Friday Photos

A look back at the week, Monday through Friday, through photos and screenshots.

It was the first full week of summer break for Alyssa and me. What a difference two weeks make- temperature wise. I think it was two weeks ago that I mentioned how wonderful the weather was all week and how rare that was. This week the weather took a turn for the worse. It became hot and we've not had rain since May 20th. Grass is brown and plants that aren't watered daily are not going to make it. Is it fall yet, lol??

I had to walk into town one afternoon to pick up Donnie's car that needed an oil change. It was a hot one...

Ok, I take that back. Perennials are doing just fine without water but newly planted annuals and veggies in the garden would not survive without watering often.

Alyssa lived her best first full week of summer break life. She was only put on the schedule at work for a few hours, so she was mostly footless and fancy free this week... She hung out with her friends at the pool, made messes in the kitchen with them yummy snacks with them, went shopping with them and she spent time with her boyfriend. Life is good when you're seventeen, love the sun, have a cute convertible to drive, have lots of friends and a boyfriend who all want to spend time with you. She worked so hard this school year to get good grades- I'm happy she has the summer in front of her to kick back and enjoy. 

This was my view driving into Alyssa's friend's neighborhood. I thought the flags were so pretty! I dropped off a thank you note that Alyssa wrote to her friend's family that took Alyssa with them to Lake Norris along with a thank you present. 

Abby worked this week but she had some fun, too. She's getting together weekly with some young women at church. She and Alyssa share the convertible to drive but it works out pretty well. Since Abby works at Donnie's firm, she rides with him on the days she works which leaves the convertible free. We found out, not through her college, but just by dint of checking her grades online, that Abby made the President's List for the spring semester. Students must have a GPA that semester of 3.95 or above to make the President's List. Abby knows she had a 4.0 based on getting a 4.0 in all of her classes' final grades which were posted online.

Poor Jacob is decidedly not on summer break. Real life beckons after graduation, so Jacob is just a worker now. He likes his job at least ;).

My sister, who lives in Canada, had a huge work event this week, a gala, that I'd planned on attending. I'd be in Canada right now if it had worked out but ultimately, I had to change plans based on future summer plans for us. My sister's job is fundraising for an organization which provides lunches at schools for students whose parents can't afford and/ or just don't send in a lunch for their student to eat at school. Unlike the US, in Canada (or at least Ontario where she lives) there is no free or reduced lunch school program for low income families. Teachers noticed that some students came to school with no lunch (cafeterias also don't exist in schools in Ontario. Students eat lunch in their classrooms) which was brought to the attention of a group of ladies who set up an organization to provide nutritious lunches to students from some of the poorest schools in the Niagara region of Ontario. My sister is in charge of acquiring the funds for this program, which, with soaring food costs (if you thought food prices are high in the US (which they are...), they are even higher in Canada) requires a great deal of money. My sister organized a fundraising gala that happened this week- the one that I planned on attending.

Though I was not able to attend the gala in person, I was still able to participate in one portion of the fundraising activities and that was the online auction. The online portion of it was fun- I could tell instantaneously when I was outbid and could see the You Are the High Bidder when my bid was the top dog ;). Fun!! I was the high bidder on five items at one point close to the end but then the bidding got out of hand on two of the items. I'm glad I bid on the items to drive the cost up which increased the funds for the organization. I was sad to lose out on artisan creamed honey but at a certain point... it's hard to justify spending a small fortune on honey (even for a really good cause), ya know? 

The honey I wanted and didn't get :(.

I would get text updates when I was outbid or when my auto bid increased due to someone else bidding on the item.

I was happy with what I won and now I have to go to Canada soon to get my chocolate and eat 1/2 of a filet with the $100 Ruth Chris gift card..

My sister at the gala is the third one on the right. They had the gala during the day to cut costs of the venue they rented and the food for the event. Also, since the organization provides lunches, the gala's food was a gourmet boxed lunch. Behind the women are thank you cards written by students who have benefited from the lunch program. Included in the lunches are encouraging notes to the students, letting the students know that they are cared and thought about. Annnd, now I regret not bidding more on the honey- both to attain it and to increase the money that the organization gets...

Here is a link to the organization, Community Crew

My view while writing this... I think the shadows on the wall are striking. Well, that's it for this week. Here's to some rain (which is not in the forecast...) and milder temp and more relaxation next week.