Alex called yesterday "just to talk" during a break at work.  He was in St. Louis, where it was definitely muggy, but he's still having a grand time on tour despite working long, hard hours.  He's looking forward to rafting the Arkansas River during an upcoming day off in Colorado.

And as of yesterday, he's paid off his hefty debt to me (for his car, and that pesky April IRS bill) so now all the money that is rolling in will be his to keep!

The yard looks much better after I raked up enough forest debris to fill up both large cans yesterday.  It was nice to be able to jump into the pool several times, though the water is hardly what I'd call refreshing.  I also swept the porch and deck and then hosed everything off so it looks a lot better.  Amazing how fast everything dried off in the heat, though not really surprising since we're setting all sorts of records.  Everyone is looking forward to it cooling off... in about 2 months!

Later in the afternoon I decided to help Creepy get the remaining dirt out using the long-poled brush.  Would you believe I lost my balance near the steps and fell in?  At least I didn't seem to hurt much more than my pride (remember that's how Tom cracked his rib) and even today I'm not really that sore.

Though that is certainly not the case with my friend Carolyn.  I just found out that her back problems have turned out to be quite serious (the MRI showed severe arthritis in her spine, with severe disc degeneration, and also a bone fragment pressing on the spinal cord in one place) and don't sound like they'll be going away any time soon.  (I only have one disc that misbehaves, and that's more than enough to make me miserable at times!) Carolyn moved back to Kansas at the beginning of the summer so unfortunately we (all of her quilting friends at this end) are unable to do much to help her out.  

Yesterday Tom brought some of his lapidary equipment into the living room.  With this heat he hasn't been able to spend much time out in the shop, and decided to try working in the house.  He says it won't make a mess...

I woke up much too early today so I guess I'd better go get started on getting stuff done before I fade out this afternoon.