Brooke Writes Books... and Other Musings...

Where'd ya go???? Huh???? Are you hiding? Well, get back here!

Certainly would be nice if we could just summon back a month that whizzed by without our hardly noticing it, wouldn't it? I feel rather cheated! Now, let's see what I did...

Well, the first weekend was 4th of July. Had great intentions of getting a ton accomplished (yeah, yeah, yeah, the usual plan...) A big list of stuff to accomplish over the four-day holiday. As I recall, it was beastly hot! The landscape renovation had just begun, and we were in the process of waiting for the round-up to get rid of the weeds. The tree roots that were sprouting everywhere had been trimmed, the trees themselves had been trimmed, things were looking good... well, except for all that brown grass that covered about 75% of the area. And good news: my firecracker-lovin' "friends" next door seemed to be taking the weekend off.

The following weekend, my good karma went on vacation. Another big list of things to do. Sunday, I started out ambitiously by washing my very dirty mode of transportation to discover there was a very beautiful vehicle masquerading under all that grime. Then it decided not to start after dining at Carl's Jr. Uh, picture 100 degree heat here...me, my stubborn car, waiting for a tow truck. Thirty minutes later, it did arrive, and the very cute tow truck driver couldn't start it either. Damn. So, I had to have it towed 35 miles to the dealer. About halfway there, the driver calmly says: I hope you have a way home because I can't bring you back. Uh, oh. Like NO!!!! But needless to say, I worked out that curve ball. Then, of course, the car started at the dealer, and they can't find a thing out of sorts, meaning... I now feel like I have an undependable car...which was why I brought a new car in the first place... the beat goes on.

Next weekend... Good Karma was still on vacation! Got up nice and early to get a head start on chores. First on the list: laundry. Last rinse of the first load, the toilet starts gurgling, a wretched sewer-smell drifts into my closed-up house that is trying to keep out the 100 degree heat...life in Brooke-World is NOT good. Have to call the landscaper first cuz he's buried the sewer-manhole with new dirt for the new lawn (yes...progess happened in the weeks of July!), then called the sewer company who came out and unclogged their lines from my tree roots...grrrr. This is not so good since they were out over Christmas. But they say they will pour stuff in that will stop it once and for all this time. We shall see... the beat goes on!

Weekend Three... had to get ready to leave for the National Conference in Atlanta, which entailed packing, and doing some cleaning... and spending LOTS of time admiring my new lawns! The car ran fine... the sewer lines seemed okay... I am paranoid on both scores since the sink in the bath seems to be draining very slowly... the beat goes on!

Last weekend, I was returning home from Atlanta. Had a wonderful time. Have to say, it was probably the best national conference I've attended. Got so much out of it by not having an agenda...no plans, no lists... just went. Hmmm... can I maybe apply this to other areas of my life... Toss the lists... might be worth considering.

July was very busy, it just flew by. I did get a lot of work done on my current manuscript, have only about fifty pages to go. The landscaping is about 85% complete. A few more plants to go up on the slope (the landscaper will do those); a couple of beds and several pots to be replanted (I shall do those!--wonder if I remember how to garden...), and the roof leak adventure of twenty months ago will finally be a memory of the past. My car needs another bath... oh well. It's not gettin' one for awhile!

Wonder if August will flee as quickly... we'll see! The beat goes on!