July Jottings

I'll bet you'll be amazed to learn that July is the hottest month of the year in the Northern hemisphere and the coldest in the Southern. Actually, we've only had a few really hot days this year, but don't think I'm complaining. (Could use more rain though) I tend to spend a lot of time indoors avoiding the heat and sun, even though this year I may have spent a bit more time outside. In June, I bought two adirondack chairs for my patio. This month I finally got them painted and assembled. Whew, that was a lot of work but I really like them. Guess I'll have to spend even more time out there sitting in them. I'll just hop from one to the other. July's birthstone is the ruby, flower - larkspur or water lily; and it's named for Julius Caeser. Good stuff, huh? Surprisingly, ten countries celebrate Independence Day during this month. Only the U.S. celebrates it on the 4th and only Utah celebrates the 24th of July. You can read a great post on building a float for the 24th here . Here's my doings for the month:

July 2 - I caved into pressure from Jordan and bought a new cell phone. I just couldn't take the snide remarks about my antique phone any more. After a month, may I just say that I really miss that old phone even if it isn't as pretty as the new one? At least I could hear it ring.

July 3 - Jordan, Stacey and Lincoln came to visit. They stopped by the bank so I got to show Lincoln off. We ate at 7-11 (not the convenience store, Vernal has a restaurant that's been here for years) and went home to watch National Treasure 2.

July 4 - I got everyone up early to watch the annual Main Street parade. I knew Lincoln would be excited about seeing the jets from Hill Air Force Base fly over. Well, the parade was a let down. It was really hot and everything started late. Lincoln was not happy about being unable to run free in the crowds, especially since there were some fun-looking dogs close by. Then he got sunscreen in his eye. Not a happy boy. When the jets finally flew by, it was pretty anticlimatic. They didn't even make that huge noise like they used to. We hurried home to bathe the poor child. After his nap, Lincoln went outside to run through the sprinkler. Isn't it amazing how much fun a kid can have with so little? Then we went to Cheya's for the annual barbecue. Fantastic, as always. A little before nine, we walked over to the ballpark to watch the fireworks. It took forever for it to get dark enough and Lincoln does not like to sit and wait. Plus it was way past his bedtime. Fortunately, he loved the fireworks, at least for a while. I posted some pictures of him below. All in all, it was a fun day and I loved having them all here. Cassie elected to go to Cedar City this year. I hope she doesn't make a habit of that.

July 7 - 8 I traveled to Provo for training and ate at Zupas. It is my new favorite place to eat. I bought a new flat screen TV and DVD-VCR for the bank and an MP3 for me. It's a Sony Walkman. Wonder how long it will take me to figure it out.

July 9 - Maddy and I stayed to oversee installing all new computers and printers at the bank. It was supposed to be an all-nighter but we were done by midnight.

July 14 - 15 More training in Provo. Dinner at Zupas again. For lunch, we went to an Italian restaurant just east of the main Wells Fargo in downtown Provo. Can't remember the name but it was very good and reasonably priced. I'm really tired of training.

July 24 This is a big holiday in Utah. I mowed the lawn, watered and went to Lowe's. I spent a small fortune on new sprinklers, tree food, bug killer, bug fogger for inside the house, weed killer, spray paint and an electric hedge trimmer. That night we ate at Steve and Verona's in their beautiful back yard.

July 25 - First thing, I went to Smiths to buy ingredients for muffins to take to the family reunion next week. Home again, I put out the bug killer. I hate those box elder bugs, earwigs and little black beetles. Sprinkled tree food around the trees. Made muffins. And I painted the chairs. The salesman at Lowes told me one can of paint should do both chairs but I should buy two, just in case. At nine that night I went back to Lowe's for three more cans. Why do they make those lids so hard to get off? By the time all the pieces of those chairs were painted, my fingers were permantly curved. Looks evil, somehow.

July 26 - I finally figured out the Walkman and downloaded a couple of books. Funny, how when I downloaded the software to my computer, all the books I had deleted from RealPlayer copied over. No wonder my computer's memory is full. I deleted them with the new software and it gave me the option to delete them from my computer. Man, I hope that works.

July 27 - Day off from work. First thing, I went to Lowes to return a sprinkler and then Walmart for who knows what. All I know is it took longer than it should have. I almost missed breakfast at McDonalds. Then I took my Walkman and my drill outside to assemble the chairs. Several hours later and after a trip to True Value to get a screw I had drilled into an anchor out of the anchor, one chair was finished. It took me an hour to finish the other. Now that I've got it down, I really should assemble some more. Except absolutely no painting. I was even able to listen to the entire book called Nation by Terry Pratchett. And to round things off, I washed clothes and sheets and got all the beds made. I need a day off to rest but no, I have to work the next day because we are so shorthanded.

July 31 - Mom and I traveled to Salt Lake on out way to the family reunion in Layton. We decided to meet Cheya and Myke, Susan, and Mark at Zupas on Redwood Road. The only problem is there is no Zupas on Redwood Road. It was my suggestion and I feel guilty especially since it took us another hour to get to the Zupas on 123rd. Only Mark didn't make it because he has no cell phone so we could tell him the change in plans. Thankfully, it was worth it. So good that we went to the one on 106th the next night. But that is August so will have to wait. We made it to the reunion in Layton after a circuitous drive. Always fun to listen to Myke and Cheya navigate. I was just glad that I wasn't driving. My cousin, Tom, had reserved his ward's bowery and park. It was beautiful and a great place for a reunion. It was good to see everyone. Cassie and Kevin even came up from Salt Lake and Vernal respectively. Kristi and Ronnie came the next day. Mostly we ate with our own families but did play the Newlywed game which was fun. Cassie was my spouse and we did pretty good.

Books Read I read or listened to ten books this month. My favorite was The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, a great kid's book. I also enjoyed Lemon Tart by Josi Kilpack, a mystery with a middle aged woman who solves the crime. Still pluggin away on reading a book from each state. I have four more to go.

TV and Movies The Batchelorette is finally over. Jillian chose Ed. I was rooting for Kipton. Such drama. The whole thing is getting a little over the top for me but I will probably still watch the next one. It's like a train wreck. There's not much else on. I'm not getting much of a bang for my Dish Network buck. I watched National Treaure 2 with Jordan and Stacey and enjoyed it as always.

Overall Impression I'm really tired.