. I did see T whom I have only seen a few times over the years in Target or Publix. Since our kids go to a different schools, I just don't see my friends like I used to when we first moved here. Though to be honest, I probably wouldn't see them much anyone. I am not a social butterfly.




(Andy is practicing his Tae Kwon Do is the reflection of the glass.)


(My son likes to do things differently.)

1:39 Done with the grocery shopping. They had no chocolate milk and we still managed to spend $80! We have to back tomorrow.

2:07 Groceries are put away. Mail brought in and ignore. Laundry is going. Ryan is playing with trains and play-doh and Andy is watching Thomas videos. Time to relax.

4:07 Caught up on twitter. Sad to see Farrah Fawcett is dead. At least she didn't die on a plane like some sap did today on Air Tranny. Sort of feel like a nap. I would edit my photos if I didn't have to move.

I talked to B some. She is so busy this summer taking the kids to tutoring and various sports activities. I am starting to look into tae kwon do for Andy. I don't know if we can afford it or find a place that will work well for him.

I edited my photos from today. Yes, I deleted the ones that Ryan took of me. Yuck!

7:01 Read on twitter that Michael Jackson had a heart attack and died. Then the jokes started. There were no jokes for Farrah Fawcet and she had butt cancer.

Thinking about the jokes... Gail was quick to tell or repeat them. His business was perfect for that as he spoke to people all over the country. And his humor was rather sick like my own. I wonder how Gail would have done with twitter?


(I had to stop Andy from eating this before I could shoot it. I noticed it was gone a few minutes after I walked away. Yes, they are edible. No, he never swallows, just chews like gum.)

[summer break in 80 days] day 21

It's 9:50 pm and I am just getting to this. I just can't seem to blog little bits during the day. I think the problem is twitter. Somehow, I went from 40 followers to 200+! I really need to whittle that list down so I can keep up.

Gardening: I laid the barrier cloth and started laying out the blocks. I know I am doing a crappy job as I didn't get any sand and the ground is not the most level. But this isn't a large patio and won't be used often. I used all the blocks in the front and went to get more from the back. I used the wagon and piled on 8 blocks. I started to pull the wagon and thought I might lose my arms! So I took out 2 blocks. It was not much better. I looked back and realized my problem is that the tires are flat. After I unloaded the blocks I went to pump up the tires. Only 2 would fill, the others would fill then leak the air. One was filled with water. I thought my dad had gotten a new tire but they all look bad, dry rot. I got this wagon in 2002 and it may be time for a new one. It stays out in the rain and sun and that has to be rough on it. I only made 2 loads before I was exhausted and nauseous. I will get the rest on Friday.

I had 4 orders to pull. Not too bad, it took less than an hour. The sneak peeks are started to show up for the CHA show next month. I am not excited at all. Ironic that the show will be in Orlando and I can't go because I have no one to watch the boys. I want to concentrate on photography now.

Adolescence has hit the household. Ryan has been taking his clothes off during the day. I found him the other day on the couch under a blanket. I told him he could do that but in his bedroom with the door shut. Today, Andy came out upset. What is wrong? "Where are Ryan's clothes?" Oh joy. I need to find a book. I did tell that it is OK to explore their bodies but only their own bodies and not each others. By the time my mom tried to talk to me, I knew it all from kids at school. (Yes, a Catholic school.) Help!

My neighbors Washingtonian Palm died and they had it cut down today. They think it got hit by lightning. The guy who has pruned hacked our palms in the past is the one who did the work. His wife asked if I was about do, actually she said I was about due for another pruning but I think I am OK. There are no branches on the Queen Palms to prune and only a few fronds on the Washingtonian.

[summer break in 80 days] day 20

It's 9:15 pm and I am sitting in the family room watching a lightning show to the south of us. There is no noise, it's what we used to call heat lightning. Now we know that's it just a storm too far away for us to hear the thunder.



I raked out the front bed. I moved the dirt & mulch over to the other bed since it is lower. There were a lot of thick, tenacious weeds. Those I threw away. I laid out the bed and planned the plantings. I would love a robelinii in the corner. I am not sure if I can afford one, even a small one. I am not going to fill the area with plants. I want some breathing room.

Andy is still talking about the pool. Today he found his bank. He has about $18. So now we would only need $19,982. Maybe I can use his 529 plan that we have set up for college?

Two more orders to pull. These were very small. Each order was under $20 including shipping. The forums are dead. I'd shut the whole place down if I knew I could break even. But I have until March 2011 paid for the site so I will stick around some more.

Andy and I watched Bolt. Ryan did not want to watch it so we went into my room. Andy kept leaving and coming back. I got bored after the first 15 minutes and started twittering. I am glad that we only rented this and didn't buy it.

Eating Well Magazine has some frozen desert recipes. They look so good and easy. I found popsicle molds on amazon and I think I am going to order some. I am missing my Edy's Juice Pops. But the price is outrageous and and I can't justify the cost. I could make my smoothie's into ice pops. I even found a recipe for margarita pops! I'll let you know if I try them.

Not photographing today. The storms came through after dinner. They made a lot noise and flash but little rain.

[summer break in 80 days] day 19

Ryan got out his play-doh and I grabbed the camera. It goes with the weekly theme of dream/pretend/play. I finished up the cherries this morning. They are so good!

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We are at the playground. The breeze feels nice but the humidity is still high. The pool is going to feel so good. I think our neighbors are building a pool. I am a little jealous. It would be nice but there is a bit of maintenance involved and I hate maintenance.

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The pool temperature is 85. Almost too warm. I water jogged for 20 minutes then played with the boys. Mostly Ryan.

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We went to lunch and then to Target. I let Ryan lead the way through books to video games, electronics to garden center, clothes to toys, linens and furniture and finally to the groceries. He looks at things but doesn't ask for anything. I tell him to tell me if he sees anything he would like for his birthday. So far the list includes an iPod Touch and Tinkertoys.

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We saw that our neighbors have had a pool installed. They have the same model house as we do. When we get home, Andy says that we only have a patio. Do you want a pool? "Yes!" Well, we will have to save a lot of money. It might take years. I think he has mentioned it about a half dozen times since then. Uh oh.

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B calls to ask how to organize her books on her Kindle. She knows I don't have a kindle but also knows I will figure it out. Damn her for knowing I am curious.

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I went out again after dinner with my camera. Now I know that the light is good about 7:30 pm. It was very breezy so I wasn't sure about the photos I got. I used my tripod as well.

[summer break in 80 days] day 18

I once read it takes 16 occurances to make a habit. I don't think that works for me. Yesterday was Day 17 and I completely forgot to blog until this morning. Today is Day 18 and it is after 6 pm and I am forcing myself to blog. I think it has become too routine.

Ryan was watching infomercials. There was one for Malibu Pilates. It looked interesting so I started investigating it. They advertise on TV that a 30 day trial is on $14.95. But it costs about $300 to keep the product but that is not listed on the site. I found a similar machine at amazon.com for $200. It got mixed reviews. I looked some more. There is Euro Pilates close to me. Holy Smokes! I had no idea how expensive it is. Classes are about $50 to $60 for each group session. And this place requires at least 2 private sessions so you can learn all the moves first. Maybe I will look at a DVD first.

Ryan watched the Iowa Corn Indy 250 instead of NASCAR. The NASCAR race is in Sonoma and started later in the day. He won't watch if he thinks the race will go too late. So we watch Formula One racing. It's odd hearing all those foreign voices. There are a couple of Mexican drivers in NASCAR but they are the exception. Andy was disappointed that we wouldn't be watching NASCAR. I thought he wanted to watch it on the TV but it turns out he wanted my laptop so he could watch it with 4 different views. He wears headphones but still Ryan feels like he has to leave the room.

I was more productive today. I pulled the 2 orders I had. It doesn't seem like much but they were both large orders. I also made a couple of cards. I worked on my Monday Mosaic. I couldn't remember how do it and realizes I made the template wrong last week. It was much quicker the second time around.

It's been very hot this last few days. The heat index was over 100. The windows fog up overnight. I am very grateful that our a/c works well.

[summer break in 80 days] day 17

Such a lazy day. It started out OK. But I think looking at the heat advisory made me sluggish & tired.

Gardening: I sprayed on more Round-Up. I like that new dispenser. I did find an alternative to the chemicals and will try it once this stuff is gone. I know I said Iwas going to wait until jasmine was done blooming but I got carried away with the Round-Up application and it was the only bed I hadn't sprayed. So I started pruning. Because there isn't much light reaching the floor of the bed, there really aren't many weeds down there. It was basically the jasmine all tangled up with the crape myrtles. I had intentions of leaving the crapes alone but it was easier to prune that detangle. I filled up the last of my trash bags and had to stop. I didn't make much progress. This is a big job. I did find the lopping shears. They were sitting outside the shed in the elements. I will be surprised if they even open. I have 3 red any bites. These are different from fire ant bites, sort of like spider bites. They take about 24 hours to start itching. I think they might be weaver ants.

While I was sitting and dripping, I looked at the weather on my iPod Touch. Temp was 88 already and with the humidity the heat index was 99! No wonder I was drenched. I went in, had my smoothie, took a shower and felt like crawling into bed.

I didn't do much besides some laundry and feed the kids. Lazy days can be good.

[summer break in 80 days] day 16

Breakfast: Bagels for the boys, oatmeal for me.

Gardening: I cleaned up another bed. I found 2 indian hawthorn shrubs under weeds. I thought about transplanting the one but decided not to. It was small and not great. The other was clearly dead as I didn't need to dig it out. I finally dug out the weed that my dad mistook for ornamental grass. One benefit to cleaning out this bed is that the jasmine has traveled over here and is blooming. Every brush of the vine brought out its musky scent. Ahh. I moved the blocks over to the bed by my bedroom window. Now this is no longer a bed and can be mowed with the rest of the lawn.

Amazingly, I had a bit of energy left and dug out some more weeds by the ligustrum. These had long roots and I could not pull them by hand. I trimmed a bit more from the ligustrum until my pruners broke. Bother! The spring either broke or came lose. I could not find it. Oh well, these pruners have served me well considering how much I have abused them. Now I have to find another pair. Amazon has them but not under their store so no free shipping. I did find some at Gardener's Warehouse. I hate paying for shipping.

Smoothie then shower time. I try to let the boys wear what they want. But Ryan had on red plaid shorts and a striped shirt. The colors really didn't go and the shorts are a bit short. So I made him change. He grumbled but did put on some denim shorts.

Lunch & the bank. Then we went to Muvico. The boys wanted to play a video game before we went in. They each played the NASCAR race. They aren't used to using gas & brakes. Ryan did pretty well and won.

UP! was good but kind of sad too. It's not the kind of movie I associate with Pixar. It seems older than the usual pre-school fodder. Ryan enjoyed it, especially the action scenes. Andy couldn't sit still and lost his shoe at one point. Sigh.

After the movie, the boys played more video games. Ryan loved the air hockey even though I didn't let him win. Final tally: $20.50 for the movie, $10 for games. Thank goodness they don't eat popcorn!

We drove by the somewhat new Rec Center. The skate park looks kind of cool. It was empty. Then off to Lowe's for Round Up and barrier cloth. Ryan wanted to walk through the entire store. After following him through a through aisles, I told him enough. Well, I let him walk through the store with Andy and I looked at some patio furniture.

We got home and Ryan turned on the TV. He watched American Gladiators on ESPN Classic.

Dinner: Chicken nuggets for the boys; Fried Eggs followed by cauliflower for me. (I ate them like 2 mini meals.)

I have been thinking about "the light" in photography. I am not able to go when the light is best. But I need to try. I looked up the twilight times in PhotoCalc. (PhotoCalc is a cool iPhone app) Tonight's twilight is 8:29 to 8:52. Well, Ryan goes to bed at 8:30 and Andy goes to bed after 9 so maybe I can do it. Anyway, I went out and took some shots after dinner but before baths. About 8:20, I noticed a warmer glow outside and grabbed my camera. I only had 5 minutes so I did what I could. After I put Ryan to bed, I noticed the light was cooler. Perhaps the PhotoCalc works for those areas that see the sun set. Here, the sun goes behind the trees so we never see it touch ground or water. One thing I did realize that I didn't like, the damn bugs! I guess I need to prepare next time and put on some bug balm. Or maybe get out in the morning instead of stumbling to me computer to check email.

[summer break in 80 days] day 15

Breakfast: Sausage & biscuits for Andy. Oatmeal for me. Cookies for Ryan.

Ryan doesn't want us to do aerobics. He diesn't want to swim alone. So we made a plan. Andy will swim with Ryan for the first 30 minutes. Then I will do aerobics with Andy for the next 30 minutes.



These shrubs are planted around the fitness building at the clubhouse. I love the little yellow flowers. Yellow is one of my favorite colors in the garden. I may have to figure out what they are and plant some at home. They do get tall, about 4 or 5 feet. It's hard to tell since these are pruned regularly.

We went to the playground before the pool. It's hot. I got some shots of Andy in his Rappin' Raffi glasses. Yo!





At the pool. Finally connected to the internet. But the signal is so weak. Why do I keep trying? Ah well, it's too hot so I am getting in the water. The challenge will be not to go under. I washed and dried my hair before we left & it's looking pretty good.

I sat on the edge and the boys swam and played and came over to me and then. The pool is getting more crowded each week.

At 10:30, Ryan goes to get his pool toys and Andy and I join the aerobics group. Andy is more distracted and keeps leaving and coming back. I stay because I need the exercise. Ryan played with his torpedos and throws then too close to the other swimmers. So fun to have to split your attention 3 ways.

When we are finally done exercising, a woman approaches to tell me about Ryan. She says she understands. Really? I am skeptical. Then she says she has experience with autism (she whispers it like people used to whisper cancer 100 years ago). Her son will be 45 next month and has autism. Oh. Glad I kept my mouth shut. Her son lives alone in Wisconsin and has a job. She said he had his things mean self-stimming behaviors but for the most part hides his disability. He grew up in a time when autism was cause for shame. Not that it is great now but it is getting better.

The problem with me in the pool is that I don't get any shots. I may have to swim less on Mondays.

Lunch: Wendy's for Ryan, CFA for Andy and me.

Errands: Bank & chiropractor. Good adjustment. My neck made a lot of noise. And Paula loved the cookies.



We see this poor guy on our way to the chiropractor. Though he looks kind of happy strumming the foam guitar. But it's 95º and that straw hat can't help much.

Ryan wanted to drive by Busch Garden so we did that on the way to Publix. You can see the roller coasters from the street. There is one that has a big drop. Andy said, "I'm afraid." I say he didn't have to go on any rides that might scare him. "We can't go there." Do you want to go? We can go as a family. "I can go with my family." Ryan, do you want to go as a family? "Yes!" Oh dear! Looks like I need to save some money & lose some weight so I can fit into those seats.

Nice to be home and after I check my email, twitter and have a cookie, I need a nap.

Dinner: Chicken nuggets for the boys; Cottage cheese, tomato & cucumber salad for me.

The cookies are gone. I might try a pound cake or cupcakes next. Martha Stewart has a new book out called Cupcakes. I don't make them enough to justify the purchase. I think I will look at it next time we go to the bookstore.

[summer break in 80 days] day 14

Breakfast: bagels for the boys, oatmeal for me.


(summer 2002, weird crop but I had to leave Duffy in)

Gardening: I attacked the ligustrum today. I bought this years ago for $250. It was 5' tall. I wanted a small shade tree to view outside the kitchen window. Ligustrum is actually a shrub which can be shaped into a tree. The nursery had begun the training and all I had to do was continue the process which meant trimming off any low branches as they sprouted. Many people prune ligustrums into a half round ball. Though I think it's kind of cool, I prefer a more natural look. Yes, I see the irony of pruning a shrub into a "natural looking" tree. The tree did well. Then came the 5 years of neglect. Last year it was really dry and my sprinklers were not working. I though we were going to lose the tree. A year later and it does look really sad. I trimmed away most of the lower branches. I couldn't find my lopping shears so I did what I could with my hand pruners. I pulled a lot of moss of the tree. Though many trees can handle some moss, weak ones will only get weaker. I thought ligustrum was drought tolerant and just read that it isn't. Oops. (I'll get some photos later of the hack job.)

Lunch: Grilled cheese for everyone. I added baby carrots & sunchips to mine. I finally had to get the individual packs of sunchips to keep me from eating half the bag. Works, but I wish they had a pack with just plain. I am not too keen on the bad breath from sour cream & onion.

Took a nap.

Worked on getting some favorite photos of the boys in Lightoom. I made 3 more templates in Photoshop and will use them to make album pages from the family. Sure beats doing 32 separate scrapbook pages.

I looked out and saw the rabbit in the yard. I have no precious plants out there so I let him have free reign. He mostly eats the weeds that pretend they are lawn. I took some shots from my bedroom so there is a window and screen blurring the image some. I even got out my longer zoom & used my tripod but the images were not much better than good.



Dinner: Chicken nuggets for the boys. Spaghetti & sauce, tomato & cucumber salad for me.

There was a lot of rumbling and lightning but little rain. It mostly passed to the west of us. But Ryan wanted to skip baths. Ryan couldn't find his cup and I let him get another one. I looked and couldn't find it either. The problem is that Ryan only drinks chocolate milk. If left too long, the milk goes sour and the cup needs to be thrown away. We switched to thermoses last year which help keep the milk colder, longer. So now instead of replaces a $4 straw cup, we have to spend $15 on a thermos. I finally checked my office and found it there.

[summer break in 80 days] day 13

I slept really well until 3 am. Then I was awake until 5:30. 6:15 came too quickly.

Last night I put the cookies in the cupboard. Out of sight, out of mind? Not really but I did resist.



I attacked the other 2 indian hawthorns. The middle one was basically survivng. I may take it out all together if I find some energy. My dad had some round-up in the shed. I sprayed the front beds and used a lot. (By 6 pm, there was more brown than green in the beds.)

I made a father's day card for my dad and took some photos of the cookies.



The rest of the day was filled with work, laundry, routine meals, photo editing, getting Ryan to stop picking on Andy... the same boring stuff I have been posting for 13 days now!