This was the front of mom's house early this morning:

I didn't take a photo before the previous owner made her 'yard art' go away. I wish I had so that you'd know what it looked like. She liked color (the front door was egg yolk yellow before I painted it dark blue) – but the colors she liked could burn your eyes. She had many, many yard ornaments. It's true that I like the occasional gnome, but it went way beyond that. I drove by this house for years and it was a yard that screamed HELLO! The rest of the houses in our neighborhood don't scream.

Today I made the baby blue go away…

The taupe is better. It may change to something else later, but for now, this works. Mom would love it if we could sandblast off the orange paint on the concrete but I don't know when we're going to have time for that.(FYI – my mom and sister do not like a house of many colors.)

While I was out front I saw this lamp post. How can it be that it has been invisible to me for all this time?

It's not awful, but it's out of scale. And the style is wrong. But it's going to stay put for now. Presumably it works but I didn't flip the switch to check.

Steve worked on the last of the electricty tasks today. He's found 2 switches that don't appear to turn anything on, one switch that managed to flip a breaker, and 2 outlets that don't work. And a ceiling fan whose wires are hot until he puts the bracket up, and then they are not hot. The electrician will be coming back and we hope that what needs fixing does not required going into the attic because it's hot here…

Sherman is in the middle of that hot pink area. It was 110 today. We lived in Tempe, AZ, for 4 years when Steve was in grad school and I can attest to the fact that it feels like the desert right now here in TX. Grass, plants, shrubs, trees – many are looking like they aren't going to make it to September. I didn't like this heat then and I don't like it now. The only difference is that now the air conditioning in our cars work for which I am grateful.

I hope that this is not going to become the norm but I'm married to a scientist and I believe in data, not wishful thinking. I'm working on wrapping my head around the idea of living in a new climate. I know that there will still be normal years ahead but by the time I'm way old, I figure the temperatures we are having now may be the new normal. It makes me wish there was more I could do that try to be 'greener'. On a happier note, by moving my mom and sister closer I won't be driving to OKC nearly as often. That is a positive step.

I did go see the new Harry Potter this afternoon. What fun! I've read all the books more than once, seen all the movies – this one is by far the best in my humble opinion. I cried, discretely. The theater was well-behaved – very quiet even. No texting, no cell phone. It was great! Ooohh – I saw it in 3D which was even more fun!