Looking Back at June

I cannot believe that today is the last day of June. This summer is sure flying by. I haven't really documented too many events this month so I thought I would finish off with a review of things I have yet to talk about.

June 6th - My family helped my maternal grandparents celebrate their 60th Anniversary. I can't imagine being 60 years old, let alone married for that long. Congrats to them!

June 12th - Mitch and I made Bob Barker proud and had Crickett spayed. It was sad seeing her drugged up the afternoon we brought her home but the next day she was back to her rambunctious self.

June 19th - I rode along with Mitch for the first time. He was working the night shift so I got to see a bit of what happens on a Friday night/Saturday morning from 10:00 pm until 2:00 am. It was interesting and surprisingly fun. I'm looking forward to going again.

June 23rd - Mitch and I used our new grill for the first time. The hamburgers and hot dogs were delicious.

June 26th - Mitch and I bought the the lumber for our fence, which will (hopefully) be started next week. The evening was supposed to be a date night with dinner and a movie but it ended up being just dinner. About 20 minutes into the movie, the tornado sirens went off and we headed back home. We've had some pretty intense storms this month.

June 27th - My father's side of the family got together for my aunt's wedding. The ceremony was short (three minutes!) and sweet and the karaoke that night was very entertaining. It's always a lot of fun spending time with my family, especially the girls!

Happy Father's Day

We're Not Football Girls

Apparently Crickett hates football as much as I do.

Substandard Slope

The first real storms of the summer season rolled through last night. Reports stated that the area got between five and seven inches in about four hours. No travel was advised throughout the city due to flooded streets, some residents were evacuated from their homes, and the bowling alley's roof caved in. We definitely got a lot of water. Some of that water even managed to find its way into our basement.

Our lot is nothing but a dirt patch that has yet to be landscaped or seeded. I learned last night that our lot is sloped directly toward the house on the west side. I never would have thought to check the basement for water until Mitch called me from work and it's a good thing he did. Water was pouring into our window well from the yard (if you look at the window in the photo, the dark area is water) and quickly trickling into the house. While I moved our things to dry areas, one of the neighbors was nice enough to come over and help me by scooping all the water out of the window well. A short time later my parents and father-in-law arrived with sand bags and the problem has been temporarily solved.

It was an eventful evening. I hope the storms that are predicted for the next couple of days produce less excitement.

My Special Library

Apparently I organize my books in a ridiculous manner.

My shelves of fiction books are arranged based on number of pages; they are ordered from smallest number of pages to largest number of pages. While explaining this to my husband, sister, and cousins yesterday I saw nothing but baffled faces and heard nothing but doubtful questions. I couldn't convince a single one of them that it was a good system. They seem to think libraries have the right idea with the whole "last names in alphabetical order." I guess you're going to have to be a special person to view my collection.

How do you have your books organized?

Two Years

My blog is two years old today!

I still remember when I was first introduced to the world of blogging and told I should start my own blog. I dismissed the idea immediately and didn't even consider it again for quite some time. I'm not sure what prompted me to finally start posting but I'm sure glad I came around. It's fun having all these snapshots documented.

Thanks to everyone who visits!

Sunset Snapshot

Last night's sunset:

Name Change

My name has been Holly for 28 years. It's a good name and I've almost always liked it; I think I'll keep it.

I'm changing my blogger profile name to Holly. I think that's what it should have been from the start of this blog.

Saturday Snapshot

There's nothing quite as beautiful as a snow-covered field in June.

Is it Really June?

Mother Nature hates us this year.

The Last Installment

Sadly, these are the last drawings I have. I'm really going to miss this student.



I gave this boy a hard time one day about his grumpy attitude, telling him he needed to smile. The next day, this was on his paper.


This drawing on his final broke my heart. Math was not this boy's strong suit and he knew it. I made sure to tell him that not everyone needs to be a mathematician, that his talent for drawing was just as special. The world needs all kinds.

To see some of this boy's past work, you can click here, here, here, or here.

28

While 27 was a good year, I was excited to turn 28 yesterday. It's good to be an even-numbered age again. In all seriousness, though, I don't mind aging. Life has been very good to me and it always has me looking forward to what is next. I think 28 will be an even better year than 27.

I had a very nice day yesterday. Mitch took the day off from work so we were able to spend some quality time together. It was a nice day, so we took Crickett to the puppy park. At first she didn't know what to think of the other puppies but once she got comfortable she seemed to have fun playing with them. I do think she liked the dog owners better than the other dogs, though. She's definitely a people puppy. I love this photo of my little girl because it looks like she's smiling.

The evening was spent with the hubby, my parents, sister, and mother-in-law. We went out for dinner at the usual birthday spot, a Mexican restaurant that offers free birthday meals. After dinner, everyone came back to our place for cake-eating and present-opening. While I didn't get to have the cake I wanted - the cookie cakes have been discontinued and Mitch didn't understand what "yellow cake mix" was - the frosting was chocolate and there were sprinkles so I was a happy camper. I received wonderful gifts: home decor (I think it was a hint that I need to start making my house look like a home. Notice the blank wall behind me? Yeah, they're all still like that.), clothing, and photography items. I must say, every year I feel very spoiled.

Thanks to everyone for the lovely birthday wishes! Cheers to 28!

Monday Mishmash

• My last day of school was on Friday, May 22. It was a tough day for me. Actually, the whole last week of school was kind of tough. The teachers gave me a going-away lunch which was not only thoughtful, but quite delicious. It saddened me even more to be leaving. The students made me cards and posters thanking me for a great year and telling me they would miss me. It breaks my heart knowing that I will no longer be a part of their lives and, to be honest, I'm a little jealous of the teacher that will replace me because he or she will get to spend their days with the kids I enjoyed so much. It was a wonderful school year despite all the difficult periods.
  
  
• Several days ago I took the first (and probably the hardest) step in accomplishing two of my 2009 goals. First, I registered to run in an organized race. I voluntarily signed up and paid money to run 13.1 miles. I feel absolutely crazy for doing so and the thought of participating now makes me want to puke. I feel ridiculously unprepared to run a half-marathon but I've been looking at training schedules and I definitely have a decent amount of time to train for the September race. That knowledge doesn't weaken the nervous factor. Second, I registered for a photography class. The online class, which starts in about two weeks, focuses on people photography. I’m extremely excited about all the things I will learn because I have very little knowledge of this area of photography. I’m also very nervous. Like with the half-marathon, I feel completely unprepared and even though the instructor promises that beginners can take this course, I’m still worried.
  
  
• In May, I blogged seven out of 31 days, or 22.6% of the month. While not a beautiful number, I broke my pattern of decreasing percentages. Perhaps I can bust out of the 20% range in June. That would mean I have to blog at least nine times - I'm pretty confident that I can do it.
  
  
• Tomorrow is my birthday. I can hardly believe that it's this time of year already. I also can't believe that I will be 28 years old! Where does the time go?