Summertime

Well, summer has come and almost gone. I took a long hiatus from my blog because I just had to step back, get myself together and breathe. I was such a nervous wreck in the few weeks before and after my children left for the summer that it was all I could do to just get up and pretend I was fine. And now, I've blinked, and summer will be over before I know it. Okay, not actually over-over, but I consider summer to be over when they move back home with me for the school year. Which will occur in exactly 17 days. So I have exactly 17 days to get everything else done this summer that I have been planning to do.

Here's my list:

1. Get my kitchen painted, stuff hung up on the walls and a window treatment up. Check. It felt really good to get a lot of my artwork out of my closet and hung up in the kitchen. And voila! I love my kitchen even more than ever!

2. Get my bathroom painted, tile around the top of the shower stall, and install new hardware. Did not happen, and it's not going to until next summer.

3. Paint Guy #1's daughter's bedroom in his house, put up new window treatments and try to help her get organized. Not done to my satisfaction, but she seems to like it and I've decided I'm just not going to agonize over a bedroom that's not even in my house. So check mark on that one.

4. Buy a hood vent for my kitchen and get it installed. The fact that I have live wires protruding from the wall in the cabinet over the stove makes me feel something like a cross between an idiot and a daredevil every time I stick my hand up there. But no, the hood vent has not been purchased, namely because it costs more than $26.79 at Home Depot. Maybe a winter project.

5. Replace tile back splash in the kitchen behind the stove where some previous resident removed the microwave shelf over the stove (that probably wasn't to code anyway). Nope. Next summer.

6. Get my porch railing replaced and painted. Check mark on the replacement, half a check mark on the painting. The whole thing has one coat on it, and goddammit, I'm just not going to paint outside when it's 300 degrees. And I'm not going to pay someone to do it. So maybe a check mark minus.

7. Power wash deck and front porch and stain. Nope and nope, but I've got the name of a guy who does a buddy's cul-de-sac and I am going to give him a call. The fact that his business name is "Yellaboy's Powerwashing" makes me wonder how much jail time this cat has done, but whatever, I need my shit washed. If he's licensed and insured, he's in!

8. Go somewhere, like the beach. Nope and it's not going to happen. Guy #1 invited me to the beach in May, but it was my last week with my kids and sorry, but I just couldn't blow my last week off with them to go to the beach. I had hoped we could maybe sneak off for a few days here or there... but it didn't happen. I'm not even going to lie and say I'm not disappointed.

9. Lots of sleepovers with Guy #1 and going out, having fun, drinking a little wine... Yeah, no. This is what happens when you have kids living with you. I have 17 days to get this accomplished. Obviously, this is not going to happen. Maybe next year, maybe not.

So that's what I've gotten done this summer. A fair amount of shit around my house has gotten done, and I think I'm ready for my kids to come home. I'm tired of sitting around. Time for cheerleading and football.