We had a great 4th of July.  My parents came up and friends came over.  We grilled hot dogs in the back yard.  It got up to 86 or so, but no one was complaining after 101+ last year.  About dusk we headed over to the Visitor's Center to watch fireworks being shot from the soldier's home.  I don't know if they had music at the Veteran's Home, but we didn't have official music from across the interstate.  Vicki put her i-phone Pandora to J. P. Seussa and we had our own music.  LOL The lights in our tree were so pretty that we are thinking about keeping them up for the rest of the summer.  After the fireworks and everyone had gone home, and most of the clean-up had been done, Dennis and I sat out at the picnic table under the lights and chatted for a while.  Fireworks were still going off all around us, so there was no point in trying to go to sleep until after midnight...when they once again became illegal to shoot inside St. James City limits.

Had a great time with friends, hanging out on the Smith's deck last night.  Good food.  Good stories.  Good people.  

In spite of, or maybe because of the cooler temperatures, we haven't had rain in a while.  So we are watering the garden now. 

Dennis is out decorating the yard. Since we have no ripe tomatoes, red christmas ornaments in the garden are required.  Lights in the trees.  Food canopy is up.  Just a minor dusting, sweeping, straightening up of the house will be all that is left until party time rolls around.

Happy Independence Day!  Thank you all who have served and are serving, so we can enjoy our freedom to celebrate this day!

to July.  Today the "dog days" of summer officially begin.  The almanac says July 1-4 will be sunny and cool.  So far that's true.

Last night I stayed up too late, scrapping the Spring Break 2013 photos.  I got the album finished.  My goal was to have it done by the 4th of July.  Now I'm organizing stuff and putting it away for a few days.  I have the 2012 DC trip photos and tickets and pamphlets all together, along with the album I plan to use.  I've also separated the beach stuff, to eventually use on the 2012 CA trip.  Scrapping all my photos could be a full time job.  Sadly it is non-paying job.

I still don't have my calcium RX straightened out.  I stopped by after getting my hair cut this morning and their computers were not working properly.  My apple pie spilled over in the oven while it was baking.  I'm not having a high success rate on my tasks today. I probably shouldn't operate any heavy equipment.

Spotify Radio is providing my musical background these days. I am doing the "free" mode, so I have some commercials. It is able to provide music to my tastes according to things I've listened to in the past, and the songs I give a thumbs up or down as they play.  You can even have different stations, if you want to have different kinds of music for different moods.  I'm pretty much listening to 70's tunes.

The Fiesta gas tank was filled up right before I left the dealership after buying it, and I just put gas in it today...it got 36.3 MPG.  We'll see how the 2nd tank of gas does.  I'm hoping I really will get 40 MPG.  If not, I can live with 36.3.

While picking things up and organizing, I came across the Christmas stocking I was making for Jax last fall!   I need to make that my next priority...since I'm already one Christmas late!

Time to focus on getting my ducks in a row for tomorrow. 

We are having "freakishly" cool weather.  Barely in the 80's today.  Gradual warming thru the week. Still only 85 predicted for the 4th. Not sure how many people to expect.  Matt & Sara (and Jax) cancelled.  Both work the 3rd & 5th, so it was going to be a lot of driving (2+ hours each way) just for a couple hours of visiting.  I'm disappointed but understand. Hopefully Dennis & I can go to Springfield to visit them this weekend.

Meanwhile "perfect" Los Angeles weather is hot.  Hannah is supplementing the A/C in the apartment (on 3rd floor) with a fan.  Opening windows when it cools down a bit at night.  It has to be better than the attic room with no A/C where she lived for 2 years. 

Bought hotdogs & buns for the 4th.  Ran a lot of errands in Rolla and St. James.  Ran into a snafu with insurance and my calcium/"boniva" prescription.  The pharmacy filled it but my insurance won't pay for it until the 3rd...and the RX expires the 5th.  I need to take my weekly dose on the 6th to stay on schedule.  But my Dr. appt is the 15th.  Hopefully I can pick the RX on the 3rd and life will be good.  I honestly don't understand why the RX is being treated like a controlled substance and I can only get 4 weeks at a time.  It's even generic and not expensive.

I'm enjoying "Under the Dome".  I read the book several years ago and so far like the way it is being playing out on TV.  Good character development and community dynamics--although not exactly as I remember (or dis-remember) from the book.  I'm not sure I like the "hero" killing someone in the beginning though--not in the book.  It will be fun to see how it all turns out in the end.  Lots of room for twists and turns.

My summer is a bit more than half over.  I don't feel half-way ready to go back to work.