Summertime

Its here.

My favorite time of year.

Summer.

I don't mind the heat. I don't mind the humidity (although it's murder on the hair.)

I love flip-flops and Popsicles. Watermelon, swimming pools, trips to the beach.

Fireflies, eating outside, staying up late.

Hanging out with friends, reading good books, enjoying the moment (as it will pass all too quick...)

I love it all...

I received an email last week entitled "100 Things To Do This Summer", but I dumped it in the trash bin.

Today begins the official day of summer here at the La Vida house and I plan to do three things this summer: spend (quantity) time with my friends and family, sew and craft until my hearts content, and remember my love for being in the kitchen.

I don't need 100 thing to do, I do them all year, but those three things listed above...well, I've missed those the most.

This morning I am raising my coffee mug in a toast:

To summer!

(clink!)

It Happened Last Night...

...the event all desert dwellers wait for.

A strange phenomena happens here when the temperatures never gets below 100, and land is especially parched.

Desert dwellers begin to dream of rain and moisture. Relief. We talk about it. Dream about it. Live for it.

It happened last night. After the sun had set, and the evening darker than usual.

The big clouds came that billow and tease. Often it's so dry that you can see rain falling but it evaporates before it hits the ground, teasing us with the delicious smell that comes from moisture in the desert. Not last night.

We watched the lightening as a little squall rolled in from south. It's a show I have never seen else where. Lightening that doesn't just strike from sky to ground, but plays in the clouds like children on sugar.

The wind started to kick up with a cool, comforting, feel.

We piled in the car and got some ice cream. Then we went to our local park, where the kids ran around as if they had never been outside.

The Boy, who is a country boy at heart, ran around with his hands in the air, catching large droplets of water on his face and saying, "I'm actually COLD! I'm actually COLD!"

The Girl got back into the car. Lightening, even when it still far away can be scary when you're eight.  I know, I remember.

On the other side of the park stand the baseball fields, lit up by giant flood lights. The rain, began to fall heavily on that side of the park. We could see the rain drops shining under the lights. We remained dry.

The Mister said, "Here it comes."

And two minutes later, it was raining on us. 

And then...

...then we just sat there in the car and watch the wonder of monsoon. 

The beauty of water in the desert.

Y'all, it made me happy. Which is saying something, cuz I'm already a pretty happy girl.

What makes you happy today?

Because I provided water in the desert, 

   rivers through the sun-baked earth,

Isaiah 43:20 (MSG)

Linky Loo

Oh Y'all!  The summer has started, and it is glorious.

The only down side to summer is getting acclimated to the new (and ever changing) schedule.

It was a great weekend, and the week is coming along nicely. So far, today we have already been to swim practice, the tortilla factory (what is summer without a tortilla snack?), and to the library.

Now, I must get that sweet Boy and Girl some lunch, find some time to shower, and then head out to the first Swim Meet of the season.

Uh, what was my last post about?

No really, the quiet of summer is coming. It just won't be today!

In the meantime I didn't want to leave all four of you devoted readers without some La Vida Love. 

I have a written a post for Chic Critique that I would love for you to read. If you like it, come back and let me know. If you don't, then...lie to me. 

Also, Lillian has received my apron. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone in a different part of the country wearing something you have created. Lillian is beautiful and it was fun to see this post this morning.

Last but not least, have I ever told you that I have a huge fondness for watermelon? Well, I do. And this is my season baby!

Did you know watermelons have their very own promotion board? Oh, yes! They do!

And last but not least on this wackiest of wacky-random posts, every summer: when I buy a watermelon and I carry it to the checkout to pay, I ALWAYS remember this scene in the movie Dirty Dancing  (warning - this may not be suitable for little eyes, after all it IS a "dirty" dancing scene!) and I say to myself, "I carried a watermelon?"

Ah, the summer memories!