Well, we are in it…the Texas equivalent to the Chicago winter…oppressive and never-ending.  Y’all, it is so hot.  I mean, fry an egg on the sidewalk kinda hot.  I took the girls to the custard shop yesterday just for a break in the madness at home and you should have seen Baby Ella’s face.  She was beet red and sweating like a house on fire.  Woo, and WAS.SHE.CRANKY.  She’s definitely my daughter: needs her sleep and hates being hot.  And I mean HATES.  So I know I’ve said this before, but I’m terrified of the pool this year because Charlie really can’t swim yet and Ella is all over the place – and really, what’s fun about trying to keep the both of them from drowning??  I know I chose to move back here, and I have no regrets, but I’m starting to figure out that I am really a colder weather gal.  I would much rather have a cabin in Colorado and wake up to the fresh mountain air than a house on the beach in Malibu.  Honestly.  I love being cozy.  I love wearing a chunky sweater that’s just long enough it covers my hands.  I love a hot cup of coffee and a briskness in the air.  I will say that aside from these few months in the summer, the weather has been lovely here.  I was able to walk with the double BOB from October to May.  There were those few weeks in the winter that the roads were icy and scary and the schools closed, but most of the year, you can throw a blanket over your kids and head out the door.  Anyway, the girls had camp last week and I was very spoiled.  It was the perfect balance of productivity and unadulterated me time.  Ah, I cashed in my Mother’s Day massage and took myself to the movies.  It’s a glamorous life, isn’t it?  Don’t envy me too much – this week I’m back in the throes of pre-terrible two’s tantrums and 30 questions a minute courtesy of you know who and you know who.  So today I am in my jammies still (yes, it’s 2 pm) and I’m very busy scouring eBay and procrastinating going to the gym.  I figure these are the lazy days of summer, yes?  Emphasis on the LAZY.  I just keep telling myself the fires of Hades will break soon and one day I will again join the land of the living.  Until then, I will dream of Fall and ignore my children, as usual.