The End of June

Well, it is now the end of June and I have not accomplished very much - unless you think that adding 10 pounds of fat to your body is accomplishing something. Yikes! I'm such a weirdo! I've sat around and done nothing all summer.
I did go see my Dad - he looks so much better than when I saw him at Christmas - he tires very easily and is still so thin, but he was back to his old self. I totally love their new place and am ready to move in - I have a few years to go before I am old enough. And, oh yeah, I couldn't afford it even in my dreams!
I am almost finished with my first class - I have a 95% average! Yahoo! Only 2 more papers to go, but the final one is to be 15 or more pages - I really should get started on that one. My next class starts tomorrow. Same set-up, a paper a week, one short, then long - this next class is all about educational law. I'm very tired on my philosophy class - who has time to sit around and think about what teaching really is - -- oh yeah, I do.
Only one more month of vacation - I go back to work on August 1. Man, the summer goes by so quickly. Beanie is driving me crazy, wants all my attention, all the time, but won't go for a walk with me - she hates her leash. I've watched the dogwhisperer and thought I could do it, but she goes so beserk! Sigh.
Well, I do have to get to work on that paper - so I better go. See ya soon.

Hot June Day

I knew this would happen. Almost every summer I sit and think I have so much to say and now I have time to say it - and I only last a couple of days. Funny how that works. As a teacher I usually talk all day - I do listen occasionally, but for the most part, I'm a talker. Then summer comes and I go silent. This year, being in my own house and alone, I've talked to myself quite a bit. I actually direct my discussions to my dog, Beanie, but she rarely answers. Does it make me feel less loony? Yes. I also spend many days just sitting around doing basically nothing. This is why I would make a lousy stay-at-home person. I can do nothing for days on end.
Today I mowed my front lawn. I practically had a heart attack. It is so hot. And I broke my lawn mower. I hit a stump and now my mower sounds like a 1967 beater truck. I was able to finish the lawn, but now my back yard is calling. It's small, I may be able to do it with the weed-whacker. I'm also having trouble with my a/c. I have the darn thing set at 80. When it runs it will run for hours on end and the temp barely changes - and when I say run, I mean run - not off and on like normal a/c units - no - this baby will run for hours if you let it. I spend my day turning it off and on. It is crazy, but I don't have the money for a technician to come and look at it. Maybe in July.
I'm saving money to go see my Dad - he had a heart attack last Thanksgiving and then open heart surgery. I saw him at Christmas and he looked so old and not like himself. It was so sad. Now he has moved to a new place and he sounds better on the phone, so I want to check and see that they are okay.
Well, I've cooled down some, guess I should get back out into the yard - weed-whacker here I come.

My Sunroom

Today I had some energy and I spent it on fixing up my sunroom. This room is the reason I bought this little house. It is an addition to the original house, it is mostly windows, and they all need cleaning, but I love sitting out here and looking outside. I have planted several trees and some flowering shrubs to make the backyard to look pretty.
I am not a great gardener, but I do like color and flowers. When I bought the house, there was an old swing set in the backyard. There is enough concrete holding it in the ground to conquer any hurricane. Instead of digging it up, I had my daughter, Jill, and her boyfriend, Juan, paint it a beige color. I put in some butterfly bushes from John's house, and then some hanging plants. Between the Dollar Store, people throwing away old pots, and friends with extra plants, I've made a pretty good start on a garden. Our town is kind enough to put out piles of free mulch from all the stuff they collect and that has sure helped. Just a couple of bags of 'real' dirt from Lowe's and I've been set. The hard part now is stopping. I've spent plenty of time and energy, and some money, but enough is enough.
But I started with my sunroom. I love my couch and the bookcases from my father's house. The rocking chairs from the Pocono Cabin and my Goodwill table that I painted - I love this room. The a/c unit awesome! I've put some of my favorite shells in here and my whole beach house look is coming together. I know that I'll never own that beach front property I would love to have, but this is close.
This is the first house I've ever owned on my own and I'm proud of it - quirky as it may be. This is not the best neighborhood, but I feel safe. Beanie is my guard dog, so I'm save. The flow of the house is okay. I have a Jack'n'Jill bathroom - a toilet and sink in small rooms on each end of shower room. Comes to one and a half baths. The living room flows into the dining area and there is a tiny kitchen with a laundry room. The smallest bedroom is my craft room. I painted it blue and put different sized brown polka-dots on one wall. I found some cool rugs at the Big Lots, cheap, that complete the whimsy of the room. My friends think I'm crazy, but I think your home should reflect you and your personality - this house does for me.
I still have rooms to finish - my bedroom and the bathrooms all need paint and personality, and the kitchen needs finishing. I have all summer.

June Doesn't Start Well

I am sick. I have not been this sick in a very long time and I'm not enjoying it. I thought my summer vacation would be full of new energy and getting things accomplished, but now I'm sick. I actually went to the Doctor - something I never do unless I think I'm dying - strep throat, sinus infection, and bronchitis. I am sick.
I am also poor, so I'm trying not to turn on the A/C, so I'm sitting here sweating - fever or heat?
Being sick has been a bit scary this time - I am all alone and when I tried to take care of stuff, I fell apart. It was a good thing that my friend called me at the right time - she let me be stupid and then came to my rescue. How blessed am I?
We did get some much needed rain this weekend - my lawn may survive. I have worked so hard to make my little patch of earth look pretty, but the lack of rain was killing it all. Thank goodness for tropical storms.
I am feeling a bit better today - if only I could stop coughing - so I better get some stuff done around here today. What stuff? That explanation I'll save for next time.

The Beginning - Start here

My journey is old, but I'm starting a new route.
I have found the strength to try something new and I'm willing to go for it. I haven't always been strong, so this will be a challenge.
Join me in what is to come.