July adds humidity to the heat

Institute finished up for good last week. One would think that free time would be in high supply but it seems as though there is always one more thing to get taken care of.  The staff put on a closing ceremonies presentation Thursday afternoon that was a tremendous waste of time. Poorly planned and poorly executed.  Fortunately it was not all that long. Thursday night Leah had to work so I relaxed at home and made a homemade hanging basket.  Our bougainvillea appeared to need some more root space and Marie just happened to have an extra pot. It doesn't look very good but when I look at it I see functionality and can thus see beyond its appearance.  Later that night I noticed storm clouds and so I wandered up to the top of our local parking deck. I was awarded with some great views.  Much better in person though.

The view of the Austin skyline from our local parking garage roof.

Friday we thought it would be fun to go to the zoo.  By the time we got there it was already about 100 degrees and we figured that the animals would be asleep.  The girl at the desk confirmed our suspicions so we left with hopes of returning on a cooler day in the future,  A huge draw for me is that the zoo has a mini-train that tours its grounds.  Very cool.  Friday evening we bought a super classy box of sangria to have with dinner and a movie. It was a perfectly enjoyable evening.  

Sometime the previous week I bought a new set of tires for my road bike and so was able to go for my customary Saturday morning ride. It was great as usual and when I got home Leah was awake! After some time at the pool we went to the store so that I could procure the ingredients for pizza.  Saturday night we had a couple of friends over from TTF.  It was nice and relaxed. We listened to music and talked and ate homemade pizza all night long.  

Sunday through Tuesday were pretty boring for me.  Leah had to work everyday so I was left to my own devices. Monday morning I had to attend the hiring meeting for Del Valle ISD. That was a good step to have out of the way.  It meant that I had a lot of reading to do and a bit of research on insurance and investment type stuff.  All mostly unknown to me, but surely a smart thing to start getting educated on. 

Tuesday was Leah's 23rd birthday.  We had a little celebration.  Marie and Ryan came over Tuesday night for some birthday carrot cake. 

I couldn't even get a photo of the lit candles she extinguished them so fast.

Wednesday we drove Marie down to San Antonio for her flight back north.  That was a super efficient trip but I think Marie was forced to pay for its efficiency by being delayed at the airport for around 5 hours.  Too bad.  As far as I know she is up in Wisconsin now and will be heading to Michigan on Sunday. Hopefully she has a great time and some great weather.

We're getting ready to head out for Colorado tomorrow.  We'll be there from July 24th through July 31st.  We arrive in Denver at 7:40 am and will be picked up by Chris at the airport.  The first couple of days will be spent in Denver and then Chris is going to drive us up to the mountains for the week.  The weather was supposed to be a refreshing change for us but it looks like it might be an extreme change. Whatever it is like we will make the most of it and enjoy ourselves thoroughly. 

That's it for now.  I am sure that we will have some photos and stories to share upon our return from Colorado.

As always, we appreciate any stories and/or photos from the north country.

Love Jay and Leah.