STELLAR SATURDAY

[DeeClutter]

At least it seems to be here. Hope you all have a nice weekend for all you have planned as well. Not sure we have anything planned per se. Do have a chicken bar-b-q this afternoon then a dessert auction. I bought some small pies at our church's bake sale (this particular baker makes wonderful pies!) for the auction. Might even bid on one ourselves. I'm sure dh will at any rate.

I was up from about 3:30-5:30, fell asleep & woke up again when dh came out about 6:30. Crawled back into bed planning to doze for a bit and started thinking about friends across the road. For the life of me I couldn't remember their daughter's name -familiar to me as anything. So spent the next hour and a half trying to remember -still don't.

Need to get moving, get dressed, eat and all that -start my day.

[helia]

I have NOTHING on my calendar for today. What a luxurious feeling! And the weather looks perfect, high of 75 today, 79 tomorrow. Maybe a bit warmer on Monday. No rain in the forecast. It is sunny right now and the birds are singing.

I'm up and dressed in my jogging clothes waiting for dh to get up. I need to be done with my jog and stretching by 9:30 a.m. so I can get dd15 to drumline car wash at 10 a.m. So. . . I need to leave soon. Should be jogging before 9 a.m.

Despite having nothing on the calendar, there are things I need to do today with an eye toward travels next week and the party 2 weeks from today.

Anyhow, today I hope to:
- jog
- take ds shopping for more work clothes
- do laundry catch up
- clean up one of the garden areas in our front yard
- maybe get the van washed
- maybe do some deeper cleaning in the kitchen
- change time for our moms group dinner reservation and let the leaders know
- I'll probably make a quick trip to WF for something to eat tonight. I'm thinking we'll just do a simple grill tonight.

There are other possible goals that might get switched out for the above ones.

Dh and I got hotels for Naples booked last night so that feels good to have those taken care of. My friend B and her dh were just in that area last spring, so they had some recommendations, but we actually went with some other hotels after reading through tripadvisor reviews and thinking about what we wanted.

OK - I'm off to see if I can get dh moving. He's running long today, 12 miles, so we're driving separately.

[DeeClutter]

Missed that you were heading to Naples -Naples where? Knew you were talking of Hawaii, Helia.

I'm not even dressed yet. Better get my tush out of this chair and get moving.

[helia]

Naples, Italy. Our family vacation together the week before the big 90th bday party in the Netherlands. Greece was our first choice but was very expensive. Rome is also expensive. Naples has Pompeii nearby, the history which ds and dd18 will especially enjoy with their strong (compared to the rest of us) Latin and humanities (ancient history and art history) background, and the Amalfi Coast, which is supposed to be beautiful, and the Island of Capri, etc. We'll be in Naples 3 nights and then a small town on the Amalfi Coast called Positano 3 nights. Then, we'll fly to Amsterdam for the party. Well, the party isn't in Amsterdam but Amsterdam has the airport. We'll then drive to the family summer house. .

Yes, I'm doing a lot of traveling this summer and struggling a bit with the ethics of spending the $$. 6 trips, but one of those is a camping trip and 2 involve getting ds to and from his summer internship. We have the $$ as we live debt free, house paid off 10 years ago? but I feel funny about the expenditures.

I'm finally leaving for a jog. Ds has said he'll take dd15.

[DeeClutter]

Italy was my first thought, but knew there are other "Naples" around the U.S. When is your trip to Hawaii with dh?

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Having been to Hawaii now, I fully understand why people go back over and over again. The US did well when they added that as a state! Italy is expensive but nothing compared to Norway!

I'm up. According to the fitbit the melatonin didn't help at all but I felt as if I had a better sleep. Will try again tonight. The issues now are heat and mosquitoes. I'm having trouble with too hot/too cold and just when I fall asleep, it seems like a mosquito will attack.

I've figured out a quick release for the bug netting and will put that up tonight. When I hear a mosquito I dive under the covers but then get way too hot so the cycle of disrupted sleep continues. The netting will help a bit with that and if my design works the way I hope it will, it won't be a drag to put it up and take it down each day. Personally, I love the way it looks draped over the bed (a cross between little-girl princess bed and romantic, tropical, retreat!) but it does highlight the mosquito problem. There is a creek at the end of the street and my house is surrounded by cedars so, despite no standing water here, you can see clouds of them most places on the property and the screens work fine but they come in when we come and go through a door, despite shooshing as many away as possible before opening the door.

I've stripped the bed the sheets are in the washer. I started to remake but hit a snag from tiredness so stopped and am having my tea first. Have cleaned the bacon mess off the mirror behind the stove and stove top, put away the dishes in the drainer and wiped down some of the counters. The lawn is being mowed now. Dh is off at men's breakfast but will be home in 90 minutes to help with the cleaning.

[OKay]

LynLee - Sounds like you have some changes on the horizons! I'm happy for you. It takes a lot of courage to make some changes.

Helia - Your trips sound wonderful! I'm glad your going with DH and family on adventures.

Mosquitoes! I almost forgot about mosquitoes because I haven't seen them in so long. I guess there is a good side to a drought.

LO had 2 ballgames on the schedule for today, however they were just rescheduled for Tuesday. That opens up today's schedule for other adventures.

[DeeClutter]

Absolutely hate mosquitoes, Kathryn. Had no idea you were troubled so with them! There are a lot at dd's as their property backs up to swamp land behind obvious trees. How dsil stands them in his 'artist' shed is beyond me. Dh will work out there for a while till he becomes a 'magnet' then he's inside. There are certain times of day and year when they are worse. I can remember when dd had her hip replaced & PT was coming there for some time, he would walk behind her swinging a towel trying to keep them off her. Here, we may have them in the evening, but rarely do we have them inside. You'd think so being in a campground.

Sure is getting busy out there today. Have seen lots of bikes and golf carts. First nice day we've had in a while so I'm sure others will be heading out here before long. I noticed the seasonal campsites were pretty full last night. Dh left for work about 6:30 -after he had fed some of the nearby lawns (weed 'n feed).

Looked up on Med Co to see if/when dh's medicines were shipped. I was trying to determine if I wanted to go out to the post office this morning. See they were all shipped yesterday, so I'll wait till Tuesday. No mail Monday.

Wonder if DS-R, DDIL & DGS9 have happened to come out yet. Can't quite see their RV from here. Imagine DGS has a lacrosse game today more than likely. Other DS-A & family went to J ellystone P ark camping yesterday.

DD sent a text picture of GD15 with her older bio sister at sister's graduation yesterday. Hope some of what's going on in P's life might somehow rub off on GD. She could have the world by the tail.

[OKay]

OH how LO loves the timer. He will stay totally focused on almost ANYthing for 15 minutes. He is now doing a "learn to walk in flipflops" 15 minute focus.

Next up -
** Vacuum middles of the rooms (delegated to LO)
** Kitchen dishes put away from breakfast and counters wiped down
** Process MPB daily gross
** Reading Eggs.com (LO 15 minute focus)

[DeeClutter]

Good route for any of us too, Okay. Having said that -going to set my timer for 15 for the next round of something?