Last week, at precisely 6 pm, I filled my thermal wine glass with Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, walked outside, grabbed a chair from my driveway, and sat in my cul-de-sac enjoying my wine. I left my phone in the house. I faced the sun and closed my eyes. The Fed Ex man went around me, waving as he went by. Two neighbors came home from work and tentatively waved as they drove up their driveways. Apparently, six is a common time to return home from work. I wanted a glass of wine. I wanted sun. I wanted no kids. I wanted no phone. There is NO sun on my house in the evening. This was simply the easiest way to get what I wanted. People, I have a 21 year old and three teenagers. Judge me when you are there. For now, wave or join me. I have three more chairs at the top of the drive, and an entire wine cooler full of yummy wines.

Yesterday, Tessa’s soccer game was cancelled due to the heat. I fully appreciate the new awareness and caution with regards to exertion in extreme heat. Besides, it gave me time to go home and mow the lawn. Yup, I put on my swim suit top and short shorts (this drew positive attention back in the day…now it just draws attention), and mowed the lawn. And I was singing loudly to Pandora, which was presumably (hopefully) drowned out by the loud mower. Oh, and I was dancing. I realized a bit too late that the neighbor’s nanny and kids were observing me. I thought maybe I was wrong until I saw her repeating one of my fine dance moves to the neighbor when she returned from work. I’d be embarrassed, but seriously, her husband just saw me drinking wine in the street a few days before, so I’m just gonna go with it. Besides, I was sweating buckets (think shower with clothes on type of look) and was in no condition to argue the merits of singing and dancing while mowing. I haven’t found any YouTube videos of me in this condition, so you can all just imagine it on your own. And I almost forgot, while I was busy jamming in the front yard, Travis was changing the oil in a couple of our cars in our driveway, wearing a stained, stretched white t-shirt and cut off jean shorts that he had just cut off that day for the specific purpose of changing the oil in the car. We are THAT couple. And he was looking just as HOT as I was. I mean, we were both really, really hot.

I have a rather unusual lawn (nice transition, right?). See, there were bald patches, so I bought seed and filled them in. Well, whatever grass I bought looks like crab grass, although it is soft on bare feet. But it is UGLY! And it grows really, really fast. In fact, it grows way faster than the rest of the grass. So, Travis and Tayden have employed selective mowing in an effort to stay on top of the fast grass. So, sometimes, there is an angled mow line through the center of the yard, so they could get to the fast grass to mow that section. Then there is a return mow line, which does not run the same as the first angled line. And there are little patches of fast grass throughout the lawn where I just tossed the seed to fill in small patches. Those are still sticking up all over the lawn. It is an aesthetic nightmare, even for a disjointed family like us. But, what are we supposed to do? Mow the whole lawn when just the fast grass part really needs it? Nope, not us. We don’t roll that way. Sorry again neighbors. But I have some great wine that I’m willing to share. Meet me in the street after work.