Happy 1st birthday… to my car! I remembered this date but I didn’t have to because my dealer called me this morning and woke me up out of a sound sleep. Before you break out the tiny violins that I was forced to get up at 9:15, a time when you may have very well been arriving at your desk, please know that I was up till 2am last night because Crazy Storm 2000 was rolling through and kept cracking out booming thunder and torturing me with dimming lights. And then I still had to get up at 7am to take out the trash because, well, I did not want to get hailed upon while doing it. So then I went back to sleep and here we are.

But it’s been a great year for me and the Sweet Tea Mobile and it’s summer again, which is awesome. I celebrated by finally plugging in the dehumidifier and preparing to scrub mold off my basement walls after the last flood. Also, by staying indoors and cranking up the AC because it was 97 degrees yesterday. Vacation is glamourous. Today I went out, though, to get some new pots and pans at Target in anticipation of doing some actual cooking this summer. So I can tell you that one year later, my car has 1,890 miles on it. That is such a minuscule number that I hesitated before putting a comma in it. It’s a little bit crazy, I know. Last month, I engaged the anti-lock brakes for the first time when someone getting off the JFX cut me off on my way to the train station. It sounded like the entire bottom of my car was scraping the pavement. Ouch. Other car update: due to the previously mentioned torrential downpour, my car is actually clean for the first time in months. Sitting in a garage just makes for a filthy exterior. It is fabulous to see it looking so great. Yes, I could wash it, but now I don’t have to!

I was thinking today in the Towson Place parking lot that there is another skill you need to have to survive in a car-oriented area: walking through parking lots. You can’t walk in the center because then cars behind you have to creep. You can’t walk too close to either line of cars because then they pull out without seeing you. This is not something I deal with in New York. But shopping in the middle of a weekday is such a pleasure. Summer!

So, what are my plans for this summer?

Read lots of books
Watch lots of shows I missed
Go downtown more
Cook more

I also have a grant so that work is a definite. As is jury duty in New York.

As for the house:

Put some kind of covering on the French doors (I bought something from Ikea but it has to be hacked a bit).
Get accent rugs for the guest room.
Refinish the coffee table (my real coffee table is here!)
Get some decor for everywhere in the house.
Get an estimate on finishing the basement.
I have a real contender for duvet cover for the master bedroom. I may actually be able to photograph this room and post it, woot!

Happy summer!