Riffday: what I did in June

June was insane.  Lots of fun, but exhausting.  Most of last week I spent trying to recoup.  Now it's time to get back to work-- I'm going back to my thesis on Monday.  But the month off was good-- I'm not dreading it anymore.

So what happened in June?  Well, for starters, Nell graduated, which made us practically burst with pride and also was a lot of fun.  How often are you in a stadium with about 20,000 people, all of whom are happy?  Great atmosphere.  I thought it was going to be supremely boring to sit through a three-hour graduation ceremony, but there was so much going on that really it wasn't bad.  Dean's dad flew out to celebrate with us, which was only appropriate since he had helped fund Nell's college adventures.

Then the next morning, we flew straight from Seattle to the intercoastal waterway in North Carolina, where we spend a week every summer with Dean's family.  The fun continued.  It was a bit rainier than usual, but otherwise wonderful.  There was a brief, heartfelt family memorial service for Dean's sweet mom, who passed away in January.  She was a dream mother-in-law, always kind, thoughtful, and welcoming.  I met her when I was 21; about the same age Nell is now.  She is missed.

Then we flew back to Seattle, moved Nell out of her apartment, and drove home, just in time to get the house ready for a visit from my younger sister and her family.  More fun ensued, including hikes, trips to various lakes, and many loud games of Speed Uno.  I don't usually play because I'm a bit slow, but they even talked me into a hand or two.  They're very patient.

Then (this keeps going on), the day they flew home, I got in the car with MadMax and one of his buddies and we drove to Oregon where we got to go to one day of the Olympic Track and Field trials, and meet Julie.  The whole trip was great except for the seedy hotel where we had to stay since--not knowing we were going-- I waited until way too late to make our reservations.  I knew we would love the trials, since both MadMax and his friend are track and field athletes and I love sporting events, but it was even more fun than I thought it would be-- there were several exciting finishes, and although the weather wasn't perfect, we didn't get drenched.  It was just a bit drizzly.  And I got to meet Julie and her husband Dan, and Max, the star of the daily dog photos on her blog (who is much smaller in person than he appears in the photos).  Also became horribly jealous of the Eugene library.  Hmmm.  I'm remembering that I took pictures, but I'm not sure what happened to them.  Maybe tomorrow I will post pictures.

And then, when we got home, the painters and the roofers showed up on the same day, so we spent all last week being painted and roofed.  They're not done yet-- the roofers are only about half done, and the painters are coming back on Monday to stain the deck, but already the house looks so much better. This was part of the original plan when we bought the house, but we had to wait for the weather to get nice enough for painting and roofing. 

The chickens are fine, a bit bigger, but still not laying eggs.  We had to fence off our strawberry patch once they discovered it because turns out chickens love strawberries.  MadMax is turning 15 next week, which means I turn 51 two weeks after that.  Time just keeps flying by. 

And there.  now I'm caught up and maybe I will have something more interesting to say in a few days.