Hi, it's me again.

Oh my word. It’s been almost a week since I’ve written in my blog. A WEEK! Where are all the comments asking why I haven’t posted? Why is no one begging me to thrill him (nice grammar, huh?) with my adventurous escapades? On the other hand, I might get annoyed with the comments asking me to post if they were TOO incessant. My great-grandmother used to say, "When summer comes, man wants winter; when winter comes, man wants summer. What a foolish creature man is!" or something similar at least. I know a good number of people who would rather it be summer all the time, but that’s beside the point.....

Back to my not posting for a week: I have an excuse! Several in fact. Reason #1: School. Reason #2: Yardwork. Reason #3: Housework. Reason #4: School. Etc., etc., etc. Fortunately reasons #1, #4, #7, etc., are soon to be gone. School is technically over at our house! Technically, but not factually. I still have a good bit of history, composition, and math to do. I’ve finished biology and writing, however, and I lost my vocabulary book in town (oops), so my subject list has at least been cut in half.

Reasons #2, #5, #8, etc., are the biggest reasons at this time. Douglas is graduating from St. Anselm College tomorrow (Saturday) and the party is going to be at our house! Plus, Bria’s graduation is in about a month. We’ve been working feverishly to loam and seed the lawns, mow the lawns that didn’t need seeding, mulch and fertilize the flower gardens, vacuum the pool, put up retaining walls, etc., etc., etc. (Variety check: I have now used "etc." eight times in this post; time to use something else...) The grounds have improved immensely over the past three or four weeks.

Reasons #3, #6, #9 and so on (variety!) are not as significant as the other two, but – have you ever noticed how hard it is to keep a bedroom clean? I certainly have. My room doesn’t stay clean for a minute. It’s like I have a major problem with borrowers, only they’re not borrowers but lenders. It’s either that or a vast household conspiracy...

(Or maybe I’m just a slob, but we won’t consider that possibility at this time.)

Have you ever heard that you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows (fill in the blank with anyone in the world? Well, I recently found a couple examples. (I define "know" to mean having met and conversed with) 1) I know Amy Partin who knows George Bush who knows a LOT of people. 2) I know my Aunt Candy who knows Harrison Ford who knows a LOT of people. 3) I have a neighbor whose uncle is Joe Morgan who used to be the manager of the Red Sox and—needless to say—knows a LOT of people. Here’s one I just found out that really surprised me: I know my cousin Ben who is a close friend of.....Howard Dean’s nephew! Of course, he (the nephew) knows Howard Dean , who knows a LOT of people. (Don't worry, though, Ben is not a fanatical left-wing democrat.)