The Great Cicada Summer

Cicadas have become the bane of my existence. Today I came inside from a trip to the store, heard that characteristic screeching and immediately threw my purse to the floor, it was covered in THREE of those nasty little bugs.

Jon has taken to playing tennis with them. He'll run around in the yard swatting at them as they fly up towards his face. Sometimes he can be seen shaking trees to scare them out.

Tonight I noticed Jon, his friend and her cousin traipsing through our backyard with several tennis rackets in hand. Turns out they were headed to the woods near our house to find some more cicadas to kill.





I've been packing. Or at least organizing my piles into hate, hate it more, and hate it the least.

It's not going so hot to be honest.

Question of the Day

Last year it was 3 days into a 7 day trip to Florida before Jon had a suitable pair of swimming trunks. Somebody forgot to pack the stack of his and when we returned home, there they sat on the couch, just as folded as ever.

The year before somebody forgot to pack my father's vitamins. My Dad takes about 10 various supplements per day since he doesn't take prescription heart medication. I believe we ended up spending about $75 at the local GNC Outlet in Fort Myers to get all of the vitamins we forgot.

Flashback to the first year in Sanibel and you'll see us at the Walmart in Fort Myers spending $300 on fishing equipment my Mother said she didn't think my Dad would need to pack. $300 on fishing equipment during a trip in which my Father bitched about $50 for a dinner bill.

Two years ago I didn't book our vacation until 3 weeks before we left. I picked a place that was $500 for the week and the website offered NO pictures of the room. However the lady assured me it was close to the water. Trust when I say close to the water really meant over the freaking river, through the damn woods and across a retaining wall next to the penetentiary.

What I'm saying is that despite my online appearance about lists and preparedness the simple truth is I'll be leaving my house on Friday on a wing and prayer and hopes that I've at least forgotten things that I can buy later.

All this week will be a flurry of activity.

Any of you who have met my father know that he is an extremely detail oriented person. You might call this problem OCD, we just smile and nod our heads and don't let him know he's afflicted. He will be dictating and making lists and generally making this trip almost miserable.

Any of you who know me very well at all know that I have a shitload of flip flops and this week will be an intense trial in self control. There are 9 vacation days and only so much room in the van. Not that any of those issues has ever stopped me in the past.

But in the end I hope it won't matter how much he micro managed, how many changes of shoes I bring or whatever stuff has been forgotten. In the end I'll be relaxing on the beach again.

I mean, maybe, if we're lucky and don't run out of gas money halfway through the trip.

If I don't return hope it's because I simply could not leave the beach and not that I'm in some small town in Georgia working off a $200 tank of gas.

Question of the Day: How much will gas have to cost before you reach your breaking point?

Quote of the Day

To those who are disappointed that we couldn't go all the way – especially the young people who put so much into this campaign – it would break my heart if, in falling short of my goal, I in any way discouraged any of you from pursuing yours. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you're knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.

As we gather here today in this historic magnificent building, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.

--Hillary Clinton in her concession speech from yesterday.

I'm proud to be a woman, and I'm proud to have supported her bid for the presidency. End of story.

100 Things To Do: Progress

34. Attend a Catholic Mass.
41. Learn to garden, well.
93. Take Vitamins on a regular basis.

I attended Mass this morning. My tomato plants look amazing, last night I protected them from bugs with just a little soapy water. And as mentioned, I'm taking St. John's Wort and a few other supplements every single day.

I'm hoping to cross off a few more while on vacation.

Photo of the Day

I came home today and this evening we sat out in the backyard, soaking up the shade and a warm breeze. It was lovely. At some point Jon grabbed a leftover corn on the cob from our KFC dinner and brought it outside to eat. I, of course, grabbed my camera hoping for some nice "corn cob eatin' pictures".

Notice anything wrong with this picture?




No? Here, let me help:

I didn't notice until I uploaded them to my computer tonight. But seriously, I wonder if he's trying to tell me something about all my picture taking?

Revelations

I thought attending a wedding today would be hard. You know, full of all those silly emotions about why it's not me getting married and why am I so alone.

But you want to know the fantastic thing that happened?

I realized exactly the opposite. I am where I've always wanted to be in life. I've never, ever been one to rush this idea of marriage and family and picket fence lifestyles. I just think being exposed to it had initially made me interested in the proverbial grass on the other side.

I'm okay with being single.

Sure the desire hits every now and then to have a person around who shares all my hopes and dreams. But it can wait. Like everything, it has a season. And right now my season is being in this place of dreams and hope and aspiration, for myself. I was always the girl who has always said she wouldn't marry young, or have children young. or do anything otherwise rushed. And why should that have changed?

I'm actually pretty damn happy with my life.

And isn't that a wonderful revelation?

Another wonderful revelation: the single girl gets to marvel at the beauty of the cute usher. And in the end that's not such a bad thing.

Photo of the Day

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton chat on Wednesday at AIPAC. (Credit: Callie Shell/Aurora for Time)