summer slipping by

Tomorrow is July 1st and it already feels as though the summer is slipping away. The glorious days of not having to be anywhere and most of all no meetings. I am planning to move to the office next door to mine in a couple of weeks - it is bigger and although my cute triangle shaped office seemed appealing 3 years ago, I do not have the personality to keep it in any kind of order so on to bigger space. Which undoubtedly I will also quickly fill with chaos.

This evening we did one of our Millcreek Canyon picnic dinners with Ellen and Lars. The boys got a fire going for the hotdogs and we enjoyed sitting in the cool canyon breeze and chatting. The days are in the 90s now so that voyaging up 1000-2000 feet higher is a real respite.

My veggies are growing like mad. I put in four different types of tomatoes so we could have variety and a better chance of something tasty. They are flourishing - the Black Prince is the biggest... I also planted brussels sprouts. I don't know when they actually produce the sprouts - so far they are just leaves. Then there are two cucumber plants, one is huge and the other probably a goner. We also did a lot of basil and some cilantro. Pictures tomorrow.

Bad blogger

Have been a bad blogger. I actually wrote one post while in the Phoenix airport but the wifi was wiggy and it went nowhere. Vegas was followed in quick succession by two work trips and it has been hectic. I am now really enjoying having no plans to go anywhere for the rest of the summer. Friday I cleared Ryan's room which since he moved out a year ago has looked like a bomb went off. Furniture here and there, piles of junk and us just throwing things in there that we "don't know where to put." I painted the ceiling and steamed off the wallpaper beach scene that adorned one full wall. Our plan is to recarpet the whole basement and I will paint Ryan's room as I did the family and guest room. The paint in Ryan's room will inevitably cover up some of my favorite Ryanisms. He took to writing motivational things directly on the wall - our favorite is the large lettering entreating him to "Do Something!"

Then it was outside to help Craig with day five of his sprinkler repair project. Sam mowed. Oh and we managed to unload our trampoline on freecylce yesterday. Yay. No one was using it and it was a serious eyesore. A month ago we replaced the tree that we planted last summer that died with another one (free from the nursery per their guarantee) and it already looks dead. Not sure if we can go for a second replacement although I don't see why not. For now it just stands there looking pathetic.

A couple of pics from my trip to Colorado Springs:

This is the view from the top of Pike's Peak at some 14, 000 feet

The chapel at the US Air Force Academy

smoking on the job

So, being a time share seller is apparently one of the few professions left where you can smoke on the job. Of course, only if your 'mark' is also lighting up. I sat at the pool today watching the victims being toured through the complex and it was a smoker's dream.

Thank god it stays there...

Need I say more -

More on Vegas

So, we have finished a delicious dinner of steak, hot dogs, baked potatoes and salad and Daniel is running Rose over to the next door casino.... Olivia won't crash, because it is all too exciting, but a complete pass out is expected soon. As soon as Daniel is back we will park ourselves in front of our umpteenth viewing of the Hangover.

Tomorrow morning Daniel and Michelle are offering themselves up as sacrificial lambs and doing the "timeshare presentation". If you know what that means, I need say no more. If you don't, may you remain innocent. This will allow us to buy steeply discounted tickets to all manner of Vegas shows and attractions. Go Daniel and Michelle.

Vegas

Daniel and Olivia having fun in the pool.

And then we did some sweet bowling.

Why Daniel will love his new school

Catherine has a friend, Gina. One day she was telling Catherine on the phone that she had lost her learner's permit. Catherine was relaying this to me and told me how she had said to Gina, "well, that can happen." To which Gina replied, "You don't understand. You don't have Asian parents. This is a disaster." Tonight I drove Gina home across the valley. I asked how her parents had decided to bring their kids over to school here and she said that someone had told her dad (first generation) which schools were best and so they just committed to the commute. Every day her mom gets home at 3am from her job at a bakery, sleeps for three hours and then gets up and drives the three kids across town to school. Dad picks them up in the late afternoon after mom has gone back to work and he is done with his work shift. And I grumble about the occasional school run that takes me 10 minutes total...