Summer 2011 Update 1

LIFE is GRRRRRREEEEAAAATTTT here in the great land of Illinois! Ten reasons why (short, I promise!):

1. slobbery sticky popsicle kisses
2. holding hands with my boy Preston and having him tell me, "I love you" with a wicked grin (he's 7)
3. catching a 24" walleye up on a lake in Northern Minnesota to celebrate Memorial Day
4. riding the school bus my dad drives every day to school, hitting up the elementary, junior high, and high school in relatively fair shares (including playing with the elementary kiddos--especially first grade--at their field day!!!!)
5. being my very own DOBO (what Harv's Stroutie is...sorta) - except I'm Director of Base Operations - for the little boys' (and some girls') baseball team--aka I stand at first base and try not to die as each little pre-k/kindergartner/1st grader turns to me with the biggest most adorable grins and try to figure out which direction is second base
6. lying down in the middle of the road in one of the nearby towns...just because I could
7. watching the sunrise and sunset on the horizon as the beautiful colors stream in my bedroom windows in the morning and my kitchen windows at night (up at 6ish am--oh yeah, farmer time...)
8. working out... :)
9. spending my evenings watching baseball and softball games, cheering the various Brent kids that are running around (as in I told my team to start mentally preparing to get introduced to everyone in my county at the Iowa tourny...)
10. and my favorite, a little shout out to Goldie my gold Pontiac Grand Am--coasting down the road at 60 mph for 30 minutes to get wherever I want to go, windows down (A/Cs broken), music on, and the various dents, scratches, rumblings, clicking, and sputterings officially letting me know I'm back to Home Sweet Home :)

As for "work", I am doing a bit of ACT tutoring! Who'duh thought? My Reaching for the S.T.A.R.S. Basketball Academy lessons for girls 4th-12th grade start the end of June, then we get a week off for the 4th of July, and then back on for five weeks. Annnnd I'll probably do a little baby-sitting, a little shed painting, and a little running around in the woods in the mean time.

Someone asked me if it was good to be back. Yes. It is always good to be back, but simultaneously, I must admit I was envisioning yesterday what design I should paint on my body for the football games while I was riding my lawn mower around and watching the sunset. Here's to learning something new every day, giggling, making someone smile, and loving each day we have. HWBB 11-12 So freakin' EXCITED! And SUMMER 2011, So far so Great ;)

O&O,

M

24" Walleye in Northern MN