Summer Time and the Livin' is SUPPOSED to be easy

Last weekend I hung my Ecuadorian hammock (Christmas present from my Darling Daughter--mine is green and white stripes.) I had to put up hooks which meant manning a drill and a screwdriver. The first hole I drilled was too big and the screw just slid in and out. Oops. A little to the left, a drill bit two sizes smaller, and one hook was up. The second one went seamlessly...well, so the hammock is a little farther off the ground than I planned and so I need a step stool to get in...that's okay. I was a little nervous that I could flip out onto the concrete trying to get in so I gingerly climbed up the stool and eased over the edge...I was sitting up perpendicular to where I was supposed to be laying down but the hammock was holding firm on the hooks and the beams weren't groaning so I inched into supine. Ahhh...welcome to summer I think to myself. After I was laying down, I decided I really should have something cold to drink beside me in case I get thirsty. Hmm...how to get out? Gravity made it easier coming out than going in. Out and back in with the something cold to drink on a patio table beside me...now this is the life--if I only had something to read. Back out, back in. Now Toby, my older Maltese, wants in--she's such a lap buddy--back out part of the way, scoop up the furbaby, lay back down, reach for my reading, knock off the cold drink. That's okay, I'm not thirsty now...but I can't quit thinking about it, so out and back in, dog settled, reading on my lap, eyes closed...eyes open. I don't have my cell phone! What if Darling Daughter is trying to call from somewhere near Seattle? (I really need to look at a map; I should know where Darling Daughter is temporarily located on this planet-but then those of you who know her know that she doesn't stay put for long--so I don't ever get too attached to any address she gives me!) Out and back in, knocked the cold drink off again. Out and back in, water within reach, but out of the danger zone. Ten minutes later, I have to get out of the hammock to meet a friend. There's always next Sunday.

Now this weekend has come and gone, I think it was sunshine-y out there, but I was in "study hall" for three days. I was working on analyzing some data for an article I am writing with colleagues at the U. I started Friday a.m. and worked solidly through until 7:30 p.m. on Sunday night...Whew, I'm glad to have that part behind me. I had promised myself that I would spend a couple hours in the hammock reading a NOVEL, but by the time I was done staring at the computer screen it was raining. Oh well, there's always next Sunday.

For entertainment while doing some of the mundane formatting of the text, for my part of the data organization, I listened to podcasts . My new fav is Socks in the City by Carrie B. I'm a sock knitter and she's a sock knitter, so it's like we're kindred spirits. I used to say I'm so low maintenance I can be entertained watching the grass grow, but now I can say I am entertained by listening to a perfect stranger describe each and every one of the skeins of yarn in her stash...enough yarn to knit 26 pair of socks. Here's how nerdy I am...I keep a tab active for Etsy, search for the seller of the yarn and look at the yarn while the Socks in the City lady describes it. Pathetic--I really need to think about getting a more exciting life.

Next posting, I'll tell you about my new nephie, Samuel William, and what I have on-the-needles...but I promise not to describe my stash...until the posting after that!

Let's see--on the schedule this week: Routine work, a research meeting, dental work AND the new Harry Potter book comes out Friday at midnight. I'll be at Barnes and Noble at the stroke of midnight--where will you be?