Summer!

Woo, Summer is definitely here. I don't deal well with extreme heat (despite the fact that I spent several weeks every summer for eight years working at Disney World in long sleeves and long pants as a Thunder Mountain Miner)...I am feeling pretty joyful about the 65 degrees and sprinkles today. I even had a few moments last week where I was really looking forward to Fall...I could smell the pumpkin and apples.

I finished my Statistics class and did as well as I had hoped...woohoo. Statistics was my last pre req before applications are due...SO exciting. I have started studying for the GRE test, although I'm not being very diligent about sticking to my study plans/goals. It's actually what I am supposed to be doing right now...I even left the house in order to be more productive. I need deadlines and due dates. Whatever...I am still rejoicing the completion of pre-reqs.

Our house has been pretty much soccer non-stop for the last while (with some baseball thrown in there obviously)...this is the first time I have followed the World Cup, and REALLY followed it, at that. It was pretty exciting watching the US do so well...I even got to watch the last game's overtime with the little girls I nanny for. They don't watch tv, so it was a PRETTY BIG DEAL. The four year old was so excited and giggly...she couldn't believe how many different colored shoes they were wearing! The next day when I was putting her down for her nap, she whispered 'will you stay and watch another soccer game here with us?' I told her there wasn't a soccer game that day, and she came right back with 'maybe there is a baseball game we could watch?'. Sad the World Cup is over, but okay with having a break from THAT much soccer.

We had a fun 4th of July...we went to my Uncle's house down in DEEP Olympia (it's soooo far)...he always has a big all-weekend party...this is the first time we have been there for the actual 4th- we usually make it at some point during the weekend, but since the holiday fell on a Friday this year, it worked. There are always lots of people, yard games, tons of food- including fresh crab that they just go pull out of the crab pots hanging out in the Sound that is their backyard, and tons of fireworks. This year the new addition was a giant slip and slide...the little kids had a great time, and a few brave adults gave it a try...Brian being one, of
course. I'm always afraid of the fireworks that people just light off themselves in the yard...which is what we had a ton of...luckily nothing caught on fire and nobody lost a limb.

On Friday, when I pulled into the neighborhood where I babysit, I saw a bunch of Lost Cat posters. There were like five in a very small area...some details provided- it was a 17 yr old cat that needed medication and had been missing for several day, never having been outside before. It bummed me out. The kiddo and I

went to the park for awhile, and when we walked back, the signs had all been updated- the cat was home! It made my day! And then I noticed the owner had created a blog and a facebook page for the lost cat (Rowdie). I asked the mom about it when she got home, and my goodness...this owner had put a TON of effort into finding this cat! She had a search team together out looking for the cat each day, including a search dog. She was going around the neighborhood knocking on doors and asking people to search their home because he is really friendly and would have just wandered into a house, she went around the neighborhood with a recording of Rowdie meowing, hoping to attract him, etc...I mean, she LOVES this cat. Thank goodness he was found!

OUR cats are doing well...I was worried about them during the heat...Frank threw up a few times and Millie threw up once. We put lots of extra water around the house, and a couple of wet towels on the ground...Millie avoided the wet towels like a plague, walking as FAR around them as she could. But Frank plopped himself down a couple of times...that poor guy has a lot of fur! Frank has been more snuggly than usual...here he is hanging out with his little sibling-to-be.

And speaking of his little sibling-to-be...I'm doing pretty well. Feeling quite large. Even though I know I have SOOOO much bigger to get...ugh. I have this awful pain in the middle of my back, that used to only happen at the end of the day, but for the last week has been pretty constant from the time I wake up until I go to bed...lying on my back with my feet on the couch is pretty much the only thing that gives me relief. A few yoga poses too. On Friday, I had relief for almost the whole day...I thought maybe something had shifted and I would be a-okay again, but it was back on Saturday. My midwife said it is probably a rib that has shifted a bit, maybe pressing on a nerve, maybe inflamed. I'm hoping it doesn't last for the next 14 weeks. Because while we are now in the third trimester, and 'almost there'...14 weeks is a really freaking long time still!

Alright...time to study. Study, Eryn, study!