I confess...

that the heat and the drought is boring me to tears.  Yesterday I pulled up most of the dead flowers that I planted this Spring and put bark mulch down.  I've been planting flowers for as long as I can remember but this weather has taken all the pleasure out of it.  I went into the planting this year knowing that we were already in a drought so I planted much less than usual and babied, ie., watered them, more than I usually do but it's not enough.  Eventually it becomes an issue of wasting water, not to mention the cost so I'm done.  It's probably a good thing.  This way Don doesn't have to water for me when I leave in September.

I'm moving on to something better, as in spending time with Mikey and Don, and Sarah, when she comes around.

"Cops Marathon"

"Re-fueling after a workout"

Please don't tell Mikey I took this picture; he would not be happy...

What am I doing if I'm not gardening?  Shoot. There are so many things that I don't have to leave the house to do.  I printed all the pictures of Sarah and Mikey's events from Challenge: proms, award ceremonies, and commencements, all of which I will put into a photo album.  (Side note:  after Sarah was born a friend of mine commented on the number of pictures I was taking and that I would probably be overwhelmed by the quantity and never get them organized and into photo albums. LOL! Clearly he didn't know me.  I have over 20 photo albums labeled and organized and completed baby books.  I didn't want to be the mother with empty baby books and boxes full of unlabeled photographs. I take this mothering thing seriously.)  This is when my sweet organizing skills kick in.

I have started on the Rogers family history stuff, scanning pictures that Virginia doesn't have and writing down stories told to me by Daddy so that she can include them with the vital statistics.  I don't have many but I guess that I may have a few to add.  Virginia has most of the stories because Aunt Ora was her grandmother and she is the backbone of the Rogers family.  I'm sure when I am in the moment I will come up with more.

Then there is helping Sarah find things for her apartment, and things for Mikey to take off to school.  I need to come up with a color to paint the fifth bedroom, and I need to empty the room and the closet out before I can begin to prep.  I am also thinking seriously about my trip to San Francisco, as in what I want to do this time and what new recipes I can cook for John.

Mostly though, I am going to hang out with my family because before I know it the summer will be over.  Mikey will be in Austin and Sarah will (finally!) have internet and Netflix so she won't come around as often so it will be me and Don alone together for the first time in twenty-one years. I'm not saying that's a bad thing because it's not. It's just different.  I will cherish and enjoy this summer for what it is:  the end of an era and the beginning of another.