Hot Fun in the Summertime

Summer, oh how I’ve longed for thee!  Yes, I am one of those people who start counting how many days of school are left until summer vacation on the first day the kids go back to school.  I absolutely LOVE summer and I wish it lasted year round.  The cries of “I’m hot!” and “I’m bored!” aren’t heard at our house.  Maybe that’s because we have a pool.   If you’re hot, go jump in the water.  And, with a pool comes friends so there are always kids here which means no boredom! 

The thing I think I look forward to most in summer is our weekly Happy Hour get togethers.  Every Friday our friends and neighbors come over and the kids swim while the adults hang out and catch up with each other.  There are hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone who comes brings a dish of some sort to share with the rest of the group.  Rain or shine…you gotta eat!  We’ve been doing this for 6 years now and I love it!  Last year one of our friends, John, decided we needed theme nights so we came up with a variety of themes…Margarita Madness, Frozen Concoction Night, Poor Man’s Beer, Rich Man’s Beer, Mount Gay for Labor Day, and so on.  This didn’t really take off so when I saw John tonight and he asked me what the theme was for Friday we came up with Happy.  That works for me!

Two years ago my husband and I both had some pretty serious foot issues.  I had fallen and broken my foot and was non-weight bearing for the better part of 5 months and my husband ruptured his Achilles.  Our surgeries were about a week and a half apart from each other and we were confined to bed for 2 weeks following surgery.  During that time our friends and neighbors each took turns bringing us dinner every night and offered to come over and help us around the house, cleaning our kitchen, taking out the garbage and bringing magazines for us to look at while we were laid up.  Needless to say, that was the year without Happy Hours.  Well, not exactly.  Our neighbors held a few Friday night get togethers at their house and would bring me a plate and come sit with me on the couch for a few hours.  That fed more than my stomach.

This year we’re all healthy and mobile and looking forward to our first Happy Hour of the season on Friday.  We are blessed to have the friends and neighbors that we do and I cherish the time we spend together!