Before and after the 100 degree days!

For those that don't live in the fair state of Texas, you may be unaware that we have had quite the summer.  Blistering hot, to be exact.  We had 65 days of 100+ degree temperatures.  SIXTY-FIVE days.  Not to mention no rain.  I mean NONE.  It rained once in June and once in August.  That's it.  To say it has felt rather extreme is an understatement. 

Some people buck up and face the heat for the sake of their gardens.  I am NOT such a person.  Therefore, my front bed looked like this:

 

Overgrown shrubs, overgrown annuals, overgrown crepe myrtle tree, and a random tree that sprouted out of one of my shrub bushes.  Was it an embarrassing site?  Yep.  Was it worth working in 108 degree heat?  Nope.  Not a bit.

But then.  Lo and behold.  One day it is 100 degrees and the next it is 66 upon waking in the morning with a promise of the high only reaching 83 degrees.  Today was that day.  Glory, glory Hallelujah.  I headed to the big Orange Depot and got me some pruning sheers and a pruning saw.  Texas is really windy, so it is pretty normal to have trees just come up from out of nowhere from seeds being scattered to and fro.  I had the one in the front shrub and several big suckers in the back yard to tackle, too.

The front bed--AFTER:

Holy so much better, Batman! 

Next came those trees in the back.  They were doozies.  One had a trunk about 3 inches in diameter.  Can you say sore arms tomorrow???

This was a small one.  I had already toppled the big fella.

I am Woman With Saw, hear me CHOP!

This pruning seal sure had better work.  I don't want to do that again. 

I know I could've gotten closer to the ground with the saw, but I just didn't have it in me to trim more after I had the major stuff gone. And I'm sure Kendra and I were quite a funny site after I chopped all the trees.  They were so much bigger than I realized, and the only thing I could think of was to drag them out of our neighborhood and across to a big open field to let them decompose.  So there we were---both of us had two huge trees in each hand dragging behind us, walking down the street.  Boy am I glad to have it all done, and even more so, I am dang near giddy with this weather!

Now, off to clean the house.  Sigh....

Concert!!!!

A couple weeks ago, on our school's Meet the Teacher Night, Kendra got quite the surprise.  We had dashed out to get a quick bite to eat before the night began.  We came back to my classroom and found our friends standing there waiting for us.  Crys teaches next door, and Holly is her daughter who has become a close pal of Kendra's.  They looked like they could hardly contain themselves, and Holly shouted out, "Kendra, guess who is going to the Selena Gomez concert?"  We both smiled and were so excited to hear that Holly was going to see her idol.  But before we could say, "Cool!  Have fun!" , Holly shouted, "YOU ARE!!!"  Kendra and I probably had the most puzzled looks on our faces.  Crys explained that she was taking Holly AND Kendra to the concert!  She bought the tickets and wanted to take Kendra as their guest.  WOW!!!! 

Fast forward to the day before the concert when Crys and I were eating lunch in the teacher's lounge.  I explained to her that I would give Kendra some money for refreshments, but she was still deciding about bringing her own money to buy a t-shirt.  Crys then told me that she was going to buy the kids both a shirt.  Are you kidding? 

The girls had the BEST time at the concert.  Kendra got a really cute shirt, and they had so, so much fun.  Crys said that Selena was an amazing artist.  Lots of times people sound different at their live shows, but Selena didn't miss one single note--pitch perfect the whole time, tons of energy, etc.  I'm so grateful for wonderful friends who give my girlie such great experiences and share their generosity so fully.  We are BLESSED.

Ready for the show with their matching concert t's!

I think this one says it all.  Look at that face!!!!