Clear

The house looks fantastic. And the windows...oh, the windows. Sparkling clear. Windowsills, tracks, glass and blinds clean. It's amazing how much clean windows 'brightens' the house. I've never, ever in any house I've ever lived in had a professional window washing done and boy, am I SOLD. It will be an annual or bi-annual event. It was ~$8/window and worth every penny. Even the windows in the living room which are 14 feet up are sparkling. The house is shiny and picked up and terrific - and the best part is, it will be this way every two weeks! At the bargain price of $85 - for 3200 sq. feet, it's a steal! YEAH!

We had the lawn aerated this past weekend - which we do almost every year. We haven't had it done for the past couple years 'cuz the fertilizer they use has grass seed in it and we now have a horrifically bad problem with grass growing in all the flower beds...but the lawn needed the aeration, so we had them come on Saturday. And now, [and I 'remember' this after we have it done EVERY TIME, when it's already done and too late], we now have brown dirt 'plugs' all over the lawn. They will eventually just dry out and disintegrate back into the soil, but for NOW, they look like thousands of dog poops all over the lawn. My aunt will think we haven't scooped the yard EVER. And we do scoop everyday. So that's lovely. Picking them up is impossible. There are hundreds and the dirt needs to eventually make it's way back to our lawn...it's needed there. It would take hours to pick up all the 'plugs'. So I just make sure there is NO dog poo anywhere and hope the plugs dissipate as much as possible before her visit.

And our lawn sprinklers have a giant leak and we have to water by hand. I've been trying to 'soak' the lawn so the water goes deep, but if I leave the hose just running, it all runs down the very slight 'slope' into the drains.

In Arizona, where I grew up, my aunt's house (not the aunt that's visiting - another aunt) had irrigation. The lawn was built like a 'basin'. Every week or so, she would go out and 'open' the valve and her lawn would 'flood' with about 6 inches of water. The water would 'sit' on the lawn and soak into the ground. Her lawn was the plushest, most beautifully thick lawn I've ever seen - and I'm sure the irrigation had a lot to do with that. The water really, REALLY soaked in and got down to the roots. That doesn't happen here, really - most of the water stays on the surface. We'd have to water for a long, LONG time to get that kind of saturation. When I visited my sister a few weekends ago, there were still lawns being irrigated vs. using sprinklers. I think that's the way to go and wonder why California hasn't embraced irrigation. The lawns in AZ need watering less frequently and stay so green, even in the summer. There aren't very many 'lawns' in AZ now - most folks use rock and 'desert landscaping' that doesn't need much water. But the few really green, plush lawns you see are a result of irrigation, most likely.

It was still 92 degrees here at 6PM. The sky is in a strange 'cloudy' state but it is broiling hot outside. Odd. We bought some plants at Home Depot yesterday and I saturated them this morning. I arrived home to find them wilting and suffering in the heat. Watered them again and tomorrow, will have to put them in a tray of water in more shade to hopefully help them survive the heat. It's going to be a very hot week.

OH, my Harry Potter book(s) finally arrived on Saturday. 10AM came and went. 11AM came and went. I was in whiny mode - bemoaning that I could have gone to Costco 3 times already and I'd HAVE the books by then - but they finally arrived. Just like on TV in a box that says 'Attention Muggles: do not open until July 21st'. It was worth the wait for the box alone - and I'm keeping it for sure.

As planned, I headed straight for the last chapter. Read it. Smiled. Told Brooks his copy was here ['cuz I've always ordered two and we give one to the library when we're done] and he said, basically, he wasn't going to read it - he'd wait for the movie. I said 'oh, that's it - your childhood IS really over - you won't even read Harry Potter with me anymore'. THAT shock was the hardest 'proof' so far that he is growing up. My baby is growing up. Like Harry is/did in the books. But it's just so sad to have that 'part' of him gone - the little boy who dressed up like HP for Halloween. Who begged me to take him to Barnes and Noble for the 'midnight' sales every time there was a new book out. He's moved on, now, and will just wait for the story to unfold on the big screen.

[spoiler ahead. Read no further if you don't want to know the ending....seriously....you've been warned]




He did come back a bit later and ask 'Mom, does Harry die?' I said 'are you sure you want to know?' 'Yes', he replied. I said 'are you ABSOLUTELY sure you want to know'. 'Yes, Mom, I do'. I said 'no, he does not'. And then he was smiling, too.

And, then I read the ending again AND this time, the 'epilogue' - 19 years in the future - and all was right with the world. I firmly believe there will be more HP books. I just know it. And I can't wait. Even if I'm 90 years old when they start coming out, I'll be at the midnight parties myself, hopefully with my grand kids in tow and be among the first to get the new books. I love them that much.

And honestly, it ended the only way it could possibly end. The only way I could ever imagine J. K. Rowling carrying it around in her head all these years. Formulating the story any other way from beginning to end as she had would have made no sense had it ended other than as it did. It just made 'sense'. Only with lots of twists, and curves that do require multiple readings to be sure you're getting it. It is a fantastic ending to a great story. And I'm looking forward to reading it from cover to cover, as soon as I finish re-reading books 5 and 6.

Love you, Harry. Love you, too, B. even though you've apparently outgrown Harry Potter without my knowledge or consent. (Just kidding, sweetie - it'll just make me look forward to the movies even more!).