It was a dark, stormy night...

There were thunderclaps late in the evening, that broke my slumber and reminded me to get outside and roll the windows all the way up before the rain came. (Another good thing about summer: parking right in front of the building.) On the way inside, I passed my mailbox that hadn't been checked in a few days. Lo and behold, the job offer! Starting Tuesday, July 5.

So this morning, I drove around sipping my latte (when in Madison...) and checking out rental signs in other neighborhoods. Then I called the family and friends. Now, I'm going to type up an amendment to my WI bar application, which finally got submitted a few weeks ago. Here I thought I was the last one, since most of my classmates got sworn in a week ago, but on the deadline day I did share an elevator up with a classmate who is studying now for the MD bar. I'm hoping to be official by late November, but the amendments wait...

"Thank you all

for thinking about me... I'm alive and doing fine."
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I'm just back from a job interview, the position I wrote about back in March. You can't take delay personally, of course, and there was a phone message waiting for me when I got back in town this weekend.

It went really well, my instincts tell me. I could see myself doing this job, the people seemed real, and the one fellow doing the interview wore boots, black cowboy boots. Best, they seemed to like my style too. Hopefully I'll be hearing back by middle of next week.

It would be great to start working early in July; don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who doesn't know how to fill her free time. Still, I haven't been blogging because something in me says you don't write about midweek travel or vegetable gardening when you should be working, or at least looking for a job.

I have been reading blogs and online papers though, agreeing and disagreeing with y'all, and taking vicarious vacations via your photos. I'm aiming to get some garden shots up here in August or September... she is really looking good this year. The dead grass around the base of the plants method so far (knock wood) is working out well. You bend over a lot less sprinkling the clippings initially and then concentrating on weeding (after a rain) those few that do come up though the layer of dead grass. Rebecca Koll from Hudson (a local version of Martha) recommends putting down newspaper pages first, then the grass clippings, so very little makes it though. Maybe next year, if this doesn't keep working. It's still early, but it's good to feel like you're caught up, and not behind fighting a losing battle with weeds. Been there...

Also, a camping tip for the ladies: Don't squat outside to urinate, which can put you closer to tick infested tall grass. If necessary, take your foot out of your boot, your leg out of one side of the pants/shorts/underwear, hold off to the side, put your foot back in the shoewear, and just go. The arch stream stays away from your body, you can air dry, hands stay clean, and no clothing gets wet. Now I do have longer legs and am rather trim, but I think this would work for other women too. You'd need a private spot, of course, since you're standing half naked for a minute or so, but why risk squatting and wetting yourself? Or limiting where you can go to where someone has built a biff? Anyway, someone had written about this recently, so I wanted to respond. Hope it's more helpful than pervey

Heading out to Fleet Farm today to have the tires rotated. I'll bring a book to read in case there's a wait.
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If you're looking for a mild getaway this summer, try Stillwater, Minnesota. Quaint storefronts, a pretty rivertown. Near Willow River State Park in Hudson, and Taylor's Falls State Park in Minnesota.

If you head further north, there's the Hayward, Wisconsin area, whose sportfishing tourist heyday is behind it, but has a historic charm. Winter home of the Birkebeiner.

Finally, Bayfield on the shores of Lake Superior, and La Pointe on Madeline Island, are reminders of the trapper and missionary days in north America. They're accommodating, and you'll come back relaxed if you take a few days summer getaway. Happy flag day in a few.

Sisters

I got some good news to kick off the summer. My sister gave birth to a happy healthy baby girl, and they're both doing good.

Her oldest girl, my niece who'll soon be 5, was excited to tell me on the phone she now has a brother and a sister. (The baby came as no surprise, but my sister and brother in law prefer to wait until a baby's born to learn the sex.)

The baby shares her father's surname, her mother's middle name, and her grandmother's first name. Pretty cool, considering her grandmother is here to meet her. (Our own grandmothers, whom I'm named after, had passed before we were born, so we appreciate the overlapping generations.)

My sister is a nurse practitioner, and her family is great. Good news on a glorious day.