And now this...

Bleh! On top of it being too hot, now I have a lovely summer cold. It doesn't seem right, to be sick in the middle of summer. Sickness is something that happens when it is cold outside, and you need lots of blankets and hot chocolate or tea. Needing a large box of tissues and feeling crummy just doesn't go well with sun. I guess I am getting the day off I wanted last week, but this isn't really how I would have chosen to take it. Also, when I am sick, I just want my mommy!

 On the beach of Lake Ontario

Speaking of my mommy, since I have been feeling a bit off all week (even before I actually felt crummy), I have missed pointing out my mother's birthday. I did send her a birthday gift, so don't worry that I missed it entirely. Anyway, here is my public acknowledgment: Happy Birthday Mom!

 Massachusetts (I think), Fall 1979

What a cute little baby. Mom was just a year or two older than I am now.

1982, Christmas? Mom, me, and grandma.

 And, tomorrow is also her mother, Betty Jean Seifer Van Dyke's, 88th birthday! What a wonderful pair of ladies. I love you both so much, and thank you for helping me become the woman I am.

Sorry

It has just been too darn hot lately. Even with air conditioning everywhere, it is just too hot. I mean, I go outside at 5:30 to head to the gym, and it is already 80. Or should I say, it still is? Since it never actually cools down during the summer here. And on top of the temperature, it is 85% humidity, which means I can break a sweat simply breathing. The long and the short of it is that the heat has sapped my will to live, or at least to blog or be creative in any way. This weekend, I really wanted to do some sort of creative project that didn't involve cooking (again with the too hot), but I just couldn't. I managed to spend a little time in the garden on Saturday morning, but most of that time was moving the sprinkler around so my plants don't turn into crispy little sticks (too late for some of them. Sigh). I went to the (air conditioned) gym. But no hiking, no painting of any rooms, nothing more strenuous or creative than vacuuming.

I'm tetchy and sleepy and bored up to my eyebrows with summer cabin fever, and it is all your fault, Mr. Sun! If the outcome of global warming is to increase the heat and length of our summers, I am going to be really pissed off.

Some days you are the cat...

And some days you are the mouse. Yesterday was definitely a mouse day. The best part of the day was the trip to the DMV to renew the registration for my car. It was quick, and apart from having to pay the registration fee, painless. I didn't even have to wait in line or deal with the stereotypical surly DMV worker. The woman who helped me was polite and efficient. But you know it is a bad day when the DMV is the highlight.

By the time I got home, I had a headache, a bad case of the grumps, and a need to lie on the floor, moaning and whimpering. The dark chocolate mint ice cream that should have cured anything didn't even help because I was not able to scoop it out of the container without throwing a scoop onto the floor. Then, after I stepped aside to let Benjamin finish the scooping, the first attempt to spoon some of the ice cream into my mouth ended with another dollop ending on the table and floor. Wah!

Today will be a cat day, even if it kills me.