"Lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

...those days of hot dogs and pretzels and beer."

Well, no beer here. But lots of Diet Coke. While I was AWOL in Utah for a month Spouse managed to entirely deplete my years supply of soda. It was A LOT of soda. Unfortunately not one can was deposited into my savings account, also known as my aluminum can recycling box. So the earth is about 10 lbs heavier and my wallet is $5.75 poorer. Resupplying the availability of diet coke to our household was a top priority last week. But sadly, my beloved beverage cans are currently overpriced so I was reduced to purchasing 2 liter bottles which did happen to be on a great sale. I hate 2 liter bottles for many reasons.

1) From the moment they are opened the carbonation begins to melt. So unless the entire bottle is consumed within 12 hours, the last few servings are not worth consuming.

2)Portion control is very difficult with 2 liters bottles. If I'm not careful I could drink an entire bottle in one day, which does solve problem #1 but is not good for my usual strict control over intake.

3) I don't get paid to recycle the bottles.

4) 2 liter bottles are not portable, which tempts me to go to Sonic for their $0.99 summer special and it is already hard enough to deny myself the luxury of having my brown bubbly over their spectacular crushed ice.

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While in UT my mother in law introduced me to the devilish addiction of Sudoku. Spouse and I have shared many childish laughs over the mispronunciation and misuse of the word 'sudoku'. Take, for instance, the French sounding mispronunciation, (said with a frenchy frown and half snarl on your lips; hands imitating french gestures), "Eaugh! Sa-duh-kew." Or the Asain interpretation in which you simulate a karate kid posture, squint your eyes and as you come down with the chop, explicate, "Ahhh! SahoDahoKu!"

However you say it, it means the same thing: wicked temptress of time. After I've solved a few puzzles and I force myself to put down the ipod, I usually lay in bed still hyped up on numbers and counting. I know it's bad because when my mind wanders during family prayer it usually ends up imagining possible solutions and going over previous mistakes.


So, yes. I'm enjoying my lazy, mind-mellowing days of summer. Thank you for asking.


ps the first commenter that can name the source of my title wins something. a gold star. no, something bigger. a song dedication on the radio. do they still do that? or how about something meaningful like positive energy sent your way.

Home

Wow. It's been a month since I abandoned this blog for the welcoming cool, green arms of northern Utah. Four weeks of family, cool nights, no cooking and no cleaning. I won't bore you (or cause envy to stir in your hearts) with all the familial details. However, to satisfy your curiosity I'll briefly highlight some of the pleasantest moments:

Brother Brig's wedding

Bear Lake with In-Laws

that is the Little Rat (#3) in the middle, laying out with her cute teenage cousins

Little Rat honing her gaming skills

an evening swing in Provo for #3, Nana and cousin J

picnicing in Green Canyon

Brother Miguel at the historical farm

#1 posing with the buffalo - oh, I miss those mountains!

old fashioned tea party at the historical farm

trying out the new swing at Grandpa's cabin

See. Just a few pictures. That wasn't so bad, was it?


And now if you'll allow me a few moments to reflect upon the joys of returning to the desert.

1) 105 degrees at 11:00 pm Sunday night when we pulled into the valley of the sun.

2) finding and catching a baby lizard IN OUR HOUSE!!!!!!

3) our lawn is dead.

4) free hot water (take that, suckas!)

5) eating asphalt as a result of running before the sun comes up (103 at 4:30 am)

Oh, so many joys. Too many to count.