It's Monday, July 3rd, and summer vacation has finely arrived! I know a lot of teachers get to start summer vacation in late May or early June, but this cat hasn't had a summer vacation start that early in a long, long time.
June recently has been a time to finish up the yearbook. Unfortunately, that project didn't go well, but the publication did meet it's deadline. Also in June, I try to watch my son Cole play summer basketball. Finally, in June, I do A LOT of umpiring and officiating. In fact, in the month of June, I had only two days completely off from working softball or basketball games. This isn't a call for sympathy, I accepted all of that work, and I knew it was going to be a long month. But we rural folk understand that you have to "make hay when it's ready", and I needed the extra money to have a little in July and early August.
On top of that, Amber and I have been working on improvements to the house. We worked hard to get ready for a couple of local contractors to replace a retaining wall and poor a concrete slab in the corner of our pool area with a sidewalk that leads to the basement. I still need to move some dirt and get some grass growing, but the improvements not only look nice but also free up a little stress about the potential falling of the previous retaining wall.
Finally, the pool itself has been a bit of a pickle. I had to replace seals with the pool filter motor, and that still needs to be checked over because there is still a leak somewhere. Also, my father-in-law Jack helped me changed the filter sand and run a new power line to the power box with the filter.
So yesterday, we had our first official "pool day" of this summer! We had over some family and friends, had a few beverages, grilled some burgers, hot dogs, and brats, and just relaxed a bit.
So I get a few days off for the July 4th holiday, but then it's off to a basketball camp with Cole and a couple of his buddies up in Waverly, Iowa. Then after returning another few days off and Amber and I are going to fly off to Las Vegas with a couple of my officiating friends and their spouses. Then a few days off, and Amber and I are going road tripping to see Lee Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, in eastern Oklahoma.
Summer is here!
