It's the sun

I admit I am loving this warm weather. It's a bit of a crazy feeling to get this much sun lately...feels almost like when I was growing up, actually. Certainly, the days weren't this humid but it sure feels good to have the warm on us here in PA. I do think I over did it as I ended up taking a two hour nap when Jon got home. I think it was the constant pressure of storms in the distance (we're supposed to have thunder sometime in the next day). This drives my inner ear crazy and I got a headache/dizzy feeling around 5pm. So, I was out.

Meanwhile, everyone watched movies, played in the yard and had a great time. I'm so glad. I even enjoyed, before collapsing, playing ball with the kids. I don't think I was that active in a while, and with the heat/ear thing, it zapped me.

I was planning to take a tour of a school for some open house, but got lost on the way. It was frustrating. Jon said it wouldn't be likely we'd send the kids there...cost and such. But it would have been nice to at least find the place. Darn.

Though I haven't been posting, I have been doing a bit art. This keeps me sane, actually. I truly feel if more people did some sort of art/craft, a lot of people wouldn't be so stressed out. At least art works that way with me. I have to say, every time I do some activity/project, I always feel better. Plus, I've learned to not panic about the time issue. I sometimes start to feel as though I want to get everything done at once but have since learned just to take things in stages/parts and it all comes together. It's almost like a Zen stage of letting go and allowing your self to be in the moment. It's very liberating and I can see how it would frustrate people (my self included) on schedules. But, it's what works for me.

Anyway, we've been doing a lot of yard play/conquering. Basically, the swingset was what pushed us outside and gave us an anchor. It's funny how something like that can make the yard a yard. But it does. I want to expand the fence and use more of the lower yard. It's just so full of chipmunk holes. We'd have to get some fill for that. We shall see.

The gals planted beans and we got some tomato plants. I hope they will all grow and flourish. I'm excited about them as last year we didn't have any time to do anything and I want to make up for this a bit.



Otherwise, we're doing all right. We took a mini-trip to Pittsburgh and had a very good time. We went to the Children's Museum there and my gosh, what a great experience! We all loved it! It made the museum I'm apart of in Altoona, seem a bit small...okay, it's not the same thing and I shouldn't even compare. The Pittsburgh museum is massive and is probably on an acre of land. It's so amazing and fun. I loved the interactive displays, the attention to detail, the appreciation of artists (nearly everything was designed by an artist) and just the feel of movement and wonder. The kids had a great time and I could tell every parent was having a great time too.

Afterwards, we went to Trader Joe's and I had to reacquaint myself with that place. The kids were overwhelmed by the number of languages they were hearing, oddly enough. Jon picked out at least 4 different countries just by listening to conversations. It was fun and reminded me so much of Southern California...though, honestly, you'd hear a lot more variety of conversations! Still, it was cool to go there. I did feel a bit overwhelmed and would have liked to spend more time but the place was packed! This was a bit of a surprise...I guess it was because it was Saturday or something. The other cute thing is people where hanging around and talking. This is such a regional thing...in the Western part of the country, you don't really do that. You sort of get your shopping done and maybe wave at someone or say hi. Over here, people stand around and chat and chat and walk around and chat some more. It shocks me every time and can be good/bad depending on whether you have the time. I need to get the hang of that...I don't know if I ever will but it is interesting to watch.

Well, we finally made it back after all this and it ended up being something like a 5.5 hour drive all in all. I want to go again! I want to move to Pittsburgh! lol! Well, maybe we'll just visit once a month and get a good supply of Trader Joe's goodies and visit the museum(s) over there. I really felt refreshed after all of that.