Summer's Begun!

Have been on summer vacation since last Friday. I love having a job that gives me the summer off!!  That is a huge blessing. We're off to a pretty good start, despite many days of on-again/off-again rain and pop-up thunderstorms.  We are now praying for sunny, DRY days and less humid temperatures as we approach July.

I'm linking up with Susanne and other bloggers to find Five Fave things from the past week that we all consider blessings.......it's a good thing to count our blessings, even if they're small or insignificant-seeming to others.  Here's mine from the week:

photo courtesy of serious eats

• SPONTANEOUS LUNCH DATE:  We're all about spontaneous during the summer months!  Dave texted me last Friday saying he needed me to bring something to him that he needed for work that afternoon. He told me to meet him at this place for lunch. I had never been there and I am now hooked!  I ordered hot corned beef on rye....YUMMY! He says he goes there often for lunch.  It was so much fun having lunch together...we don't get to do that during the week from Sept til June! I may have to meet him there again this summer!

• SPECIAL EMAIL:  I was so thrilled when one of my very favorite authors (found here) emailed me this week!!  She really DOES answer her fans' emails and it was the very next morning after I sent one out.  I told her how deeply affected I was by her latest novel and that I had done a review on here.  She said she was glad my daughter and I like her books and thanked me for the review. I hope to see her for a book signing when she is anywhere near the Capital Region of NY again. I missed her by 2 days last time!!

family room, east and north walls

• NEW COLORS!  Since we had the bamboo floor put in over the late winter, we.....er....I decided it needed fresh paint (it really did! it hadn't been done since 2001 and we had soot on the walls from the oil lamps).  I chose white for the ceiling (it used to be eggshell) because we had so much white paint left over from the bathroom ceilings. The white really brightens up the room better, too.  I also chose the wall paint (Dave really doesn't care about colors).  I went with Holmes Cream, available in Valspar paint from Lowe's and oh how we LOVE it!! If you were standing in my family room, it would look like a light coffee color.  Coffee with a little cream. It really changes things. So....Dave agreed to replace all the old electrical plates with pure white decorator ones to go with the door trim and ceiling. As I type, the outlets still need to go on, and the furniture/photos need to be put back. I'll have a better pic next week.  I'm just so thankful that this room is finally done!! It took me all week to paint it (with Courtney helping me on her day off). I took my time so I wouldn't injure my back like last summer. So far, so good!  AND we all love it. And now it's time to hunt for a large mirror for over the sofa....and new picture frames.....and......

morning on the deck

• BREAKFAST ON THE DECK:  This is a real blessing to me. Our deck faces the east so we get the nice morning sun. I ate breakfast on the deck over last weekend, and 2 times this past week. I've been enjoying fresh blueberries from a local farmers market. They are so good! and I found the green bowl from the collection my parents used to use at our camp in the Adirondacks when I was a child.  Somehow I ended up with just the one bowl and I love it. It reminds me of mornings at the camp, sitting on the screened in front porch and reading while eating my cereal. Funny thing is: I still read while eating breakfast! I just love being on the deck in the early morning. I typically have been walking or biking each morning, early, come home to shower, and then eat breakfast outside. I love this slower pace to my mornings. It is probably one of the things I miss the most about going back to the classroom in September.

Basil and Tomato plants

Flowers growing in pots, and Molasses (yes, the turtle has a name)

• OUTDOOR FUN:  Each evening last weekend, Claire (our 14 yr old) and I had fun playing Badminton.  She took it as part of her PE requirement this past year and has become quite good!  I treasure these times outside with her.  I also was able to putter around with some purple flowers I had purchased and placed them in containers for the deck steps (shown above) and the deck railing. I'm also growing wildflowers and my morning glories are starting to get bigger. The tomato plants are finally growing well as is the basil. I also have basil and parsley in smaller containers for the deck railing. I'm even power walking every morning (or biking and then power walking in the evening) and on Wednesday evening, very spontaneously, I texted one of my best friends and asked her if she wanted to power walk on the bike path next to the  Mohawk River which runs along the north side of town.  We did 3.55 miles in just an hour.  That's good for me!  It was awesome to have a walking buddy even though the high humidity was really making me sweat!  And last but not least, I have just been enjoying the time outside to sit and read books/meditate/journal and drink iced tea, lemonade, or cucumber water.....so refreshing and relaxing!  I am thankful to be able to have some time outdoors!

I hope wherever you are this weekend, that you will get to do something spontaneous, fun, relaxing and refreshing outdoors enjoying the season.  As for me.....I plan on celebrating 23 years of marriage on Sunday with my husband and our best friends. We hope to hike an Adirondack High Peak for the first time in YEARS! We are gearing up to reach the summits of 2 mountains  which are over 4,000 ft!   Let's pray it doesn't rain!!

ps It's 7:30 on Friday a.m. and I just got a call from my Dad out in Mohawk, NY (Central NYS). He is in the midst of his 4th flood...entire basement under water, the streets around him are under water and his car is partially submerged.  All because of the rainstorms and the creek just got too darn high. He is ok but please pray that he can get the water out of his basement.  The officials are going around door to door as I type this, making sure everyone is ok.  Thanks for your prayers.