Remember when we were school-aged, and the first day of the new school year our teacher would give us the assignment of writing that essay—What I Did Last Summer?

Well, as I age, the summers get more and more active. Now I actually have something to write in my summer essay assignment.

I believe it has been several months since I entered anything here. I’ll begin with May, since that was nearly summer…

May 1, I had foot surgery—simple stuff, really, but two toes have bothered me for many years, to the point of pain and an inability to find comfortable shoes. The foot doctor called them hammer toes and said it would be an easy fix. For three weeks I had to stay off my feet. Yippee! No cooking or dishes to do! The first week it was keep my foot above my heart at all times—no unnecessary walking or standing. The two weeks after, it was keep my feet above my hips…still no unnecessary walking or standing, or cooking, or washing dishes, or laundry, yada yada yippee ky yi yay.

The only reasons it’s even worth mentioning are that for one, I was bored after the 4th day, still in pain after the 3rd week, and even now September 12th, four months later, I still have quite a bit of pain and yesterday was the first day I could wear closed-toe shoes in all that time. It's now September 26th and I've worn closed-toe shoes twice more, but this morning I went to my primary care doc and he referred me to another pod doc as a 2nd opinion. Hmmm, we'll see.

Boo hoo for me. Did it stop me from having a great summer? Noooooo!!!! The girls got out of school mid-June, and started their summer camps right away. But you know all about the end of the school year for the both of them. Well, except for their grades and test scores.

Brag on: Sarah got straight “A’s” and so did Emily!! When we received the results of Sarah’s State test (STAR-9, I think it’s called) we learned that she got perfect scores in math and science, and near perfect scores in language arts. So far, Sarah has not received a “B” grade in any of her report cards. I only did that one year in school, and I thought I was smart! Brag off.

In June, Sarah thoroughly enjoyed her week at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. She got to help with the training and cleaning and general care of the pound kittens and puppies. She loved it.
After that week, Sarah and Emily both attended a week of soccer camp. They had a great time, and the coaches I think helped them a great deal with their skills. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that the coaches were both young college-aged men from Wales!;^)

Nurture to Nature (Girls Weekend Away Then Yosemite) Coming soon!
Lake Tahoe Coming just after N to N!

Remember the Playroom? You know, that room that I re-organized three times, then transformed it into Sarah’s very own bedroom but still looked like a junk room? Well, I think we finally got it right this time. A very good woman who has quickly found her way into our hearts does a mean re-organization job—she helped us get Sarah’s room look like a Real Simple magazine article with pictures of model bedrooms for tweenagers.

It took us 5 hours of constant throwing, pitching, laughing, lifting, moving and “discussing” where things ought to go, but we did it, we sure did! Sarah’s room looks beautiful now, with only a very few aesthetic changes yet to happen, like a new bed cover, trading dressers with Daddy (he gets a new one!) and little things like that. She has slept through nearly every night since we got it cleaned and tidy. We got her a new desk that she loves. It holds all she needs to do her homework. Before I actually published this entry, we got the new cover and a few other little items to accessorize the room--beautiful! Thank you Loi!! We're working on a throw rug now...an oval shaped brown one would be perfect.

I also did some yard work just outside her bedroom window, clipping the hedge and clearing the weeds, and there is way more sunlight coming into her room during the day now. She’s very happy with it, and has kept it clean for four weeks straight now. School Begins Again! Aye, Carumba, the schedule!!

One more very important thought: please send good thoughts and prayers toward my auntie’s improved health. We had a scare last week, and she’s now home from the hospital. I’ve been thinking about her non-stop, and my very dear uncle, too. She’s still not quite out of the woods, and needs all the support encouragement we can give her.

We love you Panana!