Hello, Summer!

I have always considered the first day without kids at school as New Year's Day. Hurray! Summer is the start of the year for me. I have always loved, loved, loved summer. Reasons: my birthday is in the summer, being outdoors, the sound of locusts, bicycling, fireflies, homemade peach ice cream, any flavor homemade ice cream for that matter, waking up early then taking a nap then going to bed late, grilling, going swimming, water parks, and I don't have to work!!! heh

We kicked off the summer by ditching work at 10:40 a.m. after the end-of-school breakfast, loaded up Skipper, and headed towards Canton Trade Days. We had so much fun. Of course, as Jen-style, we had to drive all the way back to Denton (4 hours round trip) to conduct a 1 hour orientation for the students in my EDSE 5005 class on Saturday afternoon. (Didn't I just say I didn't have to work in the summer?)

It was still fun though. We crashed pretty early on Friday night because we have both been burning the candle at both ends, but we woke up at 7 a.m. and sat outside, drank coffee, and slowly welcomed the day. It was so cool and breezy that we had to wrap up in blankets. We loaded up on the 9:30 a.m. Canton Marketplace Trolley and away we went for a whole hour of shop til you drop then crawl madness. As usual, I think I spent my entire Canton allowance in that one hour and as usual, continued to spend, so now I'm totally broke but I think we got some cute stuff and no unfortunate purchases which can happen in Canton very easily. I *almost* bought a black sequined tank top. That would have been an oops! So cute on the shop owner so not cute on me. I was in that totally Jen wishy-washy thing but luckily Wendy saved me from myself. Thank you.

What we got: burlap footstool that looks really cool with our new sofa setup, 4 pairs of trendy (read: silly looking on 40 year old women) sunglasses for $28.00, a necklace for Cathy, a butterfly bracelet for me, a cute t-shirt for each of us, dog treats (really???), a heart hang-on-the-wall thingey for the RV, a bag made of reclaimed postal material, candied pecans and almonds, a magnetic golf thing for Tom, and 3 sets of bangley bracelets (why?). The "Canton Craze" was setting in at that time and there was no reason to buy 3 sets but did.

The "Canton Craze" is when you have low blood sugar, are getting hot, and have complete sensory overload, (and maybe even a little drunk) that you buy absolutely adorable can't live without at all goodies and get home to discover that while driving home in the car have transformed into very unfortunate, guilt-laden, even embarrassing at times, lack of good decision making skills items--like the double washtub and stand that Daddy carried across the field back in 1995, like the $150 fringy super high heel platform wedges (really?), license plate purse, patchwork knit pants, and revamped camo pants with appliques and sequins.

We did see some stuff that we I really liked and didn't get but maybe will sometime. A cute sign to put in front of the RV that says something like "The Hideout" or something like that. A cute t-shirt that says "it's all good in the trailerhood." A really cute bracelet with black and silver beads and crystal skulls.

When we got back from Denton, we stopped at Goodson's Farmer's Market and bought really tasty salsa, some fresh corn, delicious tomatoes, some olive oil and sweet vinegar salad dressing that is to die for, a cup of homemade peach ice cream, and some pickled tomatoes.

That night Wendy grilled a delicious ribeye to perfection and buttery corn on the cob served with tomatoes with that really good dressing, and a baked potato. Delish!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. On Sunday we totally scored a turquoise blue Fiesta deviled egg dish at a little antique store on the corner. I had also found an oval Buffalo china dish that matches my other ones (or mother's - I can't remember), but had forgotten about it when we got back to the store. Darn!

Serendipity really set in when we ran into Ann Daughtry at the Brookshire's. Ann is a vivacious 95 year old woman that used to be Wendy's neighbor at Cedar Creek Lake. She is so pretty and so sweet. She knows everything there is to know about gardening, canning, putting up preserves, herbs, etc. I think it is her fountain of youth. Wendy called it a God thing because ever since her Granny Katie passed, Ann has been on her mind. As we walked through the booths at Canton, Wendy kept saying I wonder where Ann's booth is. Then we walked right into her at the Brookshire's. It would be my dream to go and spend a summer with her and learn everything that she knows. That's my sociology degree kicking in, isn't it? I would love to document it (and then get super rich and famous when my book and then movie is released that then launches into a TV show where I travel around and document old timey stuff) like My Year with Julia or Tuesdays with Maury. A girl can dream right?

Isn't she cute? When we saw her from behind, I said to Wendy, "that is probably what I will look like with that red sparkly hat on my head when I'm old." That made her look at the lady and then I heard, "ANN!"

Well, I don't want this fun weekend to end. The last few weeks of school were grueling. Back to the grind tomorrow with writing the PE and speech class (can't we just combine those?), and working on master schedule. Yikes!