Title dilemma

Every time I come back from a week-long trip to some gorgeous, exotic locale such as the South of France the lake, I have a hard time deciding on the "perfect" title for my blog post. There are usually several events that stand out, but I can never choose just one. So, this time, I'm going to break my post down into "mini-posts." Hope you enjoy!

A Working Vacay

I really feel badly for John because every time he's taken a week's vacation and we've gone to the lake, we've had some DIY projects (and there is no Ty Pennington, Carter Oosterhouse, or Norm to help.) I make sure that he does take some time to relax, but he's never had a week like I do when I'm there alone. This trip, we got TONS done, and he did get to relax. J The first thing that we did was to put in an air conditioner in our bedroom and run a dedicated line for it. That made a HUGE difference (although I swear there were a couple of times that it must have quit working…) After we did that, he ran a dedicated line for the AC in the living room so now the lights don't dim every time the compression kicks in, and we don't have to worry about a breaking kicking off. Let's see…what else did we do? Oh yeah, we put in a light over the back porch and we added motion lights to the back. Now when we come in after dark, we'll be able to SEE. He also took down the dusk-to-dawn light that blinded us every time we sat on the front porch at night. It is now on the end of the McMansion trailer. And he added floodlights to the front. That may sound like a ton of lights, but all of them were needed. Especially the motion lights and moving the D2D light. For the past two years (almost) we have stumbled over roots and rocks every time we've gone in after dark. The last project was to replace the underpinning he had to tear out when we redid the plumbing back in the spring. Oh yeah, we had one unexpected project. On Monday night, I realized that we didn't have hot water in the kitchen. John checked the element, and sure enough, it had gone bad. That was really crummy because we just replaced it when we did all of the plumbing! We still have a few small projects—adding stepping stones and pea gravel, replacing some of the rocks on the patio area—but those aren't things that HAVE to be done anytime soon, and they are things that SHOULD take very little time. Our next BIG project will be to tear down the trailer and build our cabin. Unfortunately, that won't happen for a few more years. Unless, of course, that filthy-rich, long-lost relative kicks the bucket and leaves us everything.

I Blew Out My Flip-flop, Part Two

Last summer, I made a post about blowing out my Croc flip-flop as I was walking to the dock. This year, it was John who blew out a flip-flop (and yes, it was a Croc. We had a laugh about that.) Luckily, he had several other pairs to choose from. Guess I'll be making a Dick's or Kinnucan's run to see if I can find another pair for him.

Relaxation…ahhhhh!!!!

We did have a few days of doing nothing. Or very little of nothing. After we did the AC on Saturday, we decided to make last Sunday a day to relax before getting super busy on Monday. On Tuesday, we took a quick trip to Cullman to get the new element for the water heater. We went by Books-A-Million and Hobby Lobby, too. I read two books (In Cold Blood by Truman Capote—I'm going to use that with my Am. Lit. 2 class—and one of Jennifer Weiner's books, but I don't remember which one) and I did a craft project. (Pictures to come later when I locate the disk to add my camera software to this computer.) John did his own craft project, too. I had found some reproduction lures a while back. We've just had them lying around, just waiting for the perfect idea. John finally had it. He had found a neat piece of driftwood a few weeks back. It had just by lying out on the retaining wall, so he decided he would hang the lures from it. It is REALLY neat! Again, pictures later… We took the boat out a few times, too.

Friends and Family

We cooked, well…John grilled a pork tenderloin last Saturday and had Ron and Cindy over. It was DELISH! (Everything John EVER cooks/grills is delish!!!) On Friday, Linda, Mike (her brother), and Christopher (Mike's grandson) came up to Linda and Danny's. Linda, John, and I took a nice late afternoon boat ride. On Saturday, Tim and Tisha came up so Tish could bring the Princess House I'd ordered. Amy, Will, Maggie, and Danny came up for a while, too. Oh, I left out Mike's son Chris and his stepdaughter Jessi. It was almost a family reunion. J Susan and Tim came up, too, and we cooked out. John did some hot wings. I thought they were great, but he didn't feel like they were the best ones he'd ever cooked. Susan, Tim, John, and I went out on the boat, but we didn't get started until about 3.

A Perfect End to a Perfect Week

Susan and Tim had originally planned on coming up Friday, but the wonderfully accurate meteorologist was giving a 70% chance of rain and/or storms, so we rearranged the plans. John and I got up Friday, and it was kind of yucky looking. It did sprinkle a little, but it ended up being a GORGEOUS day! (Changing the plans worked out well because Susan's niece and nephew went to their house and Kayla told them all about her trip to Great Britain over the summer.) It was still warm, but the humidity was nothing like it had been earlier in the week. And then Saturday and today…Oh my goodness!!! They were the two most perfect days. I don't EVER remember days in July being so nice! When we got up yesterday, John said that it felt like a football Saturday, and then Tim said the same thing when they got there. There was such a nice breeze blowing, and I don't think the temperature ever hit 80 degrees.

NOOOOO!!! I Don't Want to Go Home!!!!

Unfortunately, we had to pack up today and head home. John has to go back to work tomorrow, and I have tons I need to do (finish a week's worth of laundry, call the Geek Squad, call Alfa…) I'm leaving at the end of the week to go to Sam and Todd's wedding in Michigan. I'm excited about that because 1) I love weddings, 2) I love Sam and Todd, 3) I've never been to Michigan, and 4) the wedding is on Mackinac Island! Then it will be almost time for school to start back. I'll actually have one week (the 27^th – 31^st) but we're going to have John's mom here with us, so…I had planned on going back to the lake probably on the 29^th, but I'll just have to wait. We have in-service on Aug. 4 – 6, and then I'll have a classroom of bright, shining faces on Aug. 10. (FYI…from 3 PM or so on Aug. 6 until whenever I get home on Aug. 9 is MINE. Don't ask me to do anything! ;)

Well, that's it. For now anyway. Have a GREAT Monday!