Summer is halfway over!

I swear that I have good intentions about pre-writing this Monday's blog, but here I am at 6 AM trying to find out what happened to the weekend!

Well, what are you waiting for? Pour a cuppa smooth, rich Gevalia and pull up a chair to sit awhile. Sorry, Sven will have to stay with me to prepare my morning Gevalia--I sure did miss my Stockholm roast, but this House Blend that I picked up at Target is NICE. I thought I was a total convert with Starbucks Pike's Place coffee, but O-M-G this coffee sure is smooth! The downside is having to load the tiny little filter each and every time I want a cup. Sometimes I miss having a regular coffeepot!

Here's a thought: I could rejoin Gevalia, get the freebie coffee pot and then cancel my subscription! Naw, that wouldn't be right. I'd feel guilty every time I drank a cup of coffee.

I don't know about y'all, but this summer is sure flying by!  It's hard to believe that we are already on July 9 and school will start on August 16.

We still haven't planned my hubby's work party. My kidlet wanted to have a party for her friends--it still hasn't happened. I think the cicadas whirring and the triple digit heat might have had something to do with our lack of planning. I did tell the hubby--last April, mind you--that we just need plan his party, rain, shine or 105 degree heat. It didn't happen. Too much stuff is happening at work with his move planning. Maybe we should do it in September after everyone settles down and the kiddies are back in school.

We did plan a quick get-together for family--no meal, just snacky happiness. My sister S is in town from Germany, and my brother G, with his wife and daughter have just returned from their trip to France, so I seized the opportunity to extend a swimming invite. With our two families combined we had only 16 people total, including kids. This is a very small group. Many of the kids are growing up and have better things to do than go to Auntie Margaret's house and be forced to speak to 'family'. GAK!

So, hubby, kidlet and I cleaned the house Saturday AM, I washed 4 loads of laundry and went to the grocery store. I also made my two salsas, and discovered if the Tomatillo one has too much acidity, then add a touch (1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon) of sugar. I made the Ranch dip with a little twist. Take your packet of dry ranch dressing and instead of using sour cream, use 0% fat Greek yogurt. It's good. My MIL pointed out to my hubby that the calories are still the same, but what she failed to realize is that 1) I don't have to count this on the Simply Filling part of the WW plan, 2) it's chocked full of protein, which fills you up. I also had carrot sticks available along with the chips.

The party went well. Clean up is always a breeze. 1) grab hose, 2) squirt everything down. Simple, huh? Can't do that when you have people inside your home!

And yesterday, we took the kidlet to her last camp for the summer. It's another Girl Scout session and this time she's living the life! The cabin that she's in holds up to 24 girls, but only 12 were scheduled to be in this building. AND this cabin has a flush toilet AND showers. Wowzers! Talk about luxury. No grabbing a buddy to have to go take a whiz in the middle of the night!

This week, I have quite a bit on my plate. I just hope that I can buckle down and do it.
1) take car to garage this AM--it needs 60K mile maintenance (it's at 68K), plus AC and brake work
2) phone interview with WW--yes, I applied for a job
3) finish judging contest
4) finally do interview questions and send back
5) FINISH EDITING TROLL TO UPLOAD BY 7-20!!
6) if time, work to convert GNOME to be published in paper--more difficult than I expected. No, I'm not going to pay anyone yet.

With everyone out of the house and no chauffeuring for me, we'll see if I can manage my time a little better and keep up with what I need to do!

Later, peeps!