Love it. Courtesy of the New York Times : – )

My mom & brother joined me, and after a nice, long lunch with my aunt at The Brick, we made our way up to Lake Sinclair. The summer heat was still in full gear, but it was bearable in the shade and we had no trouble enjoying ourselves and taking in the serene view from the lakeside pavilion. It was so calming – not even one boat passed by that afternoon, and I got my lazy lake wish. <3

Thanks to my family for joining me, to Jerry for being a great host to our company who arrived in my absence (sorry!), and to Macon for making this local baseball team happen. Sometimes we forget how much our town has to offer, but it was great fun to get outdoors and enjoy this opportunity.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what a pinetopper looks like, I met one : – )

The summer heat has been brutal, and we had another close call with our AC. Thanks (again, second time this summer, sigh) to Bucky Holland, we are back in the business of staying cool indoors. Apparently we have some sort of major part to replace soon, but for now we are comfy & happy. Seems like our house is in a funky mood lately, making us chase after various repair needs. There is a major overhaul in our future as far as the rotting porches go, thanks to the short-cutting, cheap, DIY previous owners who failed to use pressure-treated lumber. Scumbags. But our plan is to replace the porches and make them even better with an extension off the kitchen, to make our screened-porch much more usable. So it goes, living in a 100+ year old home. We still love it here, and have recently added to our antiques furniture collection after yesterday’s visit to Payne City. We have our eye on another piece already, and just may bring it home in the next few days. Pictures to follow.

Oh yeah…another idea for my week off? Blog more! Stay tuned…  : – )

Running outside has become impossible, even when getting up & out by 6am. The air is soup, the sun only cooks it. This week brought a return to the campus gym and the trusty treadmill. Not the most interesting way to run, but it feels so good to be moving my body again! : – )

I just spent nearly an hour of my life on the phone, first with my doctor’s office and then with BCBS, repeating everything I told them in February. Let’s see if anything happens this time. What a waste…and what a shame that we can’t seem to move our country forward.

I am heading to the gym now to burn off some steam, to get the exercise I need, and to take care of myself. Preventative measures are more important now than ever, because dealing with insurance companies regarding a routine, healthy medical visit is impossible enough. I cannot imagine fighting it out with them over a major illness or injury. Yikes.