Ahhh, summer.

I love summer. I've missed it!!! I've been thoroughly enjoying it so far! I'm sitting in our brand new backyard right now. Well, we always had the yard. After we've had the house for over a year, we still didn't have any outdoor items set up. So I haven't gone outside the house much during the day. So, for my birthday (which is this coming Friday! yay!) we picked up a new patio table and chairs (to replace the green plastic) and an umbrella and a hammock with hammock stand, a bird bath, some bird feeders, a fountain, and some large colorful outdoor urns to plant annuals and other things in. It feels like a littlel retreat now. All the items are from end of season clearance sales, so we spent staggering little for it all. I'll be sure to post a picture soon. There's a zillion dragonflies out here. They must have caught on to our gazillion mosquitos. I've noticed that we don't have nearly as many as last year. All thanks to those dragonflies. They are all colors...blue, green, black, speckled, brown, and techni-colors. And huge. These look like little bi-planes. I keep peeking at the bird feeders, but haven't seen any birds yet enjoying the seed. I think they have to discover it's there first. Anyway, we went to the beach in the other part of town the other day; it was fun. It's a big beach on a cute pond. It must be fun living there. We live across from a similar pond, so it's fun to be able to walk or ride the bike over and lay on the sand and swim. I feel like we are finally settling down and making the town our home. Finding the shortcuts, the trails and the roads to get to places more quickly...discovering little shops and other excitements. It's been so fun getting to know the area here. So much to take in! Other than all this, we've been going to fun barbecues. We also visited my parents at a house they rented for 2 weeks up on Great Pond in Maine. We stayed for several days enjoying the lake and the relaxation. Again, I love summer. The smells of the barbecue and the flowers in the air. The fresh cut grass. The smooth warm air on your skin. And the cool breeze in the lazy shade at the pond... I wish it could stay like this all the time, but summer in New England just wouldn't be the same without the fiendish winter that preceeds it. Well, I'm off to get back to work. And reality I suppose.