Off and Running

These days it seems that my cup runneth over with everything but sleep. The house is cluttered. Wedding gifts that have not found their place perch upon the stacks of paper piled during the pre-wedding chaos- they must have bred during the honeymoon, becuase there couldn't possibly have been that much... Clothes litter my closet and the bedroom floor, unpacked but unwashed. Hey! I did one load of laundry last week.

The vegetable garden is being slowly rescued from the weeds- I keep uncovering tomato plants. But only a couple of pepper plants survived. The beans grew well an are about finished, cucumbers are coming, and I harvested the first zucchini. In these days of sun-baked rainlessness, water dancing occupies a chunk of the day. The dance doesn't beg the gods for sky moisture, it involves the dragging of the hose, hooking up sprinklers, and making sure all of my plantings get a good drink. It's good when I remember to turn the hoses off, too. Unlike last night, when the weltering heat was unrelieved by the ceiling fan and I roamed the house closing windows, and turning on the AC. As I pushed the panes closed in the guest bedroom, I heard the sprinkle of water against the house. Needless to say, the front lawn is well-soaked.

I have multiple writing projects and I have actually worked on them. Amazing! The office in the barn is functional now. Imagine my surprise when, all ready to work, I attempted to plug my laptop into the only outlet in the room, to discover it had only two prongs. My plug had three. Hmm... It was a quick switch and now we are ready. Except for an expired Microsoft Office subscription and I can't find my disc or product code from the copy I bought a couple of years ago. Minor problem.

We have been trying to catch up with friends and family, filling them full of pictures and tales of our adventures, and generally slipping back into the mundane routines of life.

The only glitch, or glitches in this reintegration are our lovely dogs (and an uber-demanding kitten). In our absence, the dogs decided that sleeping until 7:30 just would not do. They want to be up and out at 5:30! I am very sorry for our housesitters.

I have decided to roll with it and get up. It works out well. I can get the horses in, tack up, and get in a good ride before the bugs and heat are really horrible. This schedule is ideal. Except for one little thing...

A Dance with Dragons, a tome I have eagerly awaited for FIVE years, has been published and it's 900+ pages beckon every free moment. Unfortunately, that usually means bedtime. But once I start, I CAN. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN.
The dogs don't care.

Diet Coke and coffe consumption are up. Generally, I think I am handling the heat, sleepiness, overall frustration with the mess that surrounds me, the drops that need to go into MR. W.s' irritated eye(ER visit. Not fun) four times a day, the kitten's demands, and barking dogs very well. Though, I might be getting slightly testy by the afternoon... Maybe I should pencil in a nap.