How One Project Becomes Two

Our microwave quit working about a week ago. We took it to an appliance repair shop hoping for an inexpensive fix that would give us a couple more years, but that wasn't the case. So we spent part of Friday evening and Saturday afternoon looking for a new one. 

While we were out on Friday we did a few other things on our to-do list. Target was one of our stops, and  couple of new outdoor pillows found their way into my shopping cart. Today, I moved our small set of porch furniture from the back porch to the front, tossed on the new pillows, and decided the front door needs a new paint color. (We'll probably want some {more} furniture for the back porch eventually, too.

Porch furniture ca. 2004.  It's help up pretty well!  I like how the new pillows perk it up a bit!

I think the door will be a happy, peacock blue when A) it stops raining, and B) it's cool enough to leave a door open all day for paint to dry. 

And that is how one project quickly became two. (Never mind the imminent master bedroom makeover - I've got a few (small) new pieces on order of that room. They will be here in August, I hope!)

And the rain...

We had big plans to head to the drive-in movie theatre on July 4th. It had been raining all week, and Thursday looked to be our best chance for a clear evening. After a day of off-and-on showers with sun in between, the sky really started to look dark in the afternoon. The drive-in is an hour away, so we really didn't want to risk getting there and then have the movies (always a double feature!) cancelled due to weather. So, we passed on our plans for the drive-in, hopeful for another family-friendly double feature (maybe in the fall?).

The kids were looking forward to popping a big bowl of popcorn (we recently tried and succeeded at popping it on the stove), so we did that anyway and had an indoor picnic and a movie at home (I got the movies from the Redbox just before our big evening shower began). We made three flavors of popcorn and everyone was happy.

{Hmmm, this sounds a lot like our rained-out plans two years ago!}

It's been rainy for several days now - the same on-and-off showers. It's not so bad, I guess, except there's never enough time for the grass to dry out and time to mow. It's starting to get tall!  And it's humid, but thankfully the temps are not too, too warm. 

Today, it was sunny and dry enough for the kids to go to tennis lessons. Big J and I played on a nearby set of courts. Well, "played" might make it sound like we could volley more than about 4 hits in a row - but we still enjoyed the time outside!

As we settled back in at home this evening following a search for a new microwave, the rain started again.  It's really a nice, gentle rain for the most part, but its completely unpredictable. I'm ready for all-day sun again!

{Aside from books, movies, video games, and complete stir-craziness from being indoors, here's something I did with Miss this week. It was fun, and we've even gotten a couple of compliments! M picked my colors - I'd have never chosen these myself, but I really like them!}

Already?!?

How is it already July?  The kids have been out of school for close to a month now, and it seems we've barely had a moment to just ... be. 

Don't get me wrong - we have certainly planned for a lot of our busy-ness.  Camps for the kids, home study visits with our social worker as we make progress with our plans to adopt, and some to-dos around the house (due to slacking off during a very busy May and June) were all in our plans.  (And somebody had a birthday!)  Don't think I'm complaining when I say this, but things are just different when the kids are not in school all day.  The hours seem to be more full and to fly by even faster than the days during the school year.  Busy-ness has a way of speeding up the clock, doesn't it?

But along with the, "Whoa, where's the summer going?" feeling, I realize that we really are taking it a little easy on our days "off."  The kids are playing with friends in the neighborhood, they have quiet/reading time in the afternoons (Mister J is making great progress on a book series), and although there are plenty of free/inexpensive opportunities we could take advantage of, I have not rushed us out to any of them.  Not even to sign up for the free summer reading program at one of my favorite local bookstores.  But I have been taking advantage of the library, and may even let the kiddos try out some e-books that they can read via my kindle app. 

I've been participating in an informal book study on A Lineage of Grace, I've had some fun with Flappy Mail, and I'm trying to make some progress on a master bedroom restyle.  (I'm pretty inspired to do some switcheroos in the kitchen/dining/living room, too, but the MBR is first!)  Oh, and then there's the normal "just being an adult" stuff like getting along without a microwave while you ponder the repair/replace dilemma.  *sigh*

Today, for our 'relaxed' day, we have cooked breakfast, emptied/reloaded/run the dishwasher, I let the kids wash the items that could not go/fit into the dishwasher (I was not prepared for the amount of water that found its way out of the sink...), prepared and cleaned up lunch, had some playtime with the neighbors' kids, reading time, and now they are having a bit of screen time before ... before I figure out what's next. 

There's plenty on my to-do list - always is! - but mostly I need to work on a meal plan for this evening (not to mention the rest of the week) and probably do some grocery shopping to round things out (I wish I could find all of my needs and favorites in one store).  I may get the kids in on the meal planning - especially our snack supply for a drive-in movie we'll see later in the week.  (So excited about that - and hoping the weather cooperates!)

How's your first month of summer?  Have you had a moment to catch your breath?