Summertime and the livin' is easy

Summer has a way of making everything just a bit easier.
Sure, we just got back from a fantastic vacation with friends in Florida, watching the kids have a blast while we enjoyed ourselves in the heat. And the slower pace at work is a welcome feeling after another brutal prep sports season, what felt like 10,000 graduation ceremonies and some really nasty times (which continue) at work.
But when it's warm out and there are lots of long weekends on the horizon, I often feel like everyday has a hint of that "hey, it's Friday again, here comes another weekend!".
Maybe that's because I haven't worked a full 5 days in a long time, and don't have any plans to for the next 3 weeks. (thanks a ton, furlough days)
Either way, I'm home more often, getting more stuff done in the yard, etc. Spending lots of time at the pool with the girls playing with them and watching them learn how to play on their own without drowning. That's a great feeling, by the way. Knowing that if left unwatched for a few moments, they're good enough swimmers to not get into too much trouble. Clare especially - but even Addie is back to her 2008 form of leaping off the diving board, this year without a life vest. She's insane.
And the work around the house, although it surely never will end, is pretty fun most of the time. Today as I was gathering up another 30 pounds of random sticks in my yard from all the wind today, I heard the sound of wood buckling under pressure. Yeah, as in the kind of noise you hear as a tree starts to fall. Holy crap, where's it coming from? As the word from passed across my brain cells, the thunderous crash happened about 20 yards into the woods away from the garage. What I discovered after investigating was that a massive dead oak (which I didn't even know was there) lost one of it's main branches. The thing was about 25 feet long and at least a foot in diameter on each end. So of course it was chainsaw time. What better way to end a weekend of projects in the yard that to tear into some downed trees with my favorite power tool.
The Stihl saw I bought from a guy off Craigslist last summer is a total ass kicker. I love that thing... Yep, this is what makes me day, folks. Chainsaws. That and burning stuff... which we've been doing plenty of after high winds and a huge storm while we were in Florida. Which gave us plenty of fuel for a campfire Friday night with our good friends the Neffs.
An impromptu cookout and campfire happened Friday after I bumped into Allison on FB earlier that afternoon - they trekked out to our place for a fun night of beers and catching up while the kids played together happily all night.
It was a fantastic summer weekend - and the best part is that we're only 4 days away from more time with family for our Fourth of July ritual.
Ahhh, another short work week. I could get used to this.