I knew this would happen!

The "bits&pieces" of life have overwhelmed me again. Almost a month has passed since my last post. In the past four weeks:

- The boys finished their academic career at St. Rita's. Last goodbye's to the few we will miss and loud cheering for those we won't ensued.

- Lindsay finished her first year of homeschool. We survived (more or less)! Next year there will be three students in our little school... What could I be thinking?

- We have traveled to and from our river home and winter home. Twice. With the cat and gecko and many other things that need to be transferred each time.

- Oldest son has had a birthday. Only one more year till a second teenager enters our midst.

- We've added a puppy to the familial mix. So cute, yet so much work as any of you who have a dog know. The kids had no idea....

- Teenager has been to beach week with the church youth group. Despite multiple bus incidents, she says she had a great time, met some great girls and can't wait to go next year.

- We've spoken with three builders about either restoring or knocking down and rebuilding on the site of our beloved river place. While we love the charm and warmth of our current aged home, the lack of a central HVAC system, the cracking foundation, and the need to replace the roof necessitate some sort of action. Question is, which action fits our pocketbook?

- The East Coast has suffered a major 11 day heat wave accompanied by long stretches of loss of electricity which we have "enjoyed" along with everyone else. Thank goodness for generous friends with both a pool and a generator (which will be included in our new construction/renovation project) who helped us all survive the worst of the heat.

- Husband's annual vacation coincided with aforementioned heat wave. Not a happy occurrence. Poor guy, he so loves to work outside and it was just too darn hot to do so safely.

- Celebrated the 4th of July with good friends and fireworks. And got a bonus fireworks display on the 7th when the local town had scheduled theirs this year. Extra, extra bonus? Got to watch the second display from the end of our dock while eating watermelon sorbet.

All the little things added together make me too distracted to be witty or coherent. Very, very grateful though for all the many blessings that do distract me and weave the fabric of my life. Though they produce a product that may look more like burlap than silk, it's all precious to me.