WHAT month are we in now??

We've been setting aside today's date to go somewhere nice for hiking today. Last week the weather was nice but my husband had a bit too much going on (several tests to write, for one thing). And we have been sort of waiting for son 2's foot to be completely healed, as the supposedly-healed break site hurt last time he tried running on it. But you'd think--on the NINTH of JUNE--that cold weather wouldn't be an issue. So here we are, all ready, with blue sky overhead--and it's 55 degrees. And everywhere around us is ringed with huge clouds, and in every direction we could possibly go, the weather forecast is in the 40s or 50s (as a HIGH), with high winds and possible road closures because of them, and/or thunderstorms and SNOW. I like Idaho, but I'm sort of seeing why our Idaho-born parents now live in places like Arkansas and southern California.

I do notice that people here tend to live to great ages. It probably has something to do with the phrase, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" or something.

Unfortunately, even though the weather is horrible everywhere else, from inside, it looks like a lovely day here, so it's not like we're all feeling in the mood for snuggling under blankets and watching movies. So frustrating!

I have read some good books lately, though. A full critique for a friend that really stuck with me afterwards (although after reading about all the ways the Amazon can kill you, I don't think I'm booking a ticket to Brazil anytime soon...). I've got another one up, but I'm really hoping that our printer starts working soon, because it's a lot easier to read a whole book on paper for me. I also just read Sara Zarr's newest, How to Save a Life, which is outside my normal reading tastes (I don't usually care for contemporary issues books), but which was really good. Very honest and hopeful, and maybe recommended more for people who are at a good place in their lives where they can teach someone else how to have a better life, share some of the stuff they've come by naturally, than for someone in that situation at the moment. Let's just say the book feels very real (speaking as someone who has spent many years working with teens), and the title is extremely perfect for it.

The thing I like about reading good books is that it makes me excited about writing, even if they are completely different genres. Maybe that's what I'll do today, instead. Maybe I will climb in my writing cave and make some progress today.

It's snowing in Island Park.

Seriously. They could get up to an inch. IP is 45 minutes to an hour and a half from us, depending on where you measure. Okay, so they are about 1200 feet higher, too. But still. People live up there. And it's June. And it's snowing. We obviously did NOT go hiking there today.

So, how often do you replace laptop power supply cables? We seem to do it frequently. It doesn't matter if we get the cheap ones or the more expensive ones, we don't see a noticeable increase in quality. (Well, except for the one really cheap on I had once that sort of melted. That was bad.) DH's cord has been hanging on by a welded thread, and with a spark and a pop, it seems to have died. And unfortunately, fried the laptop such that it will only run off the battery, not a cable, and it won't charge the battery. Awesome.

In good news, I read over what I've written so far (in the WIP), and it is not as terrible as I thought. That's always a nice surprise. So I'm feeling kind of good about that. And Germany beat Portugal 1-0 in this round of the European Cup today, which is also awesome. Last time around, we were getting ready to move out of Germany, and Little Sweetie was 3, and very involved in the whole thing. She knew players by name and when Germany lost to Spain in the finals, she cried. Her favorite player, Michael Ballack, isn't on the national team this time around, but when we looked up the official page to see how things were going, she recognized the photo of the coach, Joachim Löw.

Wishing you all a nice summer evening (um, if you are actually having summer, that is)!