From Redneck Riviera to Mud Pie Monday

It really is summer...right? Today marked the first day of the last week of school (3 more days with kids, then 2 workdays), and I...AM...READY.

Yesterday we piled into The Jellybean and headed to Sherando Lake, deep in the heart of the national forest. The lake, the campground, and the recreation areas were all created by the CCC in the 30s, and it's one of our "stay-cation" destinations during the summer months. So, I was all kicked back in my chair and ready to read in the sun while Andrew played in the sand. Unfortunately, as the area filled up in the afternoon, I became too distracted by the people around me to read much. It's really no accident that we call it the Redneck Riviera. So, between a hugely pregnant seventeen year-old girl in last year's two-piece squealing, "I feel so awkward!" and trying unsuccessfully to cover her belly with her arms and an obviously drunk moron with a (no kidding!) "boom box" blaring "the race," the reading soon became just a guise for spying on people from behind my sunglasses. There's something fascinating about slack-jawed yokels--I could not tear my eyes away. We had a good time nonetheless.

Today after work, Andrew and I finished planting the garden, adding green beans, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, and eggplants to the already-planted tomatoes. I exhausted myself, and wondered the whole time why I was doing it--because I don't really like to do it. The fruit of my labor will make me feel better about it...if anything lives, that is. Andrew, on the other hand, made mud pies, caking himself with filth and having a ball. I didn't have the heart to stop him, because it looked like much more fun that what I was doing.

I have a fairly hectic week ahead of me, with a field trip tomorrow, end-of-year activities and craziness at school, a car that's crippled, and the usual stuff that keeps me running. We're looking forward to a get-together at some friends' house this Saturday, and hopefully a trip to see Up, which Andrew has been looking forward to for a long time. I'll keep you posted--I know you guys wait with baited breath to hear what's going on here!