Feelin' HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!
- Buster Poindexter

My lord, the heat is just appalling! The only way to cool off is in the water. We can't make it to a beach every day, so here's the Turman pool:

Since we were first married Tracy has informed me that he is radically opposed to owning either horses or a pool. His reasoning is based on the significant amount of maintenance they both require. I am completely in his corner on the horses, but here lately I have felt some desire to have a pool (not that we can afford to put one in, mind you). I think it's because we have very little pool access on The Shore. There is one community pool but I hear it is crowded and a bit crazy with errant teens and tweens (probably like my childhood community pool), and there is a country club very close to our house but it is EXPENSIVE and I also wrestle with how I feel about country clubs. Maybe if we were golfers/tennis players I would feel differently, I don't know. Anyway, I keep thinking that a pool would be so nice to have in a few years when the girls are older and it's not such a safety issue. We have 3 acres to fill, so it's not like we don't have the space. 'Til then, plastic kiddie pools are our friends!

It's been a busy week. I had meetings Tuesday and Wednesday nights and Tracy is at one tonight. To add to the chaos, the mad scramble to get ready for India's (rescheduled) birthday party is on. I am baking the cake as we speak so I have lots of time to decorate it...lots of ocean-related candies and other sugary goodies. We are keeping our fingers crossed about the weather...not a big deal if it rains except for the pinata. I have the old-fashioned/violent/take out your neighbor's head kind of pinata instead of the more PC pull-string variety and the idea of six 4 or 5 year olds weilding a stick in the house does not thrill me. What the hell was I thinking?

Adding to the frenetic pace of the week is Kate's increasing interest in "doin' to da potty". This is great news for my long-term sanity, but 6 trips to the toilet in a half hour is frustrating. One of the more difficult aspects of toilet training in this house is that our living room/toy containment area is in the front of the house and the bathroom is in the back. To alleviate accidents I have a potty chair in the living room. Great, except that with each success I have to walk through the dining room and kitchen, up a small flight of stairs and go around a corner to dump it. I suppose it counts as exersize, right? Just so I don't have a spill.