We have a lot going on at home and I have a list of blog posts to make, but I have so much computer work to do these days that I can’t stand it much longer. My job, normally pretty computer heavy, has become even more so these past few months because our office manager is out with leukemia, so me and a few others basically divided up her job and I got all the ordering/accounting parts. In my side hustle job we just launched a whole new suite of websites for the school district, which has taken a lot of my time. Add that to the normal back to school website updates, and the communications role I took on (side side hustle?) for the district that involves sending out a monthly newsletter — I’m on the computer all day and all night. I feel like summer is flying by and I’m spending it staring at a screen. :/

Anyway, some day you’ll visit this page and find lots of new updates, but for now… my job is computer and I’m ready for no more jobs tonight!

Birthdays

We took a weekend trip to the country to celebrate Mema’s birthday! It was a beautiful weekend. We hung out in the back yard, had a tasty Italian dinner, cooked s’mores over the firepit, and went mining for diamonds!

Diamonds

On the way home we stopped at the Herkimer Diamond Mines, in Herkimer, NY; home of “one of nature’s most magnificent gemstones. The Herkimer Diamond Mines are the home to an abundance of double-terminated quartz crystals formed almost 500 million years ago. Their diamond-like geometrical shape closely resembles that of a true diamond, thus lending its name to the “Herkimer Diamond”.” (https://herkimerdiamond.com/about/)

It was a fun experience, but probably not one I’d do again. It’s definitely missing the color and scenery of our favorite Ruggles Mine.

We came home with bags of rocks and small pieces of Herkimer Diamonds.

4th of July

The 4th of July was this weekend. I had a three-day weekend, but it was interrupted by the fact that I had to (agreed to) work the parade. For the past few years the library has been walking in the parade, wearing summer reading t-shirts and throwing candy. I got out of it last year, but this year managed to get myself talked into it. LOL. We also had a few library sponsored activates on the green after the parade. The children’s’ department had a shoebox parade, the teen department did tie dying, and we gave a way a ton of free books. I helped at that table. :)

Espen came along and was an AMAZING helper. She helped with all the transport and setup, wore the dinosaur costume in the parade, entertained children on the green afterwards, and helped with all the breakdown and cleanup. She was a rockstar volunteer!

It was all fun and games until the rain came. Everyone huddled under any available tent, but the rain came fast and hard so most of us got drenched. We quickly pulled dino skins and parade banners over the book tables, doing our best to keep them dry. The tent started leaking, the rain blew sideways, we all got wet. Eventually a drenched event planner came around and told us all they were closing down the event. We packed up, the rains let us a bit, fortunately, and we got everything back into the library.

Espen and I got home home and passed out on the couch for awhile. We were exhausted! Lex worked all day, and when he got home we made a group decision to bail on fireworks. It was still a little rainy and yet, somehow, still so friggin’ hot! None of us were motivated. None of us except River, who hadn’t done a thing all day and was eager to hang out a the fireworks with his friends.

Lex, Espen, and I ended up climbing up on the roof at 9:30pm and watching the fireworks from the comfort of home. It was a perfect way to end the day!

This weekend Espen and I had a little adventure to find some furniture and stuff for her new apartment. There was an “estate sale” in town, which sounds much fancier than it really was. We knew the realtor running it though, and got a good deal on some furniture. We then went to check out a new thrift store in town, and then a consignment shop across the river. So much shopping for us! LOL. We had to go back to the estate sale after Alan got here so we could pick up the furniture in his bigger vehicle. Between the two Teslas we got the job done!

In the afternoon we went to have some fun at the science museum. Lex is working at the Montshire again this summer and he gets a free family membership as a benefit. We haven’t been there in many years, but it used to be a standard in our life. It was fun to revisit the museum, see the new exhibits, and meet Lex’s coworkers. :) We probably embarassed him a bit, but that’s what family is for!

I made them pose for the standard “all done” scene. I have fond memories of finding them sitting on the bench, leaning against each other and watching the perpetual ball machine. That was always the sign that they are done. They were done this time too, but unfortunately Lex had to work for another hour. Fortunately, he really likes the job. :)