It's Official

Yep. It's official. Summer is here.

I know this because my kids smell like sunscreen and chlorine, I have a hankerin' for watermelon, and it is hovering around 100 degrees here every afternoon ALREADY thanks to the "natural warming trend" (as folks around here like to refer to the global warming caused by zillions of cars and flatulent cows and other scientific stuff.)

For Jasper, last summer was eons ago. It probably seems like a dream. Anyway, we ran into some technical difficulties with the swimsuit situation yesterday. He was confused as to what to do with his underwear. This picture was actually snapped just after he removed them. He had been wearing them OVER his swim trunks. I had not noticed because he had pulled his jeans on over the whole arrangement (because he is a spy - that is the reason he gave) and so when he began to strip at the pool, revealing the undies over the trunks, he was met with some snickering and belly-laughing of which he was not appreciative. He immediately pulled them off. Dang. I was not quick enough with the camera. I was just glad the local "Don't those people homeschool?" fan club was not at the pool (they were in school...suckers).

Anyway, summer is not really officially here according to the calendar. It is like a month away, or something. But I'm not going to get bogged down by minor details like that considering the fact that I could literally fry an egg on my sidewalk around 4:00 every afternoon. I guess for those of you who live in areas where the "natural warming trend" is showing itself through massive flooding and freak snowstorms, this is hard to relate to. And for those of you who live in areas where massive chunks of ice are falling into the ocean? Sorry. I admit to driving a really humongous gas-guzzler (I would change this if I could afford to, believe me) and to owning a herd of flatulent cows (because I live in Texas). Really. Truly. Sorry. But hey! I recycle! And I don't use any plastic bags. Well, actually I occasionally do but it is by mistake and I really really hate it when people catch me with my shameful plastic bags because I wrote a guest editorial for the local paper about just how awful the things are and so it is embarrassing when I am dragging 30 or 40 of them across the parking lot of the local supermarket while people think to themselves (and surely they do because the world revolves around me and what I'm doing) that I am a massive hypocrite.

Speaking of plastic bags, it has always irked me to have to put my veggie and fruit items inside the little thin, clear plastic bags even though all my other groceries were going into canvas. I try to not use them at all, but when putting a dozen or so apples into the cart, it is hard to avoid them. So I was extremely thrilled to discover that a solution has been right under my nose this entire time! My friend, Diane, over at Go Baby Go, sells these awesome little veggie bags! Yesterday I traded her some eggs for a couple of the large bags and one small size. They are very lightweight and thin. The checkers can actually see the labels through the bags. Yay! This almost makes up for the fact that another foot or two of the polar icecaps melt every time I start up the old 12-seater full-sized commercial vehicle known affectionately as my wretched van.

Check out Go Baby Go if you're in the market for other reusable products, especially in the baby department. I am proud to say that I turned Diane on to cloth diapering and baby-wearing and now she sells lots of different brands of cloth diapers and accessories and baby slings and wraps. My favorite baby carrier of all time would be the Moby Wrap.

OK, well, gotta run. I told the kids I'd take them to the pool today and I have at least a zillion things to do between now and then. Number 14 on the list goes something like this:

14. OH MY GOD LOSE SOME WEIGHT ALREADY!

Swimsuits. Bleh.

Love,

A Summery Sardine Mama