[summer break in 80 days] day 32

8:40 After a slow start, I am up and dressed (in yesterday's clothes) and breakfast is done. Also accomplished, the stack of mail that has been growing on the kitchen counter since dad left. Mail has been opened, junk thrown away and the rest stacked neatly for action and filing. I hate opening bills, it's so depressing.

I want to do some gardening. I am not sure how sweaty I want to get. I will repot the crossandra. I was thinking I should plant them in the ground since they can get rather shrubby. But then I read that they can be invasive so I will keep them in pots to control their spread.

Don't have any potting soil so I couldn't repot the crossandra. I'll get some tomorrow at Target and look for some more plants. Maybe some aloe.

10:31 Done with the pruning today. I stopped when I filled 2 bags. Now there are 7 and our pick up only allows for 6 items. I know they will pick up the extra but I don't want to push it. Saw ants crawling in the vines but never felt the sting. Sometimes I don't and then notice the itching later. (I have found several bites on my arms and legs. The itching is awful even after taking an antihistamine.)

The first crape I pruned is already growing back. The second one is not. It won't crush me to lose a couple as I think I placed them too close together.

The yard is a swamp. Mike had his sprinklers running even with all the rain we got last week. Since he is higher, he doesn't notice the flooding I get. This is the first Sunday I have been out so I didn't know how bad it got. I need some muck shoes. My old running shoes are soaked.

I cleaned up a bit and found two of my CF cards for my camera. I knew they were about somewhere.

5:50 Found Andy's recorder. He ran away covering his ears thinking I was going to yell. But I didn't and he came back. I had to download the manual to set the date & time again.

7:43 Am trying to read Good Calories, Bad Calories. I purchased the eBook version and didn't know know it was thick and tedious. Sometimes puts me to sleep. But what is interesting is that some cholesterol drugs were found to cause cancer in mice. This is considering an acceptable side effect since the benfits are supposed to outweigh the risks. But studies found that reducing cholesterol would only gain a person 1 month to 1 year more on his life based on other health issues. Gail took cholesterol lowering druges for years. He started taking lipitor in the mid 1990s. One of the side effects of lipitor was cancer in mice. More specifically, sarcoma which Gail had. So he took drugs that were only proven to gain him maybe a year extra in life for a cancer risk that he was in the small percentage to contract. It bothers me that Gail's cancer could have been caused by a drug that might not have shown any benefit. And Gail never mentioned to his doctors that the small print does indicate sarcomas in mice. Unanswered questions that sit in the back of my mind.

[summer break in 80 days] day 31

I was enjoying a nice morning snooze when the alarm went off to get my butt moving. Gah!

9:57 Just done with the gardening. Found some large crape branches snapped in two from the heavy jasmine vines. I'd say I was about 3 years late in pruning the jasmine. There are no leaves along the fence, it has grown higher into the trees. It's a good thing I gave up the idea of becoming a master gardener or planning gardens for a living as I clearly don't know what I am doing.

Yesterday I saw a garden wagon at Lowe's. It is bigger and better than ours and is only $99. I put ours out on the curb for someone to take. I'll put a sigh on it later if it is still here. (I did put a sign on it in the afternoon, it was gone within an hour.)

2:11 Being lazy & reading.

9:04 The fireworks have started. I am always amazed by how much money people spend on this stuff. I love watching but I get so impatient between the bursts.

[summer break in 80 days] day 30

8:56 time to pull orders. All I want to do is go back to bed.

I tried clearing out the A/C drain but very little water came out. I got the orders pulled so we left early.

11:52 At Lowe's. The boys are in the bathroom.

I am sitting in the patio furniture section waiting for Ryan to get done with his wandering. Andy was following Ryan but got separated.

I only found one plant to get. Seems like every thing was meant for full sun.

We went to Bed Bath & Beyond. I wanted to get the Calphalon loaf pan but they only the large which is 10"x5". I got the Wilton 9"x5" and saved $10.

1:07 At Barnes & Noble. I had a book I wanted to get but they didn't have it. So I checked out the bargain section. I picked up 2 that have been on my list. I would rather have the eBooks but these are cheaper. The boys are wandering, I hope they are being good.

That had to be one of the cheapest trips to B&N, only $22. It helped that Ryan just got one Mad Libs books.

We went to the toy store. Ugh, their a/c was not working. It didn't seem to bother the boys and they scooted around on the turtle and plasma car. We added more items to Ryan's wish list for his birthday. I need to add those items to the amazon list.

We went to the hair salon. Teresa was nice but not very confident. She took too long and it wasn't that good of a cut. She didn't even use the trimmer.

We went to Toys R Us because they had thermoses on sale. There wasn't a large variety but the boys each found one they like. Andy got an exercise mat and Ryan asked for a racing set for his birthday.

3:21 Home. Not much email then I remember that this is the holiday for weekday workers.

7:56 Finally got the sink drained cleared. The sulfuric acid did the trick in 15 minutes. The stuff I used before was lye based and since I think the clog is partially caused by Ryan's toothpaste, a soap, it had no effect. Since I had to use half the bottle, I poured the other half in the working drain to get it cleared of the forming gunk.

There is still a lot of black gunk in the one drain that seems to be working fine. I cannot get the drain plug out to clean it though I think that would lead to a major gag fest. I wish I knew what to use. I have tried bleach, vinegar, baking soda, bio-klean and now sulfuric acid. Nothing dissolves it.

[summer break in 80 days] day 29

(I call them crate cakes.)

9:34 More friggin rain! No swimming today.

11:26 In the car on our way to lunch/chiro/publix.

Chiro did the second neck adjustment and pain went down my shoulder blade. When I stood up he used the tapping thing to make the pain go away. Meanwhile the boys were fighting over the ball. Sigh.

We saw one of Ryan's classmates and her mom at publix. Ryan did not say hi because he doesn't like to see school friends outside of school. So why does he want to go to Long? He confuses me?

1:31 Home again. Groceries are put away, mostly. Email has been read and it's time to relax.

2:48 The boys have built a new track layout. When they build together, the tracks go aound the train table and through the walkways. Andy was trying to recreate Henry's Tunnel. I helped him make it fit. I found one on eBay but it's $50 and it's not a double wide tunnel.

6:02 Finally made a card for my hairdresser's new baby. I really like the way it turned out. We are going tomorrow for haircuts and will drop off the gifts. I wonder how the boys will be will someone else cutting their hair. They have been a trial this week. Must be all the rain.




9:09 Andy's gone to bed. I noticed water in the garage. It means the a/c drain is clogged up again. I need to remember to vacuum out the water before it gets bad. Such a poor design that it clogs up every summer.

[summer break in 80 days] day 28

7:18 Well, heck! So much rain yesterday and it looks like it will continue today. So no gardening. I guess I can get some cleaning down inside.

9:35 I tackled the lanai today. My dad uses it as his workroom and leaves all kind of crap on my potting bench. I threw away too large and heavy bags full of trash. I am not blaimless here. There were some dead plants I finally got rid of. I need to get some plastic boxes so dad can store his stuff without the rain seeping in. The galvanized boxes looked nice but aren't all that practical as they can hold water. I moved a metal planting rack to the front door. It just fits and I am thinking I may move it back. I would like some annuals by the front door. I would be more likely to take care of them if I see them everyday and they can be easily changed with new flowers.

10:51 Taking a break from all my domestic accomplishments. OK, it wasn't that many but comapred to my recent days of sloth... I made some popsicles, took photos, made a pound cake, changed the laundry and took a shower.

It's still gray outside but the rain has stopped for now.

3:06 My pound cake failed. It came out easy enough and when I flipped it back over, I noticed batter leaked out! So I put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes. I thought it might be the glass pan versus metal. I have seen some recipes where it makes a difference. But it wasn't the material but the size. This glass pan is only 8"x4 1/2" instead of 9"x5". If I had known, I could have not poured as much batter into the pan. But it's too late now and I don't have enough eggs for another loaf. Let me tell you, the parts that did cook were SO tasty! I will be making it again.

Now I have to figure out what to make. I don't feel like cookies, they take too long. Brownies? Bar cookies?

5:36 Brownie cupcakes are in the oven. I used a recipe from Martha. It called for 11 ounces of semi-sweet chocloate broken up. A bag of semi-sweet chips is 11 ounces. Why didn't it just say a bag of chips? I had a taste of the batter but it did nothing for me. What?! I think it may have something to fo with me eating the top of the pound cake which did cook. Oh I felt a bit illafterwards and have wanted nothing since.

Yes, it's still raining.

6:02 Good grief! The cupcakes all fell. I give up.



9:32 At least the popsicles came out OK. I might add some more orange juice next or some more sugar. And I want to try some more flavors.

[summer break in 80 days] day 27

9:17 I had to stop weeding because of the rain. I thouht about staying but decided to be responsible and go in. About 39 seconds later the wind oicked up and the downpour started. I did bring my tools in but left an almost filled bag under the jasmine. I wonder how filled it will get.

6:36 Oh the day has flown by. OK not really.

The rain did let up a bit and I got the bag and tied it up. The storms continued on and off all day. I did get the Christmas Tree put away, finally! We watched The Wizard of Oz. Andy started out with me then left once they got to Oz. Then Ryan showed up and watched the rest of it with me.

I was going to make some pound cake then realized I didn't have a loaf pan. So I made almond poppy seed muffins. Yummy!

8:01 Oops! I went next door to borrow a loaf pan. I said I was going out and as usual got no reply. But I was gone for 20 minutes and the boys had started to worry. Ryan went out to look for me but didn't know where I was.

[sumer break in 80 days] day 26

8:19 Making breakfast a little late today. I was fooling aroung on the computer and getting stuff ready to mail. Things I should have done yesterday.

9:19 I have been very lax about calorie counting. I have hit a plateau and it's very frustrating.



10:04 At the pool waiting for Ryan to go in before me.

11:07 Thunder. Good thing we got our hour of swimming. L was here and I talked to her for half an hour. I water jogged the first half hour. I can't believe that even though the boys were done swimming when the thunder came, they still got upset. Silly.



We had to stop by FedEx. I have customer who only buy stuff at 50-70% off. This time it wouldn't fit in a flat rate box. But the FedEx rate was about as Priority Flat Rate. It will just take twice as long for her to get her stuff. Oh well, she waited over 6 months since the product was released, she can wait a few extra days.

12:01 In line for CFA drive thru.



Boys were getting on my nerves in the car. We spent some quiet time when we got home.

2:36 Looking at the Lego catalog. You can now buy individual pieces. I would love to get the Taj Mahal and the Cafè Corner and the Green Grocer. But then I might have to let the kids play with them and there goes $590.00 (for all 3 sets).



8:04 Bath time!

9:48 Thinking about bed. And about all the tragedy that keeps happening in the world. Tonight a train exploded in Italy and a plane crashes in a small country in the Indian Ocean. I don't watch TV or read the newspapers. But I twitter and see it there. I am not sure this is good for me. I hover too close with depression and one thing that helps is remaining ignorant to a lot of the tragedy and suffering I cannot change. I have been feeling some unexplained anxiety and maybe this is the cause.

[summer break in 80 days] day 25

11:04 Still feel lazy. Talked to my dad. Sometimes I feel so isolated down here and miss being up there. Then again...

Finally got off my butt and made a card. I smudged the ink a bit, bother. Ryan is watching a baseball game in my bedroom. Andy is watching NASCAR on my laptop. Ryan keeps running out to check the action on the laptop. The boys have broken the remote for the TV in my bedroom so channel surfing is not easy.

3:01 Just finished a bowl of watermelon. I was craving something so I finally cut it up. As I sliced into the melon, it split in half. I never had that happen before. It was supposed to be seedless. Not too many black ones, quite a few white ones. Oh well, I just consider them as insoluble fiber.

5:04 Oh good gracious! I think I have to get rid of my chair. It renders me unconcious! Hours go by and I get nothing accomplished!

I did take some photos of my Uncle Sam Wood Posts. Or are they knobs? And I finished the card for Jen.

5:31 I am just now realizing that I said I would have a "garage" sale next weekend. Since it is summer, it's too got to do it in the garage so I will have it inside. Which means... I have to clean my house!

9:22 Boys are in bed. One is alseep the other one is listening to his iPod. Very lazy day. Last one for a while is I don't want to humiliate myself with a messy house.

[summer break in 80 days] day 24

I tried using the scary drain cleaner in the plastic bag yesterday. I let it sit for about 6 hours. It didn't work. I am trying again today. There is no smell. Perhaps this is not the scariest one with muratic acid?

8:35 Breakfast is done and laundry is going. Would really like to back to bed now.

10:14 I guess the 87% humidity didn't bother me so much because I worked for over an hour in the garden. I filled 5 trash bags. I really need to get a composter but it could not have handled all of that anyway. I got another ant bite. You can't feel them crawling on you when you are sweating and are scraping against branches. You can feel the bite and sting. I have another crape unearthed. It's branches were quite long but so tangled in the jasmine that they had to go. I cut a lot of bare jasmine vine. I could not tell if they were redundant so we shall see in a few days if there are dead leaves. If the boys were more adventurous, they could have had a cool hide out under there. Very few weeds and cool in the shade.

11:20 Showered and dressed. And finding it hard to concentrate on solitaire. Nap?

2:45 Gray day and I did enjoy a nap after lunch. Still can't find any motivation to be productive.

4:00 Finally finished reading Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. Basically, you need to had passion and drive and willingness to work hard to achieve great things. Now what?

6:06 My friend S called. I haven't talk to her in a long time. She is at scrapbook store garage sale and someone is looking for Deluxe Cuts templates. S knows I don't scrap anymore so she called. I agreed to sell my templates (cheap!) so I had to make photo templates out of them. I just spent a couple of hours do just that so know I have a lot of variety when it comes to photo mosaics. I might make them available for download on my photo blog. I have to figure that part out. Time for dinner.

8:09 I have just been dismissed. Saturday is washing hair day for the boys. The rest of the week they take their baths without my help. I help with the hair, make sure their head is wet, dispense the shampoo (to make sure they don't use too much) and help with the rinsing. I poured the shampoo into Andy's hands and he said "Thank you." I stayed and he said it again. Do you want me to leave? "Yes!" Oh.

[summer break in 80 days] day 23

9:00 Andy came out wearing a green striped shirt and blue plaid shorts. I was going to let it be until I remembered we have to go out today. I told him he had to change. He came back wearing blue stripe shirt and blue plaid shorts. Oy!

9:45 Blocks & bench moved. I decided to skip the wagon and move them by hand. I thought I could move 3 at a time but 2 is better. I don't know how many loads I did, maybe 13, but with the last few my triceps were burning. They are going to hurt tomorrow. The patio is uneven but it doesn't bother me enough to move the blocks, spread sand and redo it. Maybe next winter when the weather cools off again.

10:55 Showered & dressed. I am awaiting Ryan's decision to eat out or home. If the rain stays away, I want look at some rocks for the garden bed. I need to price them.

11:31 Drive thru at CFA. Yeah, I am lazy. Ryan didn't want to go out by Andy started to cry when he thought we would stay home. I am powerless over their tears.

We went to Wesley Chapel Nursery. In the past, they were the best source for mulch and stone in bulk and ponds. They have increased their plant materials but their prices seem high. And they only carry the river rock in bulk. I don't need a yard and don't want to pay $40 in delivery charges. I did see a robellinii for $40 which gives me hope. I don't care that it is small.

12:38 On the way home from Publix. We saw a deputy giving a ticket to a woman illegally parked in the handicap shop. "...wait until you meet your maker! Your attitude stinks!"

eReader is having a sale this weekend. I have been pretty good about not buying books but I did get 3 today. It only cost me $11 after the reward points were redeemed. Then I went to download them to my iPod Touch and found that the app was broken from the upgrade to 3.0. I checked and the update was available so all is well.

2:22 Snacking on Sun Chips. Oh I love these things.

Lazy afternoon spent reading and napping. And looking up plants on the internet. There are so many beautiful plants and I want them all.

8:23 The boys are clean and their jammies. The rain has finally stopped and there is a fading glow outside. Too late to take pics.

9:58 The problem with naps (and caffeine) is that now I am not tired so I won't be able to sleep. But I cannot sleep in so tomorrow I will be tired and need a nap. The cycle continues.