First Summer Friday

I know, I know, officially, summer doesn't start until the solstice. But the weather is warm and the children started swimming in the pool yesterday, so that means it's summer here.

1. Yesterday was a trifecta of unhappiness. I woke up with a summer cold (which is thankfully abating today), we received a large packet of papers from the IRS that said we significantly underpaid our taxes in 2008 (I checked and they're right--we accidentally under-reported our income for 2008--which makes it a very expensive typo), and Maytag released a large list of dishwashers whose heating elements have been recalled because they keep catching on fire and ours is on the list. The good news is, after spending quite a while on the phone with Maytag, I was able to schedule a repairman to come and replace the heating element this afternoon. So I am anxiously waiting for the phone to ring which will mean the repair man is on his way here.

2. As I mentioned above, the children were able to swim for the first time yesterday. Marshall started setting up the pool on Monday and had enough of it assembled for the children to swim happily yesterday. The water should have been freezing, but they still swam for an hour before I pulled them out to eat dinner. For the first time, Miranda (with her flotation device) got right in and started paddling. Usually, she hangs onto the ladder for at least a week.

3. Miranda used the potty several times at school this week. Now, she has yet to duplicate the behavior at home, but it's a start.

4. Also on the potty front, Alex went dry all last night with no pull-up. We have hopes of this becoming a habit.

5. Even 18 hours without a dishwasher I can use is annoying. The sink is full of dirty dishes. Of course, I could have washed them by hand, but when it's going to be fixed today, it does seem like a waste of effort. :)

6. Miranda's sleeping habits are still off. Tuesday morning she did her 4 am wake up and didn't nap and went to bed crying pathetically. Last night, of course, she was up from midnight until 2 am, thinking it was morning, wanting breakfast and for us to play with her. Thankfully, she did go back to sleep eventually. And so did I.

7. Marshall is still hard at work on his Super Beetle. He didn't manage to have it done in time for the show in Virginia last Sunday but he decided to attend the show anyway and made some great connections with other VW fans.

Bonus 8. Marshall has spent several hours on the phone with Verizon this week and our internet connectivity is still not improved. If we can't find a solution soon, we may have to (gulp of dread) return to Comcast. Dang.

Extra Bonus 9. My calla lilies are in gorgeous bloom. I have so many this year, there are plenty to share. Come by and pick a few. I do have a few photos of last years flowers here. And last year's irises are here.

And here's Jen.