mattie g

I was growing a pot of cilantro under a light for a couple months, then after a few weeks outside it bolted. I love cilantro, but the bolting thing gets under my skin, so I’d definitely be interested in a slow-bolt variety.

I played baseball all my life, including in college. The problem was that from the time I was about 16, I only played because I liked the competition - I didn't really like the game any more. Continuing to play - and all of the things that come with playing at a high level - really soured me on the game, to the point where I have a very negative, almost visceral reaction to it. I don't mean to be a negative nancy about it. I should have just left that comment out of the discussion, even if I feel that way

True. There's always that.

I'll say it for ya. It's because baseball sucks.

It’s been crazy nice. We’re close to the Fourth of July and talking multiple lows around 50 area wide over two weeks. No need to gnash teeth and beat breasts.

We’re going to get these mornings in less than 3 months, and very possibly less time than that. Dry your eyes and get on to enjoying your summers.

After moving to DC and away from home, I couldn’t really follow the Eagles any more. This was before streaming and all that, and I just slowly lost my interest. They’re still my team, but I don’t watch football at all. Besides…mrs. g would divorce me if I spent hours in front of the TV on a weekend afternoon watching football. She absolutely loathes it...with all of her being. Soccer is my sporting drug…and she likes it, so I’ve got it pretty good.

I haven't watched an NFL or college football game in years. I miss it not at all.

Tomatoes, jalapenos, and basil are all rockin' and rollin'. Tomato plants are anywhere from 4-6' tall and all plants have fruit on them. As long as squirrels don't do a number on them before they fully ripen, I'm expecting I'll be able to harvest sometime around the third week of July. Cantaloupe plants aren't really doing anything. I knew that would happen since I planted them late in in a less-than-ideal location. I'll let them ride and see if anything happens. Nice surprise brought on by the cool weather is that the lettuce isn't showing signs of bolting. The bottom couple leaves on my garlic are starting to brown, so harvest should be in the next couple weeks. I'll plant fall crops in their place in the August timeframe. I need to harvest basil and use that to make some scape pesto! Need to get some parsley and cilantro seeds in the ground. I also want to get green bean seeds planted this weekend.

You know your own lawn's situation better than anyone, but I have a section of my back lawn that burns out nearly every summer if I don't keep it watered (which I often don't care enough to do). So far this year it's looking fantastic, but if we do get hot and dry (as in relatively low humidity and blazing sun) for 10+ days, then it's done for. I guess my view is that until I see a noticeable change in the general (macro) pattern that changes us from relatively mild and wet to hot and dry, I won't even bat an eye. If we get a week out from here having been hot and dry and see more of the same in the extended, then I'll take things more "seriously."

You two make it sound like we're heading into some brutal death ridge situation. We're heading into the hottest part of the year, so of course we'll warm up, but this doesn't look to be all that bad.

I have a couple 16oz Thermos mugs that are completely leak-proof and only require you to slide a tab to open and close them. Edit: Here's an Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002PY7AYS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Didn't feel bad for our older one - sun was just about shining on her lane when practice started. My wee one though...no sun in the little end until 30 minutes in.

I love the backpack. It keeps things cold for long time - even in real heat - and like you mentioned it’s perfect for smaller trips.

I'll take the over on that map.

Before we knew anything about swim team, we used to get annoyed when we heard the beep of the starter’s system during home meets. Wait…what’s the official name for that starter’s beeper thing? Anyways, we had it real rough for those few years. Damn those kids and their fun!

And today’s 06z drops 3” IMBY with relatively normal to slightly below normal temps for the run.

I took the little one home after older one swam her last heat (25m breast)…which was already at like 8:30 pm. Little one was up until 9:30, older one until 10:15. 8 and under practice is at 8:00 am and juniors at 8:30 am. Makes things kinda rough. Ouch…I’m a morning person, but I’d have a few words with you if we worked together. Today is an in-office day for me - left the house at 6:30, which made things tough after my older girl woke me up at 3:00 due to having a bad dream. Ugh…

It must all be variety-related when it comes to hydrangeas. Our NNW-facing side of the house - which gets *very little* sunlight - is awash with mop head hydrangeas in full bloom all summer, every summer. We prune them from time to time, but generally we just let them ride. We have others (limelights) around the house that were more mindful of pruning on the right schedule, and those also do quite well.

By the way…apparently a lifeguard saw lightning a couple heats into our B Meet tonight. 30-minute delay for what turned out to be some wind. Fabulous…

Not a drop. Boo.

We have three different RTIC coolers! One is a “30-can” soft cooler, another a 45 qt hard cooler, and the last is a backpack cooler. I was referring to the many tumblers that litter the sides of the pool once Thirsty Thursday hits! Same here. We’re technically not supposed to have food or drinks on the lower deck, but that’s never been enforced since we’ve been here, and as long as you’re not flaunting it, no one is concerned about adult beverages that are respectfully “hidden.”

Thursday through Saturday evenings, there are more Yetis and RTICs surrounding the side of our pool than one can count...

But to follow on to my post... I do think that being in a lower division really helps. It's not overly competitive, and nearly every kid on the team lives in our neighborhood. That really helps to develop a bond among the kids and parents that I don't think you would get if it were a pool that drew from a much larger area. Volunteering to help has been a great feeling thus far, but I can certainly see how it would become a drain as the years go on. We'll just enjoy it for now! One of our neighborhood friends is team rep, so we get a lot of inside scoop, all of which is pretty enlightening. We've got just shy of 90 kids on the team, so there's plenty of opportunities for all them to swim...though it was pretty funny this weekend when the 16-18 girls breast and fly only had one girl (from the other team) swimming in the race. Our neighborhood is going through a phase in which there are lots of little kids around now (young families moving into houses sold by original owners and the like), so the older classes have far fewer swimmers in them. I'm so used to that now that I can't imagine what it must be like at the top of the rung. We do have some kids that are phenomenal swimmers (one of the coaches - also an 18-year-old - is on scholarship to swim freestyle next year), so it's always cool to watch them swim, but I was shocked when I heard that his 50 free didn't even make the NVSL top 24 this past week. I mean...that's crazy. Like I said - I couldn't imagine being at a higher-level division meet. My older girl (8-year-old) just adores swimming. She's not really competitive and she's much more artistic than an athlete (though she also dances), but to see her enjoyment and growth this season so far is amazing...so much so that she's said that she wants to swim in the fall. She has other 8-under friends on the team who do it, so we're going to see if she's still up for it by the end of the season. Our 3.5-year-old girl is on juniors and is raising hell in doing so, so I imagine she's going to be the next in line to keep us sucked us into the summer swim vortex!

@vastateofmindand @H2O...I do love being involved with summer swim this year, but I was mostly being contrarian with my post.