Did You See It?

Have you noticed yet what's at the bottom of the front page of the website? It's a little trick I figured out that allows you to see older pictures. It's not perfect yet—the only way to go back is to use the back button on your browser, or the HOME link to go all the way to the beginning—but it works pretty well.

I've been paying more attention to that, and almost none to this blog. That's partly because it has been a monumentally busy summer. Thomas and Erin moved out, and three of the four of us that remain in the house are working. And we're all working very unpredictable schedules.

Karen's job is, well, retail, and we've known how that goes for more than a decade. I'm working at a timeshare, and as soon as school let's out that just gets completely crazy. William is working in the restaurant in an exclusive golf club close to home, and most of his hours are in the evening.

Makes for some interesting logistics, both for transportation and for meals. It will calm down this fall; William's job goes into hiatus, and mine slows down to a manageable crawl. Karen's just stays the same, but we'll have more time to take care of her.

And I'll have two boys in high school, which means that the evenings are going to involve a lot of studying. Both boys are foregoing sports for the fall, William because soccer would interfere with the remainder of his work, and Danny because he wants to start high school with more time to study and rest.

We haven't spent all of our time working. We managed to get out to some of our special places this summer, and Karen has been doing more painting. And I'm starting rehearsal on a play for the fall. We're doing The Music Man.  I get to sing barbershop. I'm excited and slightly terrified, although the three gentlemen I'm singing with are all very good singers, and good friends.

Now it's time for a rare dinner date with Karen. We were going to go do some photography and art gallery exploration, but it's muggy and we're both a bit too tired for so much running around. Tomorrow perhaps.

And not so very long, I hope, until the next blog entry because this is ridiculous.

Home Stretch

We're coming to the end of the school year. It's easy to tell because Danny just came back from the his Spring Trip, and Karen and I have wrangled schedules to be available for his middle school graduation. That's right: Danny is preparing to start high school.

We had to do a little bit of adjustment to his schedule, not because it was horrible, but because he'd been given a study hall due to a miscommunication about his class choices. A quick visit to the guidance department resolved the error quickly, and Danny now has a good lineup of classes for the new year.

Now we just need to get through the summer. Danny is going to be practicing some skills to help him with high school, William will be stepping up to full-time work as soon as school is over, just a little over a week from now, the resort where I work is gearing up for the rush, which often includes turning over all of our 42 rooms in one day on Sundays, and Karen is dealing with all the things Karen has been dealing with for the last ten years plus.

Lots of projects in the works for the summer, including Karen's new trailer, as I mentioned, finally finishing the back deck, a revised version of my last book for me, and a new book if I can squeeze it in, and some fun art and craft projects for all of us.

Plus a little New England travel, to some of our favorite places. I think the one thing that won't be in abundance this summer is boredom.