How does the time just fly by?

I have a plaque on my kitchen counter that says, "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."  I love it for the play on words, but it is so true at my house.  I am, at times, taken over by fruit flies in my kitchen.  I have decided that they live in my houseplants.  Good thing I only have two plants.  Living out in the country, I seem to get more houseflies in the house now.  I don't know why I have more of them out here either.  I suppose they could be coming from the garage.  We have three trash cans out there, as opposed to the one we had at our last house.  I think they come in from the back and front doors, too.  I do know for sure that I need to invest in a better fly swatter.

Bigger than the fly epidemic, this summer is just flying by.  I had planned to paint the girls bedrooms by now.  I have a cabinet and a dinette set that I planned to refinish in a darker stain in June.  Our back door was repaired around February, and I still haven't painted the outer side of the door.  I installed a cabinet in the laundry room, but the trim is still missing.  The list just gets longer.  It's not that I haven't actually had the time either.  Yes, somethings have come up that stole my time away, like my mother being in the hospital, etc.  The truth is that I spend time playing with my children, and my husband, more often.  This week, I entertained friends playing a board game and swimming one afternoon.  Every Sunday afternoon, I sit down to plan my menu, grocery list, and activities for the week.  I list several things I would like to get done, on top of weekly chores.  I only get the simple items accomplished.  Maybe it's the extreme heat.  Maybe it's because I know I will get interrupted so why start it. 

I know for sure:

• the projects will not go away until I do them
• the girls will be starting school again in five weeks
• the girls will only be living here six more years before college (and even if they live here while attending college I'll never see them, I never see their sister)
• Texas is a lot cooler in October and November
• playing is a lot more fun than working

The last thing I know for sure is that blogging is another thing I have been doing instead of projects...so I guess I should get going!

Happy Birthday, America

The 4th of July, ahh.  Burn ban, boo.  Having a pool, yay!  What a great weekend. 

We had a really good time on the 3rd, hanging out with friends, eating and swimming.  The pool was a big hit for the girls.  They all had friends over and swam all afternoon, and some into the dark.  As usual for the 3rd, we had homemade ice cream, but the girls didn't have time to make the special holiday dessert.  This year, they were going to make red velvet cupcakes with white icing and red and blue sugar sprinkles.  Maybe they can make them and take them to the firemen in town.  It turned out to be a pretty good birthday.

We were lucky to have a very lazy 4th of July.  Early this morning, my mother called to tell me the rehabilitation center was ready to send her home.  I drove the half-hour up there with one of the girls.  She agreed to go hang out with me if I bought her breakfast, so we stopped at McDonald's on the way.  I even let her sit in the front seat all the way there and back.  She is only a couple of inches shorter than me and she'll be twelve in a month.  I decided waiting for that month to go by will not make the trip any safer than today.  She was thrilled.  After I picked up my mother, I took her to grocery store where we helped her buy food for the week.  We took her home and helped put the groceries away.  She seems to be doing very well, and seems so much stronger now.  We were back home by noon, and in the pool very shorter there after.  We floated, talked, and splashed water at the dog while she tried to bite it.  Before we knew it, it was late afternoon.  We really had a good time just hanging out doing nothing together.  Later, we grilled burgers and dogs, and ate dinner.  Just a lazy summer day, but much needed nothingness.  After dinner, and a few Twilight Zone episodes, we headed to the fireworks store to stock up while the vendors were still selling today.  We will fire them in the fall, after we finally get some rain and the burn bans are lifted.

On Friday, NASA will launch the final Shuttle mission.  The girls studied space travel and exploration in Science this past year.  They are very interested in the Shuttle.  I am pretty sure I will not be taking them to Florida this Friday.  About 15 years ago, I took my oldest to Disney World.  We drove over to Cape Canaveral, but the tours were closed because the Shuttle was on the launch pad.  It was fun to see it anyway.  A few years later, we took all the girls to Johnson Space Center.  The girls were just toddlers, so they don't remember it at all.  We do plan to take the girls to Johnson Space Center again, but I have a feeling this Friday will be pretty crowded there, too. 

This week, I plan to submit a nomination form to be a board member for our Home owner's Association.  I know I get myself into a mess volunteering.  The girls' school doesn't have a PTA, and the HOA newsletter stated they were in dire need of volunteers.  It requires a lot less of my time than PTA did, so it shouldn't be a hardship.  The advantage will be knowing when something is going on in the neighborhood.  There was a neighborhood parade this morning, and I never heard anything about it. 

I am excited that our pool is completed, and the water is cool.  It should be a great source of entertainment for years to come.  I am also glad that my mother is finally home.  It will be so wonderful when she is released to drive herself places.  I am not excited that I am another year older, but I am glad to be alive and enjoy my family here at home.  It beats the alternative.