... and so summer vacation comes to an end ...

at the most rude hour of 5:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Don't get me wrong. I love mornings.

The start of school means at least one wonderful thing for me ... digital scrapbooking.

I am so far behind ... and itching to create.

That is what I do at that ridiculous hour of the morning.

Otherwise ...

• Anna came home today after being gone since July 1st. She had an absolute blast. Special thanks to all who carted her around ... and hosted her. We are so happy to have her home again. :)
• Tia is nearly up and running for school ... math class still needs to get on track. She will be doing internet school at home this year. (Add that to mom's job list. It was getting shorter you know .. laundry and all decreasing.)
• Jari is working out of town for the next several weeks. Then he'll be home for a night and gone again for another week. Can't get out of cooking anymore when he's gone. No mac & cheese for 2 weeks straight. The kids would declare a mutiny!
• Still struggling with car issues. Have to lay some ground rules figure out something in the next day. The current situation is just not going to work. Period.
• Getting serious about coupon shopping again. Am now online with both grocery stores here and downloading coupons to my savings card at both stores. Every penny will help. If I had ink in the printer I'd print some more! Wonder if I can find a coupon for ink for the printer?! I should total my savings over the next 6 months and see what happens ... all while buying the things I normally buy and not buying things I don't need. That was part of my 6:30 a.m. project this morning. It's really an escape mechanism that saves me from doing something like exercising dishes or laundry.
• Job List coming to our home this week. I intend to retire from dish washing, vacuuming, bathroom scrubbing, mud room cleaning. You get the idea? I'll keep the weed pulling.

Tonite on the way home shortly after 9 pm, this was the view when I hit the top of the hill. I hemmed. I hawed. I talked to Jari for a bit. Then I figured that if it was still there, I ought to try and capture it ... so off I scooted with the camera in tow. The mountains reminded me of a good ol' rippin' hazy Arizona dust storm.