Morning all,
Day before Independence Day - big summer holiday. Half of summer is over - at least for us

Hasn't been very warm at all. My garden is not doing too well except for the arugula. Pea plants are small but are pushing out peas. Yesterday I ran into town - Walmart was a ZOO - geez. I had the misfortune of being behind what looked like a cute old lady who decided she wanted Walmart to price match half of her order. She had flyers from 3 different stores and then could not find all the items to point out to the clerk in the sales flyers.

Must have taken me an hour to get through the line. I was ready to give her 20 bucks just so she'd move along. Please don't do your weekly shopping and price match when there are a hundred people in line.

On the way through town the strawberry farm lady had her truck parked at the furniture store - seems to be the gathering place for all sales from your car/truck.

Bought a big pail of strawberries - oh so fresh. They were pricy but I am tired of buying them in the store and within 2 days they are all moldy if I leave them out and rubbery if I put them in the refrigerator. This way they were picked this morning and I hope they last more than 3 days. I might freeze some too. Got some fresh rhubarb I can also use.
Met a friend at the store and she is always looking to go out to dinner - her hubby is also a friend and he does not like to go out. So we roped him into going to dinner with us. We went for all you can eat bbq ribs. They were delicious but they are smoked and for some reason my stomach is sensitive to smoked flavors. About 2 hours after we ate, I got a terrible stomach ache and kept tasting the smokiness of the ribs. I guess I have to cross that off the list. Too bad because they were really tasty and meaty.
I should go to yoga today but I am just not up to it. I haven't gone in 3 weeks. I am bad. I can feel the bones tightening up, should do a video if I don't go to class. I did sign up for my regular yoga in September.
I have today to myself and will spend it tidying up and doing housework and laundry. I keep telling myself I should get out into the garage and go through some boxes. Before you know it, it will be getting too cool to work outside and with the eye surgery I won't be able to bend over for 4 weeks at least so that blows away August productivity. Too many things screaming to be done at once, all with the same tight deadlines

and we haven't taken the ATV out once yet this year. I don't want another year to pass where we didn't use that expensive UTV we bought at all. This weekend there are too many crazy weekend warriors who are wild and stupid so I don't like to go out among them. Maybe mid week next week we can take a trip out.
Annie - I admit it can be a bummer when you have to trim expenses for something you want to be special. I do hope that amongst everything, Sissy has fun with the wedding planning. It should be a celebration, not a hassle. I would probably be trolling the internet for inexpensive wedding decorations. You could get a nice round glass bowl, put a votive candle and some rocks or silk flowers and make a nice decoration without spending a lot. Don't forget to hit up the thrift stores too - they always have tons of cheap glassware. I hope you get some sunshine headed your way. Certainly seems to be a lot of rain this summer. We aren't so rainy, but it's cooler than usual I think which is why the plants are stunted. Thanks for the reminder about Laura's birthday - sorry Laura - your card will be late

Thank you for the compliment on DH's photos. Many people have suggested that he sell them and as we go to fairs I point out to him that there are a lot of people selling some really nice photographs. Once you frame and mat them, it costs a lot of money to do that and the thing is... we all admire each other's work BUT will we shell out money for that? That's the problem, people like to look at the pictures but no one wants to pay for them.

I am just glad he has a hobby he enjoys. It keeps his brain active, gives him a bit of a self esteem boost that he can do something well (despite Dad's telling him otherwise when he was growing up) and it keeps him OUT OF MY HAIR.

Except when he wants me to take road trips and I have other stuff to do. But I am not complaining. I know far too many couples where the woman goes one way and the man the other and they only meet at the table for supper.

Enjoy your quiet day at the office and early release. Unless I was away on vacation, I'd rather do what you did - take an alternate day off and come in when it's less busy AND you get out early.
Yes, there is some specific computer packages for animal shelters. I was once not a big fan of a generic package - mold your business into our package but I do accept that sometimes like this, it does no good to reinvent the wheel. And most shelters have a standard business model so it's just the amount of bells and whistles and cash you want to lay out. We also want something cloud based so that the people who need to get to the information can access it from the internet which saves us time and money not having to get computers for the office. Will be interesting. But first I have to get through the Tag Day fundraiser a month from today.
Ceejay - yes, you can be busy in retirement BUT the wonderful thing is, you can be as busy as you choose to be. Especially when you are an unpaid volunteer. It's very freeing to set your own pace. You just have to be strong about not getting sucked into doing too much (as I often do). Of course it's more fun to work at the thrift store than stay home and scrub floors and do laundry, right? I am sure you will find a niche to make you happy.
Laura - oh oh - you had to mention Peter Frampton, didn't you?

Strains of Feel Like I Do running through my head again.

I am drooling at the idea of BF's yummy grilled hamburger. We deferred the big steak until tonight - I am looking forward to that. Have fun at the festival - we always watched your town's fireworks festival because that was the closest one to our house. A few years we even walked there. Happy early birthday to you. Are you doing anything special to celebrate?
Terra - sounds like you have a pretty busy week ahead. It's nice to have some fun things planned. I guess everyone is loving that new Jurrasic Park movie.
It looks rather overcast outside - they said 50 percent chance of rain but I don't see much on the radar. I like when it rains, was a pain dragging the big long heavy hose wayyyyyy across the yard on both sides, one to get the flower garden, then on the back side to get the veggies and in between getting the bird bath and dog bowl/turkey watering trough cleaned out and filled.
Have a good weekend everyone! Hope your move is not too much of a hassle Shad.