Our brand-spanking-new heat pump was installed on Thursday.  Today (Sunday), tomorrow, and most of the rest of the week will reach 100 degrees F.  We will not have to suffer through unbearable highs and extreme humidity without artifically chilled air.

There was much rejoicing.   (yea ( Read more... )

Blue skies.  End of school.  Baking heat.  Swimming pools.  Air you can cut with a knife.  Sun tea ( Read more... )

So I walk into my house two nights ago and am greeted at the door by the Kiddos and the most horrible disgusting smell EVER. When I asked about the foul odor permeating everything in my home, Thing 2 (formerly known as the responsible one) starts this tale, "Oh, yeah. My shoe polish had cracked and crumbled, and 1st Sergeant (Thing 2's in JROTC) ( Read more... )

I'm quitting my day job.

I've wanted to write that sentence for over a year now.  That is my news, the major event I've wanted to share with everyone and couldn't tell anyone.  But today, it's official.  I handed in my resignation letter this morning and took the form up to the dean's office.  I'm quitting.  I quit.  I quit.  I QUIT!I'm going to ( Read more... )

I did something yesterday that took a huge burden off my shoulders.  Something I've been planning for over a year.  Something I hinted at here and never followed up on because after I made the decision, it broke my heart a little (a lot) to realize it would take over a year to follow through on that decision and I couldn't bear to talk about it in ( Read more... )

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A quick break in my long silence to say that I'm changing my comment policy to exclude anonymous comments for the next few weeks in an effort to control all the spam comments I've been getting lately.  (Seriously, the 60 or so spam comments a day is getting a bit tedious.)  I know I'm not the only one since I've seen other posts to this effect in ( Read more... )

One of my favorite writers is Laurie R. King, who writes, among other things, a terrific series featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.  My favorite remains the first, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, a beautiful story of two broken and highly intelligent people who become friends and solve crimes.  (There are also chemistry experiments, a Gypsy ( Read more... )

To everyone starting Camp Nano today, good luck!   Is anyone doing Camp NaNoWriMo this year ( Read more... )

I'm sharing this amazing post by Seanan McGuire because sometimes we (and by that I mean me) need to remember that all the crap we are bombarded with these days isn't truth and isn't real.  Also, I want my daughter to read this and was worried I would lose it.  Also, also, if you aren't following Seanan McGuire, why not?  She is one of the most ( Read more... )