Bad and good things...

In the world of orthodontics, I am now green powerchain on top and regular ligs on the bottom. I got too used to no rubber bands and now I have 2…a canine to canine up and down and a back bottom molar to upper canine which have together produced all kinds of pain. I keep bugging Dr.I about the debanding date but he’s not budging yet. Claims he’s still doing some tweaking. Enough tweaking, I want them off! When making my next appointment, the girl said something about it being a longer visit next time so that might mean something, maybe retainer talk? I can always hope!

Lila the rat has died. Her tumors had gotten out of control so we finally had her put to sleep. It sucked but I have to feel that she’s better off now. We buried her next to her sister, Sibella, who died of unknown causes. Too many animal deaths, no more rats for now.

Sky went back to school to start his exciting new year as a fifth grader for a whole 2 days before the schools closed due to the excessive heat and no air conditioning in most classrooms. I have never known the schools to close when it’s hot but it usually isn’t quite this hot here. While on the subject of weather, where the hell is the rain? We have had nearly none this whole summer and have been in a drought.

Mau’s friend, Larry, visited from Florida last weekend. He brought his 2 nephews for Sky to play with. He works for a television station and hooked us up with 4 free tickets to King’s Island. That was really awesome of him and we put them to good use Saturday with FunkyB. Surprisingly it was not terribly crowded or oppressively hot so we rode just about everything. We haven’t been there in 2 years so Sky was finally tall enough for the 54” and up rides so we took advantage by riding Face Off and Flight of Fear. Sky protested through the queue line but wanted to go again once the ride was over. Italian Job Stunt Track was closed all day which was disappointing but, after riding The Beast, we heard some people saying the line was open. We booked it over there and got in line. I know it’s kind of short and seems kind of stupid but that ride is so much fun! FunkyB stated he had never seen me so “giddy” on a ride before. I was cracking up the whole time, it was great! The first and last time we rode it was at Fearfest so it was dark and we rode it in the dark again so that was a huge plus. You go through this tunnel that is supposed to be the subway tunnel in the movie and it’s pitch dark. That was a great day and I’m so glad we got to go for free.

Everybody into the pool!

When it's this hot everyone, including felines, make use of the pool. The tabby is my cat, Tommy, and the white is the neighbor's cat, Snow. I wonder if this is the reason the pool keeps deflating?

The mystery has been solved!

Mary Jo and I were observing these crazy flying "bee" things and it dawned on me. I asked her "Have you ever heard of a "cicada killer"?". She had not. Someone mentioned the phrase to me once when we lived in Clifton during the cicada outbreak that year. I had since forgotten about it. I had already done some research on bees and wasps and found nothing but this time I searched "cicada killer" and guess what I found? Pictures of what is definitely in my yard. They are...The Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp! Hehe

Oh what did I do before I had access to the internet? I have enjoyed learning about them, they really are quite interesting, but I will try to make some changes in the yard to deter them from setting up shop next year.

...and, uh, wtf is this?

I know it's some sort of insect related to the bee but it's like a bee on steroids! I watched this crazy flying thing pick up a cicada and fly back to what I now think is it's home under our front steps. Cicadas are quite large so this was an odd sight and I was unable to get a photo due to it landing in a bush. I just wonder what they are because they are getting to be a nuisance when I want to relax on the porch.

Feelin' hot hot hot!

This is what happens when you send your kid to "Jesus Fest". At least the sunburn proves he had many hours of fun in some sort of a pool right?

Midnight snack

Keeping this guy out of my bird feeders and squirrel snackers is a constant battle of mine. We now keep a loaded Super Soaker on hand. I do love the raccoons but they are a tad greedy and I really can't forgive them for the many times we have had to pick up the remains of our trash cans contents off the driveway.

Can I call you Dad?

Luckily our insurance is covering the lightning fiasco but not sure how much they are shelling out yet. We are still awaiting the check so Sky must endure his green TV for now but we have been able to get Mau back on the information highway thanks to FunkyB’s magical ways and he got a little sumthin’ sumthin’ for me too, which I absolutely love!

FunkyB’s dad was in town so we met up with them tonight to grab a bite to eat and watch the Bengals’ first pre-season game at Buffalo Wild Wings. His dad picked up the entire bill, which included a significant amount of beer. One question: can we replace Mau’s mom with FunkyB’s dad? Well, I had to try.

The Bengals lost by one point. I am still scratching my head over the missed field goal attempt. It was in Detroit in a freakin’ dome for crying out loud. No wind, no excessive heat, no rain, best kicker in NFL? I don’t get it! Oh well, at least it didn’t count.

It's been over 90 degrees for 11 days now. Seems to me that Inga went back to Portland 11 days ago...sounds rather fishy to me. That's it, it's Inga's fault. Her and her Oregonian-needing-a-coat-at-a-summer-soccer-game self! He he. It's been 86 at midnight here, resulting in me sitting in a kiddie pool in the dark. Thankfully we have those waterpark passes because we have used them a lot this week.

West-coasters reunited!

Inga’s visit was awesome. I don’t know if it was for her being that Ohio isn’t very exciting and we didn’t do anything exciting but we really enjoyed the time she was here. I could barely remember what it was like to hang out with her since it’s been so long (we won’t date ourselves by saying HOW long!) but then it all came back and it just didn’t seem like we had even changed much. Inga also brought with her some cooler Portland weather with some rain and of course, the day she leaves, now it’s hot as hell.

Thanks Inga for getting us addicted to the Trailer Park Boys series. I have already ordered some seasons so we can find out what happens next!

We introduced her to Skyline Chili and cornhole…you have to have the real Ohio experience after all. Unfortunately she also got introduced to gospel rap, a sea of Cincinnati Reds fans and a wacky neighbor inviting her to see his band play out there next week that she will most likely NOT be attending. “Stupid ball return!”

Cars suck and ours decided to let us know its brakes need to be done right now instead of the 1000 miles the mechanic said we had left. You know how we wanted more car repairs.