the day after a holiday is always a doozy.

let me tell you about mine.

it started out too early, thanks to tennis and baseball for the j boys. it felt like we had just gone too bed after one long 3-day party.

perhaps because we had.

living out here on the 4th of July is dangerous business. things started out last friday night with the neighbors across the water installing a waterslide that twirled its way into the lake. of course, the installation required a bucket of pina colada slushy. for the record, the husband was the first one to go down the slide head first. he is also the one sporting the giant slide-shaped scab on his back.

saturday we actually did yard work until about 4 and then swam over for refreshments. we kidded that the other side of the water is the resort side and we're over here on the working dude ranch. the night ended at our house with neighbors, a bonfire of empty pallets and a celebration of a finished wall, the delivery of black dirt and the borrowing of a skid loader.

sunday was sweet. the party across the water was in full swing, we had the blue dragon dragging people around on tubes all afternoon and we hosted the husband's family for dinner and blew up every bit of fireworks we had--even the stuff we were saving until the 4th. even so, the only burns we had around here came from the sun. it's a miracle.

monday...so...very...tired...must...keep...going...

sigh. the fourth was like ground hogs day. more sun. more water. more boat. more slushy. more freckles. more fireworks. more bad food. but we ended the day sitting on the lake in the blue dragon, calm water, starry skies, watching an amazing fireworks display right over our heads.

ah. life is good.

but today. today was a gentle reminder that life is good but it is not one big vacation. today was cranky, stinky, sunburned kids with lake hair going to play sports in the humid heat at 8 am. clients emailing wanting me to actually work. a brain that wanted a nap. a hound who celebrated her birthday with too many treats and had diarrhea ALL DAY (and even as i type). a dinner that didn't quite work out. a husband who cut the Internet, cable and phone cord with the skid loader. a job that was finished but not saved when the cable was cut. a night spent rewriting the job...

he he. let's go back to sunday, shall we? can someone please turn up the jimmy buffet?