Thursday, July 28, 2011

One Month Later

Since the last post we flew to Las Vegas, drove back to my home town and enjoyed a good old fashioned Fourth of July with family.  Tom has been traveling, spending more time sitting on airplanes than sleeping in his own bed!  He gets in late tonight, then has to head back north on Tuesday.

The four of us (me, Meg, Peter and Mary) made it to Las Vegas, enjoyed a chatty lunch with my sister, Nancy, did a bit of shopping and flew back to Detroit.  After stopping to pick up groceries, we finally made it back to London around 3:00 am!  I think we finally finished putting groceries away, making new dog food and unpacking around 5:00 am.  Whew!

Meghan has been a painting diva.  Right now she is finishing up the trim upstairs.  That leaves the living/dining rooms.  Don't know if those will be done before we trek back south next week.  It has been quite a refreshing summer having her stay with us.

She and I drive back to Houston, starting early next Tuesday morning.  About that same time Liz and John Paul will be winging their own way back to Houston from Germany via London, England.  It will be nice to get to see Kate (who has been working very hard in Houston, and getting some nice call backs for her audition).  We are all looking forward to sharing a pitcher or two of margaritas at Chuy's!!!

I fly back home on Saturday, August 6.  The following weekend the four of us will drive south to help Liz and John Paul move from Lafayette to Bloomington.  Originally, it was going to be just me and Tom, but Mary and Peter let us know they really missed their big sister and new brother so they'll be coming along. We can always use more strong back when it comes to lugging box after box out of the moving van!

Summer has been interesting around here.  We started off very cold and rainy.  Then the heat and no rain set it!  Last week it was more humid and higher temps than Houston was getting and some blessed rain starting Saturday night.  Not complaining!!!  I remember all too well how cold it got here last winter.  If we could just figure out how to pump heat for storage in the summer, to be released in the winter, and vice versa with the cold in winter ... life would be good.

Several projects that we hoped to do this summer simply won't get done.  There is still the fall, so perhaps the deck will get torn out, and replaced.  The paving stones will be poured and patio finished.  Firewood absolutely needs to be restacked!  The driveway repaving will have to wait until next summer.  As will the dining room wallpaper removal.  Trees will have to stay where they are in the yard.  Secretely, I'm hoping to get a good landscape planner in here to "show" me what the possibilities are.  There are so many nice trees, but they have about reached their limit in size.  Having grown up where things took so long to grow, it kills me to think about cutting down some of them.

The next weeks will be busy for all the kids with school/work getting underway.   I've got plenty to keep my hopping as well.  Pictures to come.

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