Mud

I hate mud. Truly hate it. If I had a chance for a $100 spa trip to soak in mud - I would refuse it. Don't care where it is, who it is with....count me out. So you can imagine how much I have disliked the weather of late. Seriously, someone needs to figure out how to produce better weather. Maybe a little bit of rain each week - enough to not have to water the garden - and that's it. The rest of the time, it could be in the mid 70's to 80's. Except in the summer where we could push 90. Enough to have it warm enough to swim. I don't think that is going to happen here in doo-dah.

So, my house smells like dead fish because Harley, unlike myself, loves the water and the mud. He has been swimming in the pond as well. He stinks. Bad. If I leave him outside, he runs to the pond (or worse, the neighbor's yard), so in he stays. He has learned how to get out of the fenced area that I had him in, so that no longer works. My hope is that he will start calming down soon. How long does the puppy stage last? He's two, so hopefully we are nearing the end?

(On the subject of Harley - Alexa is now down 3 pairs of underwear and at least 5 stuffed animals. There are also countless little toys and game pieces that are gone as well. I blame Alexa because she just can't seem to pick her stuff up.)

Back to water: the children had fun last week - prior to the torrential downpour - playing in the water. There was the day that it was near 90 degrees (in April? yikes!), so I told them that if they wanted they could play with the garden hose or their water guns. They chose the hose and made up their own game with it. I must've taken 100 pictures. (literally) One person had the hose and would spray the other person with it until the sprayee was able to get it from the sprayer. They had an absolute blast. I enjoyed watching them just have fun.

Last Friday we went with the 4th graders to a Rock and Mineral show. That was pretty fun, too, even though the place was p-a-c-k-e-d with children. We saw, and could even touch, some pretty cool rocks and fossils. They did a lab test to determine what 8 different rocks were. That was pretty cool. Then we went and played at the park and had a picnic. You just can't beat a picnic.

We are down to three weeks from today for school to be out. I, personally, have 3 classes left. So the countdown is on! (okay, it's been on...but now it's really close!) The month of May should scream by. We have a field trip to do - going to the movies and bowling; going to the zoo with their school; our schoolwork; lots of tests for me; I have a couple of CERT events - one this weekend and one the 16th; the kids will get their new pool (above ground) this month; I am taking scuba classes the weekend of the 22nd. It will be an insane month!