Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!

We slept long and hard last night and it was 9:00 before we knew it. That's my normal wake up hour although I sometimes go back to sleep for another hour or so if I'm really tired.

This morning Louis Dean got right up and started cooking up a breakfast that would bring anyone out of the bedroom! I simply LOVE waking up to the smell of coffee! Add sausage and eggs to that and I was heading to the kitchen! We both enjoy leisurely mornings having our coffee, reading, sharing our devotionals, watching a little news.

Today was the first day of school for Rayne.

Every fall I choose a special place in the den for this photo of Rayne when she was a baby.

Six years old and in the first grade now!

Wow! Time has flown by!

When Summer was a little girl, I always made her a special 'First Day of School' outfit and it was always red, white and blue.  She carried out that tradition all the years she was growing up so it is no surprise that Rayne starts every school year in Red/White and Blue!!

Louis Dean went off to work on his music and, even though I was itching to get back to my cleaning and decorating, I first did some Tai Chi.

My step son gave me this DVD and I am slowly but surely getting the moves down.

While I'm still nowhere near being as fluid in motion as I should be - I can see progress.

I figured with my surgery coming up I better work out while I can!

While I worked in the foyer, Louis Dean worked in the kitchen making his special goulash for our late lunch/early dinner. While it was simmering, a thunder storm blew in and he poured us a glass of wine and we went out on the porch to watch.

I think Louis Dean is just about the sweetest man I have ever met and I have had so much fun being married to him.

He's also CUTE and he KNOWS it!!!

Just look at that face!

However, shortly after I took this picture, the lightning was striking WAY too close to home so we retreated.......

to the den to watch the rest of the storm.

Thankfully we are NOT getting water in the house since Louis Dean put in that sump pump, had new gutters installed and keeping them cleaned out.

We went back outside after the storm was over.

The rosemary smells SO good!!!

We went to the back yard and the rain had filled the ponds up.

I managed to finish the living room and foyer today.

I didn't overload the living room this year.

Am I the last person in the world to have a stereo? Louis Dean bought this one for me for my birthday the first year we were married. It holds 5 CD's and can play cassette tapes, too.

I change the music every week and right now I'm listening to Enya as I sit here in the white rocker writing. Louis Dean is on the couch and it's a thousand wonders I'm making any sense at all since he's carrying on a conversation with me about his truck being in the shop. He misses it badly and frets over it not being in the driveway where it belongs.

This is my view as I look up from my laptop.

That's tomorrow's work - the dining room.

The foyer is clean and I'm calling it done.

This looks much busier in the photo than in real life - or maybe I'm just used to it.

The front porch is all decked out except for some real pumpkins.

I haven't seen them in the grocery stores yet but I'm hoping to buy some on September first!

So that's my Monday!

I think I may just have squeaked in under the midnight hour!