Happy 4th of July!

Everything about today screams 4th of July weekend; A symphony of lawn mowers are churning up grass clippings outside, Blue is on the porch fat catting it (as we like to say), jet skis and motor boats are chopping up the lake down the street, and I'm staring down the barrel of a long weekend. Oh, and homemade pulled pork sandwiches and fireworks are on deck for this evening.

Blue, the original fat cat

The only things that could make this weekend better were if Z wasn't working and I were with my family. The first thing can't be avoided, but I did have a choice in the second. But, I chose to be a good homeowner and stay in Madtown with the house and the laundry list of chores that have been adding up all this week and last. It's the curse of vacation: You want to have everything done, cleaned and in order before you go, which usually stresses you out even more before you go on a supposedly relaxing hiatus from "normal" life. I'm in that sweet spot, though, where if I get everything done today and tomorrow, Monday will be really beautiful.

Right now I'm fighting between getting those chores done and writing this post. I've got the kitchen counter cleaned, so I can reward myself by writing a line. Tossed all the junk mail from the kitchen table into the recycling bin? One line more. Filed away some papers, put away my shoes, cleaned my lunch dishes and made myself a smoothie (while not a chore, still a positive act, right?)? Well, that deserves the ending of this paragraph and the start of a new one. It's about little rewards along the way to get you through to the end.

But really, I should get to the laundry that's been neglected for weeks so I can reward myself with more than a few minutes of computer time.

Have a great long weekend!