7QT: Summery Summary

Sorry about that title there.

1. New England is in a drought right now. I'm finding it hard to worry because rain and excessive humidity keep us indoors, and since our apartment doesn't feature a working outdoor water hookup, we follow all of the outdoor watering regulations without even trying.

We tried to put down grass seed. It looked great until the first hot day, and then the sun completely toasted it.

2. Along those lines, it has been glorious being able to spend so much time in our own backyard. I keep asking myself, "why didn't I do this last summer?" and the answer is because last year our neighbors ensured that the grass was a festering dog feces minefield of gross. Now we're rocking a play structure, water table, Cozy Coupe, and a sandbox. It usually entertains the 18 month old for 15 whole minutes before she starts her favorite game of "bolt for the parking lot and giggle when Mommy says "No!" in her firmest, sternest voice."

Pro tip: if your yard has lots of sticky dirt, just send the kids outside to play in their bathing suits. Then put them in the tub water after the kids come out. When we buy a house, I'm totally going the old hose-the-kids-off route. The bath water is a markedly different color after the kids have been in it.

3. Mr. Husband started a new job at the beginning of July! He's back to taking the train, which means he's tethered to the commuter schedule (and gets home an hour later), but since his company pays the train pass it's a free commute. I think this is the first time he's come home from work truly happy, and that means a lot to all of us.

4. While our goal is to save up for a house in the next 12-18 months, Mr. Husband and I have been doing a few little things to improve our apartment. Here's one project: removing broken blinds and the gazillion random pieces of curtain hardware, filling in the holes (with spackling compound because we had it on hand, not because it's the best substance for a metal door), and hanging curtains. Since the sun sears through the kitchen windows for six hours a day in the summer, light-filtering curtains are a must. I actually made these curtains by hemming two sides of the lopped-off ends of the IKEA curtains we already had hanging on the kitchen windows. Then I made an identical pair for the front door, since the front door window has a perfect view up the stairs into the bathroom.

From gross to somewhat mediocre. Love it.

5. But there are some things that are beyond our semi-competent DIY reach.

Who needs gutters? We had actual birds' nests in there last spring.

6. We even managed a few day trips here and there this summer. The beach was a hit, and so was the New Bedford Whaling Museum (Mr. Husband is a local history buff).

It makes such a difference not to have a crawler at the beach this year.

 The child-size whaling ship was the main attraction for the three-year-old.

7. The one part of the summer I'd love to move past is our little brush with hand, foot, and mouth disease. And by our, I mean, our. After both kids started to recover from fairly mild cases, and we could dream of escaping from the four walls of our little living room, I came down with fatigue, headache, and an itchy, sore, and heat-sensitive full-body-and-inside-my-mouth-and-throat rash. It was every bit as delightful as it sounded. Thanks to Dr. Google, I can also chalk up my now about-to-fall off fingernails as an after-effect of this fabulous virus, because HFMD is the gift that keeps on giving.

Fingernails not pictured. You're welcome.


I'm also taking suggestions and submissions for new code names for my children, since Sir Toddler is no longer a toddler, and Lady Infant is no longer an infant. Names they can't quickly outgrow might be best.

"Bob-bob!" Am I the only parent who lets their kids watch Bob the Builder so I can listen to Joanne Froggatt's voice?

Over and out. (More 7QT here.)