Jul 24 2009
The dust has settled, but the weather is cold
Happy July! The fiscal year has ended, and although the calm is not quite as serene as I hoped, new adventures abound.
Both Dan and I are transitioning into new roles at work, which is keeping us on our toes — once we started feeling comfortable, it was time to shake things up. But that’s the way things are where we work — always learning, always changing. Keeps things interesting.
My parents were in town over the last two weeks, and we had a WONDERFUL visit. We even met the Vice President, Joe Biden, and got our picture taken with him!
Every time they come, I learn so much more about who they were in younger years, and what formed them into the people they are today. It’s so neat seeing Cincinnati through their eyes, seeing their old stomping grounds, and meeting their old friends.
We spent many mornings during their visit stalking the “wildlife preserve” (i.e. our backyard) with our cameras through the sliding glass window. I don’t know how or why we get so many birds, squirrels, chipmunks (and the occasional rabbit and deer) in our backyard, but it’s pretty nifty. It could have to do with our crabapple tree, and I’m sure the bird feeder helps… but at times there were at least 6 or 7 birds on the feeder at once, with a squirrel (or two) laying in wait to get his full. Then, the squirrel would scare off the birds and do wild stretching maneuvers to eat from the feeder, and the birds would go bathe in the fountain. We finally bought a corn & nut squirrel feeder, which resulted with increased squirrel acrobatics - it was awesome - but they ate through it in 2 days! Crazy squirrels. They’re nutty.
Last Sunday we had my Cincinnati extended family over for dinner, and luckily we had a fabulous, sunny (but not super hot) day. We ended up sitting outside to visit and eat dinner, and it made me realize that we need to spend more time out there. My cousins even taught me about some of the trees/plants we have, which, unfortunately, are currently terribly overgrown. Alas, there is only so much time in the day, and the yard maintenance suffers. It was wonderful reconnecting with all of them.
I swear, the big guy upstairs must have had a hand in our move to Cincinnati, because there’s an “as it should be” feeling about living here. And rather than feeling disconnected from family (which I worried about when we moved many states away), at times I feel even more connected.
The weather lately has been crazy. It was so cold on Saturday (got down into the 50s), that a few leaves on our hedge turned pink. Pink! And then the first half of the week was the same - gray, dreary and cold - in the 60s and 70s… which seems pretty odd in July. We finally got some sun today, and I looked up at the sky and smiled.
Next week I go to Alabama to my friend’s ranch. This weekend we’re relaxing. And maybe seeing the Harry Potter movie.
P.S. My tomatoes are doing AWESOME. I think my thumb may be a wee bit green!