1.  Lo, it’s Friday again. Who’s ready for the weekend?

2.  I’m ready for…well, I guess I’m ready for a pretty basic Saturday and Sunday.

3.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Basic works.

4.  We had excitement around here yesterday when they issued a boil water advisory. There’s three words I never wanted to hear at home.

5.  Turns out when a water sample tests positive for E. coli BOOM goes the notice.

6.  And that’s as it should be. I think my only question is timing. Reports say E. coli bacteria were found during “routine sampling” on Wednesday.

7.  So does that mean the sample was taken on Wednesday but tested on Thursday? That’s weird. Why would they wait a day?

8.  But it doesn’t make sense that there’d be a positive result on Wednesday then they’d wait twenty-four hours to issue the boil water advisory.

9.  So yeah, I’ve got questions about timing. Thankfully google answered all my questions about what a “boil advisory” means.

10.  Cue a mad dash around my house to empty water dishes before beginning a marathon water boiling session.

11.  They say things should be back on track in two days — fingers crossed because cooking dinner last night was an adventure in culinary acrobatics.

12.  Although to be fair dinner turned out pretty awesome. Cajun tilapia, baked potato, and parmesan broccoli in the air fryer. Yum.

13.  My grocery shopping schedule has been all messed up. I ended up in the store on Senior day again this week and lawd, it’s a thing.

14.  I must have missed the memo because there were A TON of people in that store, definitively not all seniors, with a handful moseyed up to the bar having a beer. It was mind boggling.

15.  I got my produce and booked it out of there. I’ll grab a drink at home, thanks.

16.  So last weekend a friend heard about my knee trouble and offered to tape me. I’ll be honest, I didn’t take her up on it at first because…well, because “taping” didn’t sound terribly helpful.

17.  Considering how smart this particular friend is about body work I should have known better.

18.  She did this KT tape thing that’s been amazing. It’s been four days now and each day feels a little better than the last.

19.  Amen, hallelujah, looks like we’ll be stocking up on some tape.

20.  I tried making Sticky Asian Chicken this week. It’s always a plus when something this simple turns out delicious.

21.  Because my oven’s still on the fritz I pan fried boneless skinless chicken thighs — it wasn’t difficult per se but I had to cook them in two batches so it was more time consuming than I’d prefer.

22.  Next time I’ll try either baking or broiling. I might try pieces with skin, too, to get that crispy glazed texture. Mmm.

23.  Bear had a braiding appointment this week that logged her six hours in the chair. SIX HOURS, people.

24.  Do you know what six hours gets you? It got Bear a head full of gorgeous braids; it got me a numb butt. Good times.

25.  I’ve been gently nudging the kids to think about their summer assignments.

26.  Four years ago this looked like setting deadlines, making calendars, that sort of thing; these days I take a different approach.

27.  I encourage them to plan ahead but if they end up torturing themselves by waiting until the last minute so be it.

27.  Natural consequences, baby. Live or die by them.

28.  It’s been a month since I’ve looked at water and I find that’s about my limit before the squirrelly-ness sets in.

29.  I want to watch the herons and see boat wakes ripple across the water.

30.  I miss feeding fish at the dock.

31.  The cardinals and hummingbirds are a delight. I even love the raccoon who waddles around at night looking for food.

32.  And coffee on the screened in porch before the day heats up? [chef’s kiss]

33.  It’s the simple things.

34.  Maybe if I get someplace quiet, someplace where I don’t feel the pull of undone chores or local drama I can center myself a bit.

35.  That’s the hope anyway.

36.  We’re halfway through July which means it’s about the time I start thinking about All Those Projects I intended to do this summer.

37.  I was gonna break the house down room by room and, well, fix it. Straighten, organize, clean out, clean up — whatever was needed, just get it done. Still hasn’t happened.

38.  I played with the idea of restarting Spanish on DuoLingo. That hasn’t happened either.

39.  I’ve managed to finish exactly one book this summer. Three others are in various stages of being read, another two are on the shelf waiting for their turn, and one’s sitting in the bullpen that I started eighteen months ago and just can’t seem to reopen. Have you ever had a book like that? It’s haunting me.

40.  Maybe I’ll take some of that lake time to dive into books. For sure some will be spent coloring because ahhhh. Happy Friday, everyone!