Summer Days Are Gone

Summer days pass by in singular similarity. Something (kids, dogs, father phoning to see if I'm up yet) wakes me up. I hobble into the bathroom to empty my bladder (never mind that it woke me up at 5:30) and then stumble to the La-Z-Boy. My handy-dandy laptop seems to magically appear on my lap and the next thing I know, hours pass as I lose myself in Facebook updates and surfing all the blogs I love.

At some point, I think that I should be writing something. Usually, this occurs as my children begin some game that only they know the rules to. For me, the casual onlooker, the rules seem to be: 1) trounce each other and tickle/squash while laughing hysterically; 2) get irritated and/or hurt; 3) slug each other repeatedly while screaming invectives; 4) cry and scream loudly to demonstrate how badly you've been hurt; 5) yell incoherently at me about what the other did, expecting divine justice; 6) flip into off mode when the show comes back on; 7) repeat at the next commercial.

Sometimes I dream of spiking their food with calming agents. Usually around round ten of the game. Then someone (me) uses the newly discovered magic word ("Minecraft") and they disappear into the basement where they explore and build together in little geek heaven for as many hours as I will let them. Best $20 I ever spent.

Eventually, I run out of new posts on the blogs I love and then start exploring the blogs that the authors I love recommend because they love them. This is how I end up reading blogs for so long. Generally, I love the new blogs too and bookmark them.

When the laptop battery begins to die, I plug it back in and watch a TV show on Netflix or Hulu. Other than birth control, TV on DVD may be my favorite invention of all time. May be. At some point, someone (the daughter) lets the dog into the house and I end up with a lap full of 60ish pounds of wriggling puppy love. If I happen to be on the couch, she will actually use the big picture window to spring off and complete a circuit around my head and shoulders. You've experienced nothing in life until you've been buzzed by a chocolate lab puppy while sitting on a couch.

I just heard from a giant thud outside that the construction workers are here to begin another day of banging and screwing. (*sigh* I wish!) My lovely porch comes along nicely, despite the dirt clod fight the kids decided to have on the fresh, clean, unsealed boards yesterday. I need to get moving anyway. I have to make sure that my mother-in-law is up and getting ready to get here in time to babysit as I return to school for another year. Good day to us all.