What happened to July?

Yes, I am back again (for now) I spent most of July traveling hither & yon. I spent about 3 weeks in the Poconos, enjoying the sounds of nature. Waking to the sound of the birds chirping or the rain falling or sometimes, the ultimate nature call “MAMA, I got pooters!”

Warm days were spent in the lake debating how deep is too deep with a six-year old, trying to explain that splashing Kiki is not necessarily in their best interest and pushing a raft around with 2 munchkins on it. Afternoons could be spent lazing in the hammock—if you managed to get there before the kids!

We had some colder, rainier days also. We watched Wizard of Oz and every cartoon known to man. Overall I watched more TV than I have in the past 2 years combined. I’m glad that I don’t normally watch TV, but I will confess to enjoying some of it, especially Bravo’s Top Chef. (I’m rooting for CJ and think Hung should be chopped in a humiliating defeat. I also like the Joey/Howie dynamic and think that Howie may make it all the way. But he’s not as cute as CJJ )

We also had a nice afternoon of tie-dyeing t-shirts. and a sundress. and underwear (boxers and boxer-briefs, depending on the recipient).

No, those aren’t the ones we made, ours were a little more “free-style.” But who knew these things were getting top-dollar on ebay?

Other activities included having a birthday party for The Girl with Wegman’s Lemon Tart and fresh blueberries. (No time to bake this year, so I went with the best!) and a mad flea market excursion. Originally it was just going to breakfast, then we had to go to the store and along the way, we couldn’t help but stop and check out the fine wares in peoples yards. Where else can you get a pink bike for $5? Sadly it was too small for me, but perfect for above mentioned 6-year-old. I did get a pair of vintage pink sunglasses for 99 cents, so I’m not complaining.

Also on my July travel loge was a trip to Hershey, PA to celebrate the big sister’s 40^th birthday. We spent an afternoon at the world famous Hershey’s Chocolate Spa where we enjoyed a Peppermint Patty (Peppermint Salt Scrub followed by the Chocolate Fondue Wrap). It is wonderful to be at one with chocolate—I felt and smelled so good for the rest of the weekend! (Ok, it didn’t really last through my shower the next morning, but I held off on that until I was ready to say good-bye to the chocolate smell)

The final July destination was George Washington University’s “Colonial Inauguration.” It was the orientation extravaganza for The Boy. All I can say is there was WAY too much pep going on. It was really great to see the campus and hear about all the opportunities available to him. Made me wish I was young with the world on a platter. These opportunities are really wasted on the young!

So that is the gist of what I’ve been up to for the past month. What about you?