Fresh Strawberries from the Bolton Strawberry Patch. MMMmmm. I am so possessive of these precious morsels. I chase the birds away, frighten the chipmunks off, throw rocks at the squirrels. Any and all creatures who attempt to eat the strawberries are instant enemies and need to be fought off. My favorite thing to do right after the children have left for school is to go out and pick the precious bursts of flavor and pop them right into my mouth. Totally organic, so the fresh dew and small bits of dirt don't deter me. Oh, what a flavor! Nothing store bought will ever compare.

Yesterday was the last school concert for the 2007-08 school year. It was 97 degrees Fahrenheit, with 50% humidity. Wouldn't you guess that the air conditioner in the auditorium that we were sitting in wasn't working. There wasn't a way to tell how hot the auditorium was, but it was cooler outside. The poor children under the spot lights for an hour...it was an endurance test. There were several parents that had to leave during the performance, the sweat that was pouring off of them evidence to their early departure. There were a few students who had to leave the performance complaining of feeling sick. I was glad that Mikaela was able to endure it. She looked like she really enjoyed the last song. I think it was because she knew that the performance was finally over and she could go home to cooler temperatures and maybe even some ice cream.

Mikaela taught us a math game for Family Home Evening. The boys complained (even the father) about having to play a game. After the boys got into the math game, they didn't want to finish. Ben was the biggest complainer, and yet he came in second place in the scoring. That was good, because Mikaela would have been really upset if he had beat her at her own game. It was fun. I even used some of my brain cells, that I didn't know were functioning, and came up with a really rudimentary algebraic problem to have the five cards in my hand equal "4." I placed third in the scoring (beating math wizard Howard!).

Today is supposed to be another day of record heat. I hope that our power source doesn't have such a surge that we have to do without our air conditioners. How did the early settlers manage it? Half of the homes here in Massachusetts don't have central air. We were duped in to thinking we didn't need it either, but the first summer here, window units were purchased and have been used every summer since then. They are needed to make our life more livable.