Today, the heat wave breaks as we turn off the air conditioner for only the second time in the last two and half weeks.

Now that August is here, Anne is battling fluid in her ears. Meanwhile, Todd has started back to work this week. He has a new classroom. He technically has a new job. The junior high has been moved under the supervision of the elementary school. His new room is just like his old one. He has spent the last two days getting his room ready. He is almost done. He will probably go back this afternoon and once next week.

The yard has bounced back nicely with the rain. It has turned from brown back to a dark green again.

This month sees us still watching the Cubs. It has been a rough summer for that. In fact, many times the TV went “click”, but we still are loyal fans and tune in to watch every day. It has been like pulling teeth sometimes.

It is hard to believe but football season will soon be here. We look forward to Sunday afternoons watching the Bears.

Todd is patiently waiting to hear back from NIU’s Review Board on his dissertation research. He has passed his committee, sent in his paperwork, and made corrections and modifications to forms. He now just waits. He has a two-week window in which to wait. Keep your fingers crossed. He is just tired of jumping through hoops. He is just ready to go do the observations and interviews, write up the findings, and get the dog and pony show over with.

A sea of tassels from one of Todd's many bike rides

Anne spent the month working until the early hours of the evening as she had a budget due, evaluations to write, camps to oversee, and programs to coordinate.

Todd taught summer school for the first time ever. It went from 8-12 every day. After that, he would come home, walk the dogs, go for a bike ride of 12-15 miles, walk the dogs again, fix supper, water the tomato plants and somehow find time to watch the Cubs.

Todd out on Big Mound road on his Sunday mega-ride!

As for July, we are expecting it to be warm. Although summer school is done, Todd will be replacing summer school by exercising in the morning and in the afternoons he will work on touching up his dissertation before he begins his interviews and observations from the middle of August through November. Aside from that, we plan on taking a weekend to go to Milwaukee. It should be a good time!

It was a great day at the park with a group of 8th graders

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As summer soon approaches, the school year does wind down. Todd’s little history club had its second best haul of blue ribbons at the state history fair. They brought home 18 superior ribbons! It was a good time, too. He went to the Old State Capitol, Union Station, Lincoln’s Home, and New Salem. It was his most enjoyable trip in 5 years!

The dogs are busy being dogs. Chewie has begun spending his Saturday and Sunday afternoons laying around the yard in preparation for his summer days of laying under the weeping willow. I guess we all have to make sacrifices. :]

Anne is enjoying some down time playing Donkey Kong Country on the Wii. Jesica has been very busy working, seeing her friends, and dating. Todd is enjoying some down time, although he has struggled not working on his dissertation the past three days. He has another meeting with his dissertation committee on May 9. Keep your fingers crossed! He also started exercising again every day about a month ago and has lost 5 pounds of his winter weight. He has 8 more to go.

The Dogs have had a rough two months. Zeus, Phoebe, and Chewie had their yearly exams. In addition, Chewie and Phoebe had their teeth cleaned. They had to be sedated and they were lethargic for a couple of days. Chewie, who had his last Tuesday, is finally up and about. Not going on a walk for three days was very upsetting to him. Yesterday, he got his pre-summer haircut. He already scoped out his tree spot last weekend when temps hit the low 70s.

In the meantime, upcoming events include watching the Cubs, the State History Fair, taking care of the yard, walking the dogs, and riding a bike. 29 days of school are left!!!!!!!!

We muddled through the week. Anne worked digitally from home as she felt much better on Monday. Todd was not at home much as he had three academic team meets. His team wound up in third place in the conference and will return six players for next year.

Jesica is enjoying her job at Cost Cutters. It is a much more stable salary. Anne is started to gear up her summer programming. Todd is on spring break this week and will be dissertating the whole week along with taking the dogs to the vet and going to NIU for a day of research and writing.

We are all set for opening day next weekend and look forward to it a lot. The Cubs will be taking on the Pirates at home.

Our Backyard - the fence is six feet tall

Today’s snow has been shoveled and more is on the way. We got about 3-4 inches today on top of the 15 we got on Tuesday/Wednesday. Today, it only took 30 minutes to shovel. Tomorrow it is supposed to snow some more.

In the meantime, Jesica has a new job at Cost Cutters in Freeport and is enjoying it. She is doing hair and learning some management responsibilities. Anne is gearing up for the history fair and a dozen other programs she has going. Todd has his first academic meet this week at Ashton against Oregon and Ashton-Franklin Center. His first fantasy baseball draft is next Saturday.

The Dogs have adjusted well to the voluminous amounts of snow. At first it was not easy. However, tunnels appeared and the pups have now access to most parts of the backyard. It has been warm enough the past two weekends for Todd to take Chewie, Zeus, and Isabella for walks. The dogs have enjoyed that very much as well.

Not much else is new. Seven days until pitchers and catchers report. We are ready for spring in the worst way.

This month has seen a blur of activity. Anne and Jesica had a good time in Florida while Todd somehow managed to survive at home. Todd has started staying after school on Mondays to help his students with their history fair projects. Todd also went down to the Galesburg area to see his family. This morning finds Anne feeling better, but sleeping, Todd is alternating reading about the Battle of Britain and watching an educational film on it. Jesica is already out of the house. The puppies are warm, cuddled up, and saving up their energy for playtime later today.

Sunday will find us at home watching the Bears play the Packers. There are no divided loyalties in the house. It will be two humans and four dogs pulling for the Bears. Jesica will be going to a friend’s house to watch the game.

February finds us back to a busy schedule. The History Fair is set for the 26th. Todd also has two academic team meets in there as well. At some point, he will also have his dissertation proposal meeting in February as well. After that meeting, he will have about 6 months off of dissertation work. March, on the other hand, well, that will be a chaotic month – 6 academic meets and spring break.