August Is Still MidSummer, Right? Right?

August. Bleh.  I want June back.  It feels like we have spent this summer working. And working. And then working some more. Which is good. We do enjoy eating after all.  And I still have Haiti to pay for.  And Disneyland.  Yes folks, you read that right.  We are making another trip to the Happiest Place on Earth in September. The kids will go to school for 2 weeks, then we are pulling them out for a week of Mickeying it up in Anaheim.  Yup, they are getting pretty stoked.  I am just praying our old car makes it there and back. Oh, and since I dared mention school, the most wonderful thing happened: the school district changed the starting day of school.  They pushed it back til after Labor Day!  Intelligent school board heads prevailed this time!  This is truly a dream come true for me.  I hate sending my kids back to school in August, and every year it seemed to get pushed up further and further to the middle of August.  I think one year they started on the 18th.  Ridiculous.  The first day of school belongs in SEPTEMBER.  Not a second sooner. We are all really happy about our extra week of freedom, and we plan on rubbing it into the faces of everybody we know who has to go back in August.  Oh, and don't even try to justify your miserable existence by telling me that you get out before Memorial Day.  Guess what? Memorial Day weekend is ELEVEN MONTHS away. And,  Memorial Day weekend SUCKS.  It's cold, and usually wet.  And crowded. We will take August, thank you very much.  WE will be basking in the glory of one last week of peaceful August freedom while YOU are stuck inside at a desk filling out student expectation agreements.  Ha Ha!!

Audrey's play opens tonight.  Of course I missed it because of work, but thank heavens for sisters, Alisa and Olivia went to wish her well.

 We will all be in the audience tomorrow night, cheering her on, and probably on Monday too.  Monday is the last performance, and then, there will be a huge hole in our schedule where all of her play rehearsals have been.  She will miss it.  Me? Not so much.  My work schedule (dare I put it in writing) should be slowing down next week too, and we were looking forward to having some nice quiet summer days at home.  Until that is......

We got word that  our renters moved out.  We knew it was coming, but the ouch factor is now settling in. They have been in the house since we moved, so this will be our first time having to revamp the place post-tenant.  Alisa went to stay  there for a few nights and says the house itself is in reasonably okay condition, but the yard is a disaster (kind of expected that) and the house smells like cat pee.  A cat pee house is the realization of my ultimate worst nightmares about renting.  It is why our lease specifically said NO CATS.  Now our neighbors are telling us they had three.  I am just soooo thrilled at the prospect of spending the rest of my summer dealing with cat pee.  I am beginning to think maybe I hate renters.  Even when they pay their rent on time and replace windows and leaky faucets.  So next week we will be camping out at the old homestead, pulling up carpets and weeds.  Good times await, I am sure.

That's okay though.  It's not like I have a neglected yard of my own or anything.  It's  not like our punch pass to the pool will expire anytime soon.  It's not like I have TEN MILLION things to do to get ready for Haiti. There is plenty of time for everything right?  I mean, we get an extra week and all, right?