Funny how the mint, lemon balm, and the garlic mustard that's invade yards around here all sound so good, but are very invasive.

Wade-you definitely will be.

Paula-it is getting easier to ignore those email marketings. The 1st few years I would burst into tears at card shops around Father's day.

Gabriella-LOL! Sorry to give you the scare. Kali is very much alive & kicking. She's a real cutie.

Lori-good plan – treasure the moments.

Sorry about your losing "custody" of the pup. It's an empty spot, isn't it? And I'm very sorry Father's Day made you sad. I'm clinging like Saran Wrap to my parents these days as I watch them get older.

Wade, has summer officially started for you? If so, yippee! Time to get those queries out (actually, two weeks ago would have been ideal). You of all people should have no trouble getting a business going.

Paula, that sucks. I think marketing has become so saturated around these "holidays" that it's a turn off even if your parents are still around. I'm tired of being pressured to buy crap they don't want.

Bad eggs! Ewww. That would ruin a weekend! Hope you're feeling better.

Gabriella, if only that mint would spread! We have lemon balm, which is the gardeners version of kudzu vine, I swear. I've ripped out tons of it, yet there it is, reseeding every damn place I look. Even the marjoram went nuts on me! I'm not averse to hacking it down to size.

But mint….ah, mint juleps. Minted sauces. Mint in my water….. 🙂

The Franklinia is getting a nice gravel base for drainage, Devon. We're not going to lose it if we can help it.

Congrats on the gig! And much luck on the light bulb fix — mine was a piece of cake. Five minutes. I hope it's the same for yours.

I just landed a six week article gig — one per week — at a rate I'm happy with, starting this week. Waiting for a ghost writing contract/deposit to arrive, and marketing my new release and upcoming workshops. Also, ran into technical difficulties getting my short story release out, but working with webhost to fix that –should be up late today.

Thanks for the info on the light — will look into it.

Be careful of that mint, Lori. One of our neighbors planted it in our yard, and it took over. We finally pulled it all out because it choked everything else to death.

Cathy, at the beginning, I thought your sister's dog had died. Thank goodness it just went home! I, too, know the joy of exuberant dog love. 🙂

Paula, I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to this week's heat. My poor beast doesn't tolerate heat well at all. But at least he starts the day cooling off in the lake. That helps–for a while.

I also have one more busy week, and then it's a little less of a hectic pace. But I refuse to complain about work. As Cathy said, it beats the alternative.

I actually thought Father's Day was the week before, so yesterday when I saw lots of Happy Father's Day messages on Twitter I realized why almost no one was returning calls or e-mails yesterday, LOL.

My weekend was slow. It was too hot to paint or do yardwork Saturday, and I wasn't feeling 100% (working theory: the egg I used in the batch of veggie burgers I made Friday may have gone bad when the fridge thermostat was broken). Late Saturday afternoon I watched Bringing up Baby, watched a little HGTV, then watched The Prestige…I might write about TV but I'm not used to watching it for most of a day. It was so boring. I didn't accomplish a thing – not acceptable for someone raised with the Scandinavian work ethic.

Sunday I felt a little better, but not quite 100%, but I did laundry, read the paper, called an elderly family friend who I try to check up on at least once a week, started reading a book, changed the sheets. Little things, but at least I felt as if I accomplished something.

I'm planning for a light workload for a few days. I have one article to write this week, but the next three days will be physically and mentally challening – forecast highs are 97, 95 and 93, with increasing humidity. The "cool off" will be 87 on Thursday and Friday. Not fun without any AC. I'll manage – been through longer and hotter heatwaves – but I hope my dog can cope. She's had AC her entire life and is, well, a bit of a princess about creature comforts… I know I get grumpy with it's hot and I can't cool off, so I can imagine how grouchy Doggie Lily will be!

The weekend was emotional. First, our dog-sitting for our favorite family member, Kali (my sister's family dog,) came to an end. There's something so special about opening a door and being greeted by an excited, jumping up and down, living being – no matter how short a time you're gone. 🙂

Then Father's Day had me missing my dad who passed in 2007. It doesn't help that the weeks leading up to has your Inbox flooded with don't forget Dad marketings.

This week is busy finishing up two case studies, starting another, ghostwriting an article, working on a white paper, and whatever else I'm forgetting at the moment.

Beats the alternative. Have a great week, everyone!