Back to Normal...?

I hesitate to say this (and I knock on wood as I do so), but its sort of starting to feel like life is getting back to normal.  Kind of.  Sort of.  For the most part.

Its a nice feeling after 6 11 months of crazy.  About a year ago it seemed like all crap hit the fan, we were booked every weekend, we were planning an anniversary party, family retreat, and a trip to Honduras.  Once we got through the holidays and Honduras, we hit the ground running with the church project.  Then it was Mandy's wedding, then the sprint to get things done before vacation.

And now vacation is over.  And life is sort of normal.  We're still way busier than I want to be, but its sort of a routine busy.  Like the same kind of busy on a regular basis... NOT leaving town every-other-weekend busy.

I've decided to enjoy it.  And soak up summer.  Here's one of the awesome things about being childless (and not a teacher): we don't live on a school schedule.  Summer for us really runs from mid-June (when it really gets warm) well into September.  As long as the weather's warm, it's summer!

Here's a little bit of what's been going on around here.

Tico's got bronchitis.  Ain't nobody got time for that!  He's got a horrible cough, even though we just finished a round of antibiotics   We're still using the cough syrup.  Giving cough syrup to a dog is not easy, but its the only way any of us are going to get some sleep around here.

I haven't noticed them in prior years, but this year there are rabbits EVERYWHERE.  The dogs have noticed them too.  Jynx goes nuts chasing them out of the yard.  The other night she took after one with a yelp, then suddenly stopped running but kept yelping...and limping.  She didn't cut herself, so we figured she pulled something and we would give it a day or two and see how she was feeling.  She was still definitely in pain Friday, so I took her in to the vet.  We have pain meds for her, and he said if she's not better in a week, bring her back.

I have told Toby that these Friday afternoon vet visits are NOT going to be a regular thing, and try to use positive reinforcement by repeatedly thanking him for keeping it together and staying healthy.

I came back from vacation to a weight-loss challenge with a few of my family members.  My first week back I really didn't do much... it was all I could do to survive the week!  This last week I was much better: eating healthy, working out, getting sleep.  So far, after two weeks... I have gained one pound.  Bummer, dude.  Guess I've got to try harder if I want to keep my $30.

One of my healthy eating cookbooks has a recipe for flatbread/ thin crust pizzas.  The dough makes 4 small pizzas, so Tim and I have been having a lot of fun experimenting with different topping strategies.  Its pretty fun and delicious.

I had a hankering for apple crisp so I made some.  I know, I know... doesn't really fit in with the weight-loss plan, but this recipe is pretty healthy (but still good).  At least until I top it with ice cream.

In an effort to achieve a higher level of normalization in our life, we decided to get the home theater up and running again.  Since we're hoping to start construction in our basement in the near future, we didn't want to set it up there, so we found a temporary home for it.

We watched a movie last night!  It is such a good feeling to know you can watch a movie in your own home if you want to.

The weather is AWESOME here this weekend.  Hope you're enjoying your summer!  What have you been up to?