Summertime

We're going on two whole weeks of wonderful summer "vacation" here. Don finished work at the Station and we will soon be heading north to start this OCS thing, but right now we are in a wonderfully long stretch of time of being home (mostly) and together (always).

The weather has gone from breezy and delightful to oppressively hot and muggy to pleasantly warm and not-quite-so-muggy. Reminds me of all those summers spent in South Carolina, and adds to the vacation-y feeling.

We took a short road trip to visit some friends last week. It was awesome to watch Amy playing off on her own with her little buddies. She needs more of that.

Our visit was capped off with a morning fishing at the prettiest lake I've seen since those summers that we visited my great- aunt and uncle's cabin in New Hampshire.

And back home we've just been playing, shopping, cleaning, organizing, swimming and otherwise enjoying this summertime.

AND we finished another puzzle, no thanks to all five cats being on hand to "help".

There's a bit more of this to enjoy before our next big thing starts, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Today's Numbers, III

5 days, at least, that I've been wanting to write this post, each day with a different set of "numbers" in mind.

6 months, it seems, is about when I get in the notion to account for my days this way.

$5.99 to replace the SD card reader that must have fallen out of my camera bag.

0 pictures to share until the new one arrives (thank goodness for free

2-day shipping from Amazon.)

90 minutes just spent entering receipts and paying bills and feeling broke leaving me with

1/10 of the interest in blogging I had earlier tonight.

98 degrees, give or take, is just too hot, and

82 degrees does not make for a helpful overnight low.

Infinitely thankful for air conditioning and ceiling fans.

3 not-so-little kittens have still not been adopted... Would having

5 cats qualify me as a crazy cat lady?

7 days left to enjoy them before we head north for

2 days in Baltimore Inner Harbor (yay!) and

1 week visiting family before Don reports for OCS for the following

17 weeks. That's

119 days. But who's counting?

$160 per month that we will be saving by not sending Amy to preschool this fall, despite a

$70 non-refundable deposit. Money was not the reason for this decision, but some savings is good considering in the last week alone we've spent

$653 at the vet for checkups, shots, etc, for our two resident cats and

$236 to replace the windshield on our

14-year-old Explorer because someone found out the hard way that a

10 foot kayak does not fit in an

8 foot vehicle. All of which makes spending

50 bucks on this fabric seem like a drop in the bucket - whee!

(Did I mention I've spent the rest of this evening on financial matters?)

4 weeks for William and I to finally get over our mystery summer cough.

9:00 am date with Amy at the park today in order to beat the heat.

Plenty more to share about my sweet kids and the fun we've all been having with Don on leave, but that is better with pictures, so since it is now after

10 o'clock I will wrap this up and say goodnight!

This Week, in Pictures

Family here, a boat ride, a busy garden, the pool, Don's last week of work at the station, and of course, a few cats. Feeling short on words these days (maybe it's a summer thing?) but there still has been plenty going on. More verbiage sometime soon!

House Guests, or, Why I'm Not Sewing

So, I know I mentioned recently how the kids and I have been in the habit of going to Petco. This has not been fueled only by Amy's dog obsession, but also by the fun the kids and I have visiting the (many) kittens available for adoption each weekend. Well, long story short, last Saturday I got talked into fostering a litter of kittens. I know, I'm crazy. But according to my mom, I'll only have the energy for this sort of shenanigans for a certain amount of time, so I might as well jump right in while I do. And we certainly do have a lot on our plates in the next few months, so I am praying that these darlings go to permanent homes quickly. But in the meantime, we are all soaking up some serious kitten cuteness.

These three brothers were from a litter of five; their sisters have already been adopted. They are about 4 months old, I believe - bigger than that itty-bitty puffballs, but still quite small. And they are such good boys. I started them out in my sewing room with some gates up across the door, and over the last few days have been letting them come and go as they please, but mostly they are happy to just hang out and play and nap together in their little cozy hideout. Juliett and Ollie have been tolerating the intrusion reasonably well, and for the most part they all stay out of each other's way.

Now, for introductions. Incidentally, I'm not really crazy about their names, and if they were here to stay I'd probably change them... but no sense in confusing them right now. Anyway.

This is Humphrey (on the left). He is definitely the most forward of the three. They are all very social and friendly, but he is the only one who has ventured downstairs, and he is the only one who has uttered a single meow. He tolerates being picked up (over and over) by Amy, and never tires of chasing the feather wand.

Next up is Garfield, who is an exceptionally handsome cat - a perfect orange tabby with huge ears and a very long tail. He is ever so slightly more aloof than his brothers, and seems a bit more "grown up". Despite his confidence, however, he has been terrorized twice by Juliett and usually ends up under something whenever the older cats are around.

And last is Harley. Also very handsome and dignified. Usually hangs back a bit when the kids are around, but definitely gets in on his share of the play and affection, just not in the impish way of his brother Humphrey. I think he has the makings of a lap-kitty. All three are purring machines and are always up for some lovin'.

And the kids are doing marvelously with them, I must say. Amy likes to pick them up more than anything, which I try to discourage, but they are quite patient with her. And William simply loves to walk (!) around with the feather wand in hand saying "kit-tee! kit-tee!" And they follow him up and down the hall, expertly dodging his toddling footsteps.

Yes, I know I'm in danger of becoming a crazy cat lady, but I promise, this is only temporary! It's awfully tempting to want to keep them, but five cats is just not sane for our place in life right now. As a foster family we are responsible for bringing them back to Petco for a few hours each weekend for their adoption events, so pray that they find good homes quickly. They are such sweet little souls and deserve to get settled someplace for keeps.

I realize that my readership is not very large, but if anyone is out there in SoMD and looking for a cat check out this group for Harley, Humphrey, Garfield, and all their friends. Thanks!