Summers are Busy

I thought I'd catch a break with summer after a long school year, but that is not the case. Last week I attended the MML Convention at the beach. This is the only proof I have that I actually touched the sand this year. Last year I only touched the sand that the children dragged back in to the hotel room from the beach. This year I went to the beach. Albeit at 7 p.m.

A photographer goes around and takes photos of everything and everyone. I really don't like my picture taken, so I'm always a little freaked out when the flash goes off and I notice it is flashing in my vicinity.

I always sit in the front of the class. These classes can go on for two hours and sometimes the subject matter is a little, uh ... sleep-inducing. This class was actually very informative: Ethics. I ended up taking six classes total. Two a day while we were there. I am a fellow in the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance through the University of Maryland and I only need a few more classes, which I can hopefully finish next summer.

After our return from the beach convention, we went on a field trip with the boy and cub scouts to visit a local quarry. Joe arranged for the trip so that the older scouts could earn their geology merit badge and the younger cubs could earn their belt-loops and pins. The quarry, in this location, is 300 feet deep. Yes, those are huge trucks down at the bottom that look like Matchbox cars.

We went berry picking, too. My cousin and her husband have a piece of property that is overrun with wild raspberries. Yum.

We also celebrated my father's birthday with some patriotic birthday cake. His birthday is the 5th, but it's close enough for a patriotic celebration.

And, finally, a little tomato. This is the first of our tomato harvest. I bought a tomato plant called "Tiny Tim," because I liked the name. I didn't realize it was a patio plant, so I quickly plopped it into a planter. It has yielded our first tomato.

A few days ago we had another chicken casualty. I don't know why she died, but it's been 100 degrees the past few days and I'm about to die in it. It seemed to be a peaceful death, even if her chicken sisters started to eat her. Again.