Invasion of the Bees

Friends, we are in the middle of what appears to be a drought in my small corner of the world.  We are in the most desperate need of some rain - something we've not had in about 15 days or so.  Much of my yard has been reduced to dirt and dry, brown grass that crunches beneath your feet.  I have not even mowed this week.  Other than sporadic clover stalks (which somehow still manage to thrive) there is little to mow.

Yes, it's been hot (and dry) for several days.  Today, the water in our pool almost crossed the boundary of feeling refreshing to feeling more like warm bath water, which is not refreshing - at least not to me.  

We weren't the only ones trying to cool off a bit.  During the hour I was in the pool I killed and/or fished out 21 - yes, TWENTY-ONE!!! - bumble bees and what seemed to be an infinite number of sweat bees from our little man-made swimming hole.  I say infinite because there seemed to be no end to them.  I'd take a frog in the pool any day of the week and twice on Sundays over bees.  I spent all but five minutes scooping and killing.  And the sweat bee that stung me?  He died slowly.

Now, spare me any lectures tonight on animal cruelty.  Admittedly, I am no animal lover but I would only harm those that pose a threat to my children or me.  I would have included John in that list but seeing as how he shot me with a high powered water gun during the five minutes I had to relax on my float, he's on his own.

Image found here

Summer

As any teacher can tell you, summer vacation is one of the (increasingly few) perks that come with the job.  No, that is not why most of us chose this profession and no we are not paid for this time out of school.  It's a perk - the same as getting a discount on a new car because you work for Nissan or saving x% every time you buy groceries because you work at Kroger.  I don't begrudge your perk and you shouldn't mine either.

Summer vacation is an even bigger perk if you have a family.  Now, that could very well be a reason many go into teaching.  I love being on the same schedule as my kids.  It's truly a blessing knowing I will be home when they are home. 

One of the downsides, though, to having such a regular, lengthy break from work- for me, at least - is that it tends to cause me to take time for granted.  If I don't finish that project this summer, there's always next summer.  If we don't go on that trip this summer, there's always next summer.  You get the idea.  And now projects are backing up, trips are going untaken, and time is running out.  Time is running out.

No, I've not been diagnosed with any life-threatening illness and I hope I never am.  But even if I live to be a ripe, old age I will never again have this time back, this summer back, or my kids at their present ages back. 

Ren is now driving and will be a senior next year.  A senior.  I am still having trouble fathoming that one.  John-Heath will be in the second grade.  Yes, he still has many years of school left but he is no longer my baby boy.  Okay, he will always be my baby boy, but his little curls have given way to a more boyish haircut and when he calls my name "mommy" has been replaced by "mom".

So, over the course of these next couple months I want time to count, which could include taking a trip, finishing a project or two, and even just snuggling together in the bonus room with popcorn and a movie. 

Time to start working on a bucket list for summer.

John-Heath Dives In

John-Heath enjoying Jon and Jessie's pool a few days ago.

I really miss having a pool. When we moved in to Nannie's house after she passed away we thought we would be there for a few years or six or seven so we bit the bullet and had a very nice, very large above ground pool installed.

Now, I am generally not a fan of the look of above grounds and, truth be told, I am envious of all of you with in-grounds. I would looovvve to be able to install a large patio area with a nice, big in-ground pool just off our bach porch. However, that is way too cost-prohibitive for us right now. Besides, with an above ground if you get tired of it after several years you can just tear it down and haul it off. That doesn't sound too tacky, does it? Anyway, back to my story.

One of the perks of working for the school system is that you have vacation days at the same time your children do. And as such we thought putting one in would give us -meaning Ren and myself- something to do during the summer to keep from being bored out of our minds. Well, yes, since I decided to gain enough weight to make a whole other me I also liked the idea of not having to take Ren to public pools. That was another selling point.

So, we put the pool in, I found out I was pregnant with John-Heath and within two and half years we had built a house on the back of the farm and moved, leaving behind the pool to be used by the people who rented Nannie's house after we moved out.

I was told we would move the pool over once we got settled. I guess we are still unsettled because there is no pool in my backyard.

Finally, this summer John asked us to decide if we would rather take a trip somewhere or buy a pool. The vote was unanimous - 3 to 1 (John's vote reeeally didn't count anyway, that's why we can say unanimous). We chose the pool. So now we are out pool shopping.

A couple days ago we stopped by Pool and Spa in BG, Ky. This is where we bought our last one. While there John-Heath managed to stick his hands into all the above grounds on display and flick enough water into the air to get his hair pretty much soaked. But the creme de la creme of the shopping trip came when he, while trying to position himself just so in a patio chair set up next to the in-ground pool display, managed to get himself dumped out accidentally from the chair and right smack dab, head first into the pool.

So, from that point on, I began my attempt to stall the salesman on the inside long enough for John to squeeze out the excess water from our son and get him, undetected, to the car, as if he's the only kid to ever fall in a pool at a pool store.

But, like John said, one day we'll look back and laugh, remembering the look on his face when he came up out of the water. I wish I had had my camera with me.