Week seven.

What's this? Seven weeks of summer? My, my. Do you know what that means? Only five more weeks left. Only five! Week seven was the last full week of June- week eight brings July. July brings the last thirty days before we drop our popsicles and sharpen our pencils. That's a little sad. And also fairly exciting.

In a word, I'd say week seven was exhausting, and I'm not sure exactly why. It wasn't the kids necessarily- I mean sure, they did kidsy things like make train tracks all over the den and lose goggles and demand to be fed every three hours, but they were fairly golden. I think I'll attribute it to my ongoing shortage of sleep (which is absolutely my own fault) and the 30 Day Shred, which, while it is not exactly shredding me yet, is certainly tiring out my muscles. And I've also been averaging about 5 miles a day, which is also pretty muscle-tiring and MAM OH MAN MY LEGS ARE TIRED. But that's okay, because I like to shred and I like to walk and obviously I find worthwhile things to do at midnight because I keep staying up that late, right? Regardless, more sleep in July.

Last week started out in one of the best ways I could dream up: I hightailed it to the lake to celebrate Janie being alive, and even though she was in and out because of work, it was still really wonderful. Gracie stayed for longer than planned and there was tons of watermelon and it was just super. I'd like to start another week like that soon, okay, loves?

And then, I worked hung out at the pool whilst supervising youngsters and made peanut butter sandwiches Monday-Thursday. And like I said, I've been walking/running on the treadmill AND around the neighborhood, between 5 and 6 miles a day. That takes time! So my days revolve around watching kids and  then working out, but I'll tell you, it's suiting me just fine. I am tired, though.

I have been encouraged to mention the Lost Dog that rocked my world on Monday.  There I am, reading Put Me in the Zoo for the third time while simultaneously collecting Toy Story Cheez-Its from the floor (a small person's multitasking attempt went awry) when the phone rings. Now, I would like to stop here and note that while the dog had SORT OF been left in my care (alright, in my care), I did NOT know that the dog was prone to escaping from everywhere. I did not know, either, that the painters would be painting doors, and thus, leaving doors open. I did not know the dog in my care was his owner's pride and joy, escapee or not. Had I known any- or even some!- of those incredibly important facts, I might not have locked myself in the playroom. But alas, the phone rings and the across-the-street neighbor called to tell me that if I was looking for the dog, it was okay- someone found him down the street and brought him to her. "Huh? Dog?" I wondered, briefly, if someone had mistaken one of the shaggy twins...no, they were both there. "The dog you were watching?" Oh! That dog! That I was, erm, watching. And then, the incident just sort of escalated because- like I said I didn't know this- but said dog was really, really precious to owners and they weren't exactly happy that I'd given him free reign of the nieghborhood. I'm sure thoughts concerning my actual child-watching abilities were entertained, but I can guarantee you, had I know that the dog really needed babysitting, I would have sat him (much like I really do with the children). Perhaps in a corner, but sat nonetheless. And you know, I might've shut those doors. It's now become a bit of a joke in the house- we're always looking for that dog. Luckily, I don't think I'll be asked to sit for him any time soon. At any rate, I felt pretty terrible.

On a brighter note, somehow all of the forces of good worked together and Janie came into Georgia just as I was free to leave, and, on account of we're not sure when we'll get to hang again, I made a stop in Peachtree City. And despite some truly horrific examples of customer service, we had a really excellent time trying on 546 dresses (each). In Sisterhood-of-the-Traveling-Pants fashion, all three (including Jane's mom) of us tried on this strappy black sort of run-of-the-mill dress and then we all three promptly fell in love with it. We checked the price tag and all three started insisting that the other girls buy it and sweating and shaking our heads because we really wanted it, but  we also wanted to be able to eat in the next few weeks, although we were dieting, so... And then, we split it: Jane's mom took half, and Janie and I split the other half, which is how I came to own 1/4 of a dress for the low, low price of $17. And after we became all OH MY WORD, WE OWN MORE CUTE DRESSES RIGHT NOW THAN WE DID AN HOUR AGO and less OH MY GOD I WORKED FIVE HOURS TO MAKE THAT MONEY, things improved. (See, I may or may not have bought another dress in addition to the fourth mentioned here. What? A girl's gotta have a whole dress to call her own sometimes.)*

Later, we watched Everybody's Fine, which brought the grand total of Moves I've Cried In to six, which includes A Beautiful Mind that we watched just last week. A little ridiculous, I know- four movies in the first 18 years of my life, two in the last week. I blame the lack of chocolate to take the edge off of my emotions.  But those suckers would get Saddam Hussein, you know? Seriously, next time you're wondering if someone has a heart, sit them down and play one of those movies and judge his or her reaction- the person who can idly munch popcorn through those heartbreaking scenes and not even consider welling up and buying stock in Kleenex? Why, I don't want said person around small children. Or goldfish.

Anyway, week eight brings July. Holy macaroon, it's July in a few days. I keep typing that out because I'm thinking maybe that will make it sink in but no luck yet. Next week is a regular old work week for me, Monday-Wednesday, but then I have big plans to come home to see the Eclipse premiere (I would like to note that while I will watch and even enjoy the Twilight phenomenon, it is Lori who resembles the squealing preteens stalking Taylor Lautner. But it's totes family bonding this week.) So get excited about that post and have a lovely week, Internet!

*I would like to note that we did not buy either of the dresses in this photo, nor did we entertain the thought- these were merely "Ha ha ha" dresses, though I did keep that flowery number on for quite a while, which led to suspicions that I may subconsciously have felt something for it.