A Monday morning at 7:21am

I had to smile at life in the Cushing home this summer morning.

As I type this, Rhiannon is pounding out some beautiful hymns ("Called to Serve" is going on right now--fast!)

Wade jumped on his bike at 7:00am to do his "pick up dog doo" job at the Collins' home.

Jason was up at 5:50am or so and off to work shortly after that.  He goes on business travel for the rest of the work week tomorrow--we will miss him!

The dogs are crashed out on the floor because they just finished a 3-mile walk with me.  It took an hour, but I did it!  (For my mental health, I don't know how much longer I can do these long walks with the dogs--Samson wants to stop and pee on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g and Oscar wants to b-a-r-k at anything with 4 legs...!)

So much for sleeping in and being lazy!  I don't mind, though, because it is getting HOT here in Ridgecrest, highs up to 108 later this week, so getting things done in the morning when it's a tiny bit cooler is smart!!!

Heat wave

 

July is here and we're in the middle of a heat wave.  Once it gets past a certain temperature, the swamp cooler can't take it and we have to flip the dinosaur air conditioning units on.  It's not really funny, but we joke with people that when those babies turn on, the lights in the neighborhood flicker!  They've been on for the past 3 days now. 

 

The best thermometer I have is Oscar.  All he wants to do is lay down on the couch or the kitchen tile, unless it's early morning or sundown.  He hasn't touched his BREAKFAST until after noon the past few days, so I know it's hot.  Poor doggy--he's going to the groomer tomorrow to lose the hair, and hopefully that will help him a lot!

 

As always, there is so much to be grateful for, for trees on the west side of the house, for swamp coolers, dinosaur a/cs, and a pool!  We'll make it through!

Don't sweat the small stuff?!

It's hot.  It's humid (don't laugh, it's humid for Ridgecrest!).  Which isn't a fun combination in the high desert because evaporative coolers don't work at all.  For 3 days I've been sweating a lot and drinking what feels like gallons of ice water. 

Don't get me wrong, I am VERY grateful for our ancient A/C units that get the job done when we need to run them.  And I'm VERY thankful for the pool, which helps a LOT, especially if I jump in close to bedtime! 

But you know what finally gave me the most welcome relief?  Yard work!  The kids and I got out for a little while this morning and cleaned up the front yard.  I was sweating like a crazy person the whole time, and that disgusting sweat, combined with a nice, cold glass of water afterwards, has taken the edge off big-time!  The human body really is amazing.  I don't feel like I'm having hot flashes anymore, and I can get on with life!