July

July is usually my favorite month. It is full of birthdays, including mine and Augi's. I can't say, however, that this July has been great. In fact, I have been pretty miserable. Christian calls me "mean" regularly. I don't want to be mean. I am just in a funk that isn't passing as quickly as I'd like. Bear with me. It will pass, but I need time.
There are plenty of things to make me smile lately, though:

• Grandma Mimi is here. It is really wonderful having her. We haven't done a whole lot of exciting things, but just having her around is great. The kids have settled right in to enjoying grandma attention. I don't even want to think about what they are going to do when she leaves.
• Chris and I get to have a date night tomorrow for my birthday.
• Augi will have her first slumber party with 5 friends this week.
• Emmett told me the other night, after getting in trouble for monkeying around before bed, "Mom, I love you so much. You are my very very very best friend. Even when you are mean." He knows all of the tricks to get mom to snuggle him. And, he apparently hears his dad call me mean.
• Augi started at a theatre camp today. The verdict? "I love it!!!!" 
• The kids finally finished school on Friday for the summer. Now to entertain them for 7 weeks. Ug. 
• Nanny has her 15th birthday coming up soon!
• It has been over 2 months since my mom left. I miss her more each day. I am now able to appreciate what she was rather than being resentful for what she couldn't be. I was getting really peeved because I hadn't dreamt about her. But, I finally did last week. She was just fine in my dreams. Happy and healthy. 
• Home Depot needs a spot on my blog. They really have been an amazing company. Last year the employee's raised money and my mom was able to go through treatment without working for several months. Then, with the help of Tina, we applied for a grant to help with her funeral costs. They covered 1/2 of my expenses. It is really amazing. 
• We have done some fun things, including going to a Vintage rally in Sudbury to see vintage cars, buses, tractors, and even gypsy caravans (I am obsessed with learning about the gypsies, aka "travellers" here in the UK). It was a fab event.
• Pictures will come, but we finally made it to Stonehenge, Avebury, and back to Oxford. 

Well, I swore I would go to bed on time tonight. No time for pics. I'll post again soon.