Summer 2010

Apparently I'm going to be blogging on a quarterly basis. ;)

This summer, so far, has been a little too exciting, particularly the past two weeks, which have been crazy crazy. But I'll start at the beginning.

1. Couch-to-5K. June 7th I lost my mind and started a running program. It was a tenuous commitment at first, due to my history of exercise-induced asthma. But it seemed like it might be worth a try. And it was. I'm now in week 7 (of 9) and am able to run for 25 minutes straight, even in my hilly neighborhood. Beware flying pigs, and I'm certain global warming will be a thing of the past now that hell is freezing over.

2. Cincinnati Tri-State Knitting Guild. One of the things I really miss about St. Louis is the knitting guild. As far as I can see, there is no reason Cincinnati shouldn't have one, and I finally found some like-minded minions to help me make one. We (The Board, I being President) have been meeting for a few months now, and July 10th was the first general membership meeting. So. Much. Excitement! About 20 people came, reviews have been good, and the next one will be even better. I'm still pinching myself that it could actually be happening, and I have something to do with it. I am forever indebted to the women who have been helping me. Their commitment and enthusiasm have been as in a dream come true.

3. Immediately after the first meeting of the guild, I hit the road and headed to parts more gulf-y. I had the great fortune to be of flexible schedule, and to have a best friend likewise equipped, and we were able to get tickets to the Jimmy Buffett benefit concert for the Gulf. The beach was lovely (no oil in sight), the concert was a joy, and spending time with Candice and John without dogs or children was so relaxing.

4. As I was unpacking my car from the trip, my neighbor came over and told me that mere hours before, the neighborhood had resembled Venice, only faster, and I had possibly sustained considerable flash flood damage to my patio. The patio that has been a source of worry and work since two weeks after I moved in. The patio that I had just finished fixing mere weeks before (see previous post).

Here is an area under the deck, which used to be filled in with dirt up to the level of the concrete. The feathery stuff is holly bush roots that have been completely cleaned of dirt.

This is the patio. Covered in several inches of dirt and mulch.

Here you can see what was the river bed.

And the rest of the riverbed. In the distance you can see where my patio landed.

I cried. It just broke my heart after all that hard work. I had just cleared out a bunch of overgrown stuff and started some wildflower seeds the week before. It was all coming together, and now it's all apart again. But I had a dry basement, so I am trying to count my blessings. The damage to my property was mostly cosmetic; others weren't so lucky.

5. The mess was Tuesday, and my parents and sister were coming to visit for the first time on Friday, so I just lost all desire to mow or do any basic lawn maintenance and focused on the inside of the house. They had safe travels and enjoyed visiting and seeing the city. This was last weekend, and we filled it to the gills and had a good time. Even I got to see things in the city that I hadn't seen before. They headed home Monday morning.

I'm still recovering from this whirlwind. Today my darling neighbors not only mowed my entire yard for me, but also helped me to retrieve the displaced patio parts strewn across the property, and insisted on helping when I clean up the rest of the mess. I now have a wheelbarrow full of dirt and gravel and grass. But it's just too hot to work on cleaning off the patio, and I just don't care enough either. I'm going to have to work up some determination before that can happen. I've got plenty of better things to do. Like run a knitting guild.