Can it REALLY be time for the school supplies to be on sale? Already?

I'm a proponent of school, but I'm also a proponent of rest. When it's time to work, work hard. When it's time to rest, enjoy it.

Where did the summer go? My kids were out for two weeks while my school finished up, and it's been insane ride ever since. Two grad classes. VBS. Vacation. A week of collapse. (I liked that week.) A week of lawn work, and a week of house work. Well, you can't tell now that I did those things, but I did. Band camp. State Fair. Glue sticks and 15 cent notebooks.

Which don't belong there?

I don't want to go gently into that good night...I want to resist the evils of back-to-school shopping. If I shop, it means I've been assimilated.

But, 15 cent notebooks? That's a hard deal to pass up...

Tonight we had a tick burning.

Nick had ridden horses for a Boy Scout merit badge. He excitedly raced through all the events of the evening and then looked down to his jeans and asked, "Mom, uh...is this a tick on my jeans?" I took a look. Yup.

I went for the tweezers, picked up the specimen, and went to the stove top for a quick flame. No more tick. Nick was watching over my shoulder. "Cool, Mom! Why did you do that?" I wanted to say, "Because I'm a pyro," just to see what he'd say. However, I just explained that it was the only way to kill the tick through its exoskeleton (or whatever that's called). I spent the remainder of the night glancing here and there to make sure Mr. Tick didn't have any friends with him...

Okay, so I think it's kinda creepy to find out my own husband has been stalking my blog. I mean, we're married. He shouldn't be stalking my blog. He should be a "follower." Yeah, he should FOLLOW me. I like that idea. He told me, "I open. I read. I close. I move on." Gross. I feel so dirty and used. :)

"Miles to go before I sleep..." words from Robert Frost...

I have thoroughly become addicted to walking this summer. I did a lot of it last summer, too, but I'm enjoying it more this summer. Maybe it's because I have two walking buddies, or maybe because I'm walking more in the coolness of the evening and the process is more invigorating.

Last summer I lost inches and about 15 pounds. This summer, well...suffice it to say that I don't think I've changed shape at all. BUT, the walking has churned up my endorphins, making me FEEL better. I've been keeping track on Dailymile.com...49 miles since July 1st (and that was with one week without walking).

Why do so many miles? Is it just fitness? No. No one but God and my gastrointestinal system knows the stress I'm under. I'm not saying that people wouldn't understand...I'm just saying that no one realizes the degree and the depth of my issues. I'm a good "stuffer." I'm a good actress most days. Yesterday I thought I was growing my first-ever ulcer.

But when I'm walking, it all goes away for a while. For a while I can focus on the road, or my walking partner's conversation, or the sky, or the innumerable bunnies we see. I enjoy the sweat beads forming on my upper lip (some sweat on the forehead, and others more at the pits...me? The upper lip!) and wiping them away...as if I'm wiping away my stress.

I'm not relying only on walking to help me, because that would be a losing battle. I go to scripture and to Christian music to soothe my soul in trying times. Isaiah 43:2-3 is my mantra right now. And music? "Revelation Song" by Phillips, Craig, and Dean. Different things speak to me at different times, and right now, these are the ones.

I'm praying that my walking partners and I can still find time to walk once school is back in session. :)

There's a lost art out there, and it's called "Front Porch Sittin'."

Today my hubby and I went out to the front porch. I sat on the swing, and he sat on a chair. We talked. We didn't text each other, and we didn't each have a laptop going. We talked about the rain, the lightning, the coolness, his job, my job, our children. In our insanely busy world, "front porch sittin' " is becoming more rare. We thoroughly enjoyed it!