77 Days of Summer: Day 28

Ginger and I enjoyed a beautiful rain shower this afternoon. The sound of the rain on the grape leaves was lovely and it was funny to watch the birds line up on the fence and preen themselves in the rain!

June 30

77 Days of Summer: Day 27

Had a very lovely day in the pool with Kaia...only I forgot how powerful the sun is...

June 29

77 Days of Summer: Day 26

My company this week...

June 28

77 Days of Summer: Day 25

June 27

77 Days of Summer: Day 24

I was a little more productive today. I, at least, got out of the house and stocked the fridge.

I have discovered that being alone is physically painful for me! It gives me headaches and nausea... Can't wait until Jeremy is done working for the summer so we can spend days together!!!

At the store I was able to try the bags that Katie and I made last week. They worked quite well and didn't even bother the cashier. :-D

June 26

77 Days of Summer: Day 23

The biggest thing I did today was spend three hours talking on Skype to dear friends in Italy.

Since I don't have any photos of that, here is the other thing I did today - meal planning. It is one of the responsibilities I dread the most, but this new cook book is Awesome! The recipes are truly simple and delicious and it has made planning so much easier. Mom also keeps me supplied with recipes she finds in magazines, so we're trying a few of those too. :-)

June 25

77 Days of Summer: Day 22

Today I had the pleasure to join one of my best friends, 

Kaia Flowers, at her family baby shower.

Her aunt did an awesome job decorating and the cake was amazing!

We had the opportunity to decorate baby clothes for little Terra Lynn.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the one I made!

That's ok, because the one pictured here is WAY cuter. :-)

I was so glad to be able to share this day with Kaia, her mom and Terra. <3

June 24

77 Days of Summer: Day 21

Today we made Charlie face some of his fears

as we went to Discovery Green downtown to watch the Dock Dogs competition.

Traffic, crowds and lots of other dogs had him a little stressed,

and he spent a lot of time in our laps,

but he didn't shut down which is a HUGE improvement 

over the first few months we had him. 

June 23

77 Days of Summer: Day 20

June 22

77 Days of Summer: Day 19

After being out of town, I needed to spend some time 

catching up on chores around the house. 

So while I worked, I introduced Katie to Downton Abbey.

If you don't know the awesomeness of this show,

it is difficult to explain, but I highly recommend you try it out. 

Katie was a convert before we even finished the first episode!

June 21

77 Days of Summer: Day 18

Katie and I traveled from Fort Worth back to Houston today.

We stopped for lunch at Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana and then,

of course, made the obligatory stop at Buc-ee's. :-)

June 20

77 Days of Summer: Day 17

Today was another wonderful day full of time with family and friends. I am so blessed to have these people in my life.

June 19

77 Days of Summer: Day 16

Today my gemella Katie came from Alabama!

This evening we were able to get together with some of our 

Avanti Italia friends.

Jennifer made us a TRUE Italian dinner, five courses of deliciousness!

I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy eating it, haha!

Me, Jennifer, Katie, Gary, Marilee, Greg and baby Isla

I <3 these people SOOOO much!

June 18

80 Days of Summer...oh wait!

This is the post where I admit to my own failures.

This is the day I was reminded why I am not a math teacher....

So apparently having a week longer of summer does not mean 80 days instead of 70...it means 77...

It means I can't add. Or multiply. And I should never EVER do math in my head!

80 Days of Summer: Day 15

Happy Father's Day!

June 17

80 Days of Summer: Day 14

Had an awesome day pretending to be younger than I am!

June 16

80 Days of Summer: Day 13

Drove up to Fort Worth with Mom today. I'm going to spend the weekend celebrating my brother's birthday and Father's Day.

This evening Dad and I took a walk down Quail Ridge (their street). My parents live in the house my grandparents lived in when I was growing up. The words "Quail Ridge" are like a magic spell to me. It was this special wilderness place where magic happened in the woods and loving grandparents held you and read to you at night. The sights, sounds and smells of this place still make me immediately happy.

June 15

80 Days of Summer: Day 12

We finished packing up and cleaning my room for the summer. It felt sort of weird leaving, but I don't think I'll be gone long enough to miss it!

See you in August!

June 14

80 Days of Summer: Day 11

Mom and I have been working hard in my classroom this week. We successfully inventoried and packed my library. I had to pack it up because the custodians said that the shelves were too heavy to move full of books. Really, for all they do for us, this was a small favor to ask, but...

My beautiful library reduced to a pile of boxes... :-(

June 13

80 days of Summer: Day 10

Very successful day thrift store shopping. Mom is the lucky charm! And I love Sand Dollar thrift store!!!

June 12

80 Days of Summer: Day 9

My mom is here! I was going to post a pic of the two of us, but this one was just too hilarious to resist. Mom was eating a snack and Ginger was waiting oh so patiently for her to decide to share. It was SO funny!!

June 11

80 Days of Summer: Day 8

This is my friend Kaia and I at a baby shower we threw for a dear friend at church. Her sister made some of the cutest decorations! It was so adorable.

June 10

80 Days of Summer: Day 7

Our garden is starting to produce more actively. We have harvested quite a few tomatoes, but we eat them before I think to take a picture. This is our first squash. Only one of our four squash/zucchini plants survived to make flowers. Hopefully it will give us a few more.

June 9

80 Days of Summer: Day 6

This morning was a lazy, stay in your pjs kind of day for me. I started working on a project on the computer so I spent several hours with my nose to the screen. Every once in awhile one of the dogs would come over and beg for attention. Here Charlie wormed his way into my lap. How can you resist that? Guess I'll take a break!

June 8

80 Days of Summer: Day 5

Today I had the opportunity to see and visit with my old principal. Several of us who still miss her decided to meet up for dinner. It was really great to see her and hear about her incredible retirement life! Gives you something to work toward...

June 7

70 Days of Summer: Day 4

Also known as the day I found out there are actually 80 days of summer!

Today I went with some co-workers to an all day training on how to teach the diverse learner. 

In the course of conversation, I found out that next school year 

actually starts a week later than I thought it did! 

I pulled up the calendar to confirm. 

Sure enough, we actually start AFTER my birthday this year!

Happy early birthday present to me!!!

June 6

70 Day of Summer: Day 3

Summer hair cut!

Possibly the shortest I've ever cut it.

June 5

70 Days of Summer: Day 2

I spent my entire first Monday working on this project -

a list of things to do for free or cheap.

I also printed lists and maps of local parks.

June 4

70 Days of Summer: Day 1

Celebrating summer with a home manicure

June 3rd