RANDOMLINGS

Hi everyone. What great weather we are having here. It's 66 degrees as I type...a little cool but perfect in the sun. The windows are open and the breeze is blowing in. Milo is loving it. The air is hazy and dry and though the leaves haven't changed colors, I can feel fall just around the corner. Have you started to decorate yet?

Things sure are quiet around here. I spent a whole weekend alone while The Husband was up at the lake. He left Friday to go to the Notre Dame game on Saturday. Notre Dame is just a half hour from the lakehouse. He called Sunday and said he was going to stay another day and just putter around and enjoy the quietness. I agreed, I said I was enjoying the peace and quiet and could use some down time. Actually I was bored out of my skull. Abby had gone to visit her boyfriend at his school for the weekend. Emily was at her boyfriends house and Jeff was also in Michigan. The hardest thing was sleeping alone in the house. Am I a baby or what? I am SO used to having someone here, I was restless and on edge. Milo growled a few times during the night and that unnerved me more. I was happy when the sun came up. How are you with spending a night or two alone? I don't know if I could get used to it.

I am in the middle of two books, just reading like crazy. Maine is a story of three generations of women that spend a few weeks at the family cottage in Maine. "By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other." It really is a great read and I keep sneaking in a few chapters every chance I get. The last book I read was set near Seattle; these books have made me realize how little I know of the upper East and West coasts and has me thinking about our vacation next year. A few quaint towns or an island, it sounds heavenly.

The kitchen renovation is going slow. The carpenter is looking for hinges that will work for our cabinets and we are supposed to be out looking at counter tops, but haven't yet. This week is flying by with the holiday being on Monday. The island that I spoke of in my last post has a marble top, so I am looking for granite that has a marble look. I'm not in favor of a dark or busy pattern. In addition to what we are doing, I am going through all of my dish cabinets, sorting through what I want to keep. I want to at least start out with an uncluttered kitchen, but I don't think it will stay that way.

Labor Day was fun if not a little cold. We went to a BBQ and stayed inside most of the time. I made a fruit dip with frozen margarita mix, orange juice, powdered sugar, cream cheese and Cool Whip. It was really good and I think it will be a mainstay next summer. Let me know if you want the directions.

Back to the lake I go this weekend after 3 weeks not being there. The Husband seems to have had a marvelous time there without me...doing a little gardening, reading a Nook book, renting a movie ( that I am sure I would not have stayed awake for), and slept like a baby. He probably rearranged my furniture, too. So, that's all I have for now. Let me know what you did over the holiday. And tell me a secret: Can you sleep alone in your house?!! :-)