Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Lazy Days of Summer?

June has been a very busy month.  The first two weeks were kind of a blur of working then coming home and trying to feed my family without the use of a stove.  Then, there was the matter of installing the new stove. 

Installing a stove should be a very simple matter, but the word simple just doesn't seem to apply to our house.  Problem #1: We noticed right away that the new stove seemed to be shorter than the old one.  Evidently the standard size of drop-in stoves has changed over the years. (Am I the only one who thinks this is really stupid?)  So, we got some 2x4's and, with the help of a friend, created a frame to lift the stove to the correct height.  So far, so good.  Problem #2: When we tried to slide the stove in, we found that the opening in the counter top wasn't wide enough.  After several days of shaving and checking and shaving some more, my hubby got the opening wide enough to fit the stove. Finally!  We celebrated by baking cookies after dinner. 

Last Saturday, my son and ten of his friends (and a few adults) spent the day working on his Eagle project. It was hot and humid, but everyone worked really well together.  At the end of the day, there were four brand new picnic tables ready to be used by the students of a local elementary school.  The tables turned out so nice that I just might have to get them to build one for my backyard.

I've been keeping up with my 52 Organizing Missions, even though I haven't been keeping up with my blog. 
  • #6 Detox Your Car - This one was easy. I can't stand a messy vehicle, so I keep mine neat. I removed a couple of extra camp chairs from the back and threw away some expired insurance cards that were in the glove compartment. Done.
  • # 7 Be Happy - I've made my list of 10 things that make me happy, and I am working on incorporating those things into my life more often.
  • #8 De-clutter 50 Items - For this mission, I focused on my junk drawer and two utility drawers in my kitchen. I was able to get rid of over a hundred things. Most went straight to the trash. Now I can open and close my drawers without worrying about them getting stuck!
  • #9 Filing System Nirvana - I simplified my filing system several years ago and have been doing a pretty good job of shredding old paperwork regularly.  Just had to clean out a couple of folders to call this one done.
I just got my e-mail for Mission #10 and am really looking forward to that one.  I almost did this for #8, but figured that it would come up as a separate mission later.  I was right.  (See, it does happen sometimes.)  I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to do this one.

Next week I am going to summer camp with our Scout Troop.  It will be hot and humid, and I expect to see some of the typical problems that arise when you have 18 boys camping together for a week, and I will be spending part of my time teaching adult classes.  Somewhere in all that, I plan to have a little fun.. maybe take a hike or borrow a kayak and paddle down the river.   And that is how I will spend my summer vacation. 

Next year, I'm planning a cruise.