Wednesday was a great day. Fishing, boating, swimming, skiing, dinner out, and no clean up! This morning I ignored my alarm and slept a little longer. I could hear the wind in the trees and the lake slapping the pontoon and kayak and I got up to a grey sky, rain, and a very quiet morning. It is a good way to begin the day.
Yesterday was a fun day. O awoke and asked Continue reading August and a rainy Thursday morning
Twenty days, less than three weeks, Monday felt like a Monday. Summer vacation seems like a perpetual weekend, almost like Groundhog Day or the book I read earlier this summer, 11 Birthdays, where the day is repeated over, and over, again. It’s not quite like that but there is no break in the week and if I am not careful the line between one day and another blurs.
There is a difference between the weekend and the week here, the lake is much calmer, there are fewer boats, and there are fewer people along the lakeshore, but for me there is little difference.
Sunday had been a late night watching the Olympics and Monday night would likely be no different. Continue reading Monday night summer storm
We came back to the lake last night, and we are all here. It’s just us – B (aka momma), W, O, and I and of course Ivy. We left the lake Wednesday afternoon to pick up momma on Ohio and come back Thursday, but Thursday turned into late Thursday, and then Friday morning, and finally Friday afternoon.
Grandpa is doing better, getting stronger, and slowly getting back to normal. We visited with them both as well as the Dairy Bar. Grandma is doing well and momma helped as much as she could. It was time for her to get back to us. Continue reading Saturday morning at the lake, again
It seems that the weather this summer has been on again, off again. It’s been warm and sunny, but each day it seems the wind is up one day and gone the next. Almost, every other day the lake is calm and then, the next, churned and frothy. Yesterday was one of the calm days.
I let the kids sleep late in the morning; Continue reading Is it Wednesday?
I have been in a writing funk for almost a week, now. I started to write Thursday and stopped. I started, again Friday, and again Saturday and stopped both times. Honestly, the summer has been a whirlwind and lately, I have been having a hard time keeping up.
After a week in the hospital grandpa came home and my in-laws returned to Ohio late Wednesday; and grandpa is recovering, slowly. Beth returned with them and is helping where she can. The kids and I stayed back at the cottage and I feel, sort of guilty enjoying summer at the cottage. Though, I’m not really enjoying summer as much as I would or could. Continue reading Sunday morning by the lake
I have been up for almost two and a half hours and I have yet to start writing. Yikes, where did the time go? I spent some of it reading a couple of blog posts, some of it wandering the yard and watering the plants, and I just finished working to resolve an technical issue I have (and have had) with the teacher association website I run. I have ignored the issue for a while, telling myself, I will get to it in the summer. Well, it’s summer and I am on to it. It’s probably some setting or something simple, but I haven’t been able to figure it out; I e-mailed tech support and I replied this morning. Maybe, hopefully, it’ll be resolved and then I can move on to other things I have been ignoring for a while. Continue reading Friday
O and I drove home last night. Let me clarify; I drove, she slept. We left the cottage late, really late, so late momma was concerned and wanted me to leave in the morning, but I wanted to get here and have a full day to get things done, so I left late. I actually enjoyed the drive – there was no one else on the road except for a few truckers and they seemed to converge on Chicago at the same time I was – past midnight. Except for a bit of whining, barking, and yipping early in the trip – the first 30 or so miles – Ivy settled and slept most of the way.
They both perked up when I pulled off the toll way exit and the car’s rhythm changed. I think Ivy could smell we were home and she sat up and looked out the window as if she knew where we were. O recognized the Arboretum and perked up, too. When we pulled into the neighborhood, I could hear Ivy whimper and purr. As soon as we stopped, she was out of the car surveying and making certain her domain was as she left it. I unloaded what we needed and went to bed; I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, maybe before. Continue reading Tuesday and almost halfway
Yesterday, it was warm and dry here, but early this morning storms rolled through with gusty winds and lightning setting the sky ablaze. I heard the rumble of thunder and rolled out of bed to close windows and gather drying towels before the skies opened. We need the rain, it’s been dry here, and it’s been dry back home.
Home has been dry for over a month and June was a record dry month in Chicagoland. Before leaving for camp, I spent early mornings and evenings watering the plants and reluctantly, the yard. Continue reading Stormy Tuesday, and other days
Sometimes it is good to slow down, now is one of those times. William and I rolled out of summer camp Saturday morning about a quarter to eleven, Wisconsin time and pointed the Tahoe north, then east, then south. It’s a long drive through forests, over hills, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and across the Mackinac Bridge down to the cottage. William slept while I drove; he needed the sleep, I did, too, but I could wait, I’d have to wait. Continue reading Lying low…
I can always count on opening my laptop to slow my productivity to a crawl. With three days left in the school year, there is the frenzy of finishing all the end of the year stuff, cleaning my room, and trying to channel my student’s energy in the right direction. I awoke early this morning, very early, because a) I set my alarm and it was ringing, and b) Ivy was barking about something. I let her out, started the coffee, and went outside to wait for her to finish the yard inspection and the coffee to brew. She came back to the deck satisfied the yard was safe, at least until daylight and we both went inside. I grabbed a cup of coffee and together we went to the basement; I went to wrap up grading a final set of papers and focus on Wednesday and Thursday and Ivy lay down beneath the desk and went to sleep. I think she got the better part of the deal. Continue reading Down to two