It Can't be Summer Because I'm Not Sweating

So, yeah... it's been awhile. Sorry about that. We'll just call this a quick update before I head off to a BBQ at a friend's house (woo-hoo BBQ!).

My Dad stayed for about a week and even bought himself a new Old Car before he left. I believe "Daisy" has now made it safely to Texas where she is acclimating to the heat. A few days after my Dad's departure, my Mom & Adam's Mom (henceforth to be referred to as the gardeners-in-law) met up at our house for a few days worth of gardening. And there was much gratitude in the air. I haven't been out there since, but it is still massively improved! They got out almost every sprout of fennel (can I get an A-men?) and did a truly heroic amount of weeding and pruning. We got the weeping [read: falling over] cypress tied upright again, and eliminated a couple of renegade rosebushes that had popped up in the middle of other shrubs. Four - count 'em FOUR - 4.5 foot deep wheelie bins full of weeds and trimmings. *whew*

The bat exclusion people finished setting up, so now we just wait a couple of months and then they come back, take off the valves and seal up the holes. Yay - no more bats! For those who are unaware, they identify the major bat entrances/exits and place one-way valves over them so the bats can get out but not back in. They seal up all other potential entrances and wait. The bats leave to get food and are trapped outside the house. No chemicals, no dead animals, no guilt. I'm sure there's another house somewhere in the neighborhood they can get into...

Adam narrowly escaped having to make a short notice trip to Nigeria. The company he does most of his contracting with wanted him there for almost a month! Lucky for me, the logistics just didn't work out. I have filed my request for him to please not go to Nigeria again. I think my odds are fairly good on that one.

Last week, I went to lovely Chapel Hill, NC, for my first business conference - ABSAP, the Association of Business School Alumni Professionals. I wasn't sure what to expect, as the only conference I've been to before was NCECA. It was certainly different (50 people instead of 2000 - membership is limited to top tier schools), but it was actually quite fun and gratifyingly educational. The group has an amazing spirit of sharing and camaraderie that was somewhat unexpected. I guess it makes sense though, as we all do the same work, face the same challenges, share the same goals for our institutions and yet are not in any real competition. We are all trying to better engage our own alums, for the improvement of our school communities. If I haven't mentioned it before now, I absolutely LOVE being able to feel good about what I do.

Now it's back to work, but with the addition of drywallers coming to finish our attic so Adam can have better space for his office! Yay - office! We planned to do this when we bought the house three years ago, and it's only just now becoming a reality. The previous owner had started the drywalling and Adam has done a ton of work up there in preparation for this point, so once the rest of the drywall is done, it's just woodwork, paint and carpet. The picture above is the "now", and I'll post some during and after shots as we move forward.

The driveway has already been given fair warning that it is next on my list.