at last

Summer is here.

Not technically, I realize, which by the way has never seemed right to me. Who can wait until June 21 for summer to be "official"? The clearest definition of the beginning of summer for me is that glorious first day of summer vacation.

Dan has graduated and is actually gainfully employed already, making money for all the driving he will be doing between college and home next fall. Not to see me so much, more for his sweetie.

It's hard to believe Susannah will be at the middle school next year. Yikes.

I've been only partially successful in getting my mom to abandon her turtlenecks under sweatshirts now that the weather is hovering just below 90 degrees, and we have no air conditioning. She says she doesn't like the way her arms look. I guess vanity is more tenacious than logic. But today she has on a short-sleeved shirt, so that's good.

Garrison now has his learner's permit. Jim and I have insisted that our kids know how to drive a stick shift before they can get their license. I learned to drive in a VW Fastback, and it's been a source of smug pridefulness that I know how to operate a clutch. It's a lost art, you know.

We've been borrowing my mom's 5-speed, manual transmission Honda Civic, primarily because it gets upwards of 45 mpg. And it makes her happy that it's being used, since she obviously isn't driving anymore. So Garrison and I have spent some happy times lately stalling out at stop signs, on hills, with cars lining up in back of us. But I think he's beginning to get the hang of it.

Jim's been traveling a lot.

I gave the dog a summer hair cut.

Danny's graduation open house is Monday and my dining room has been overtaken by photos, school papers, posterboard, stickers, and football clippings. I've been trying to put together some posters and such, and I think I'm almost done. Still slightly overwhelmed at all that needs to be done to get ready for the open house, but I have lots of helpers.

My yard's a mess, but I'm a little afraid to get out there and start pulling weeds because poison ivy is supposedly at its peak this year, and I am not confident I would recognize it. All I remember from my childhood is "leaves of three, let it be."

I wish there was a market for dandelions. I could be hauling in some serious dough, because my dandelions are simply spectacular.

And I'm out of words.

household hint

When cleaning windows, Windex or a Windex-like facsimile is really the most effective product to use. Goo Gone, while exemplary for removing sticky gunk and tape residue, doesn't quite cut it for a shiny, streak-free result on the window pane.

I know this because that's precisely what my mom used today. I was occupied scraping old paint from the walls in Danny's old room, and I thought I'd give her a useful activity so she could feel helpful. I kept hearing her talk about how hard these double pane windows are to get clean, and when I
turned around, the window was smeared with Goo Gone.

It was right around then that I suddenly remembered how thirsty the flowers outside must be, and oh, could she please water them before they got too dry?