101.6

That was the temperature showing when I looked up from my desk at my time, temperature, date gizmo thingy (actually it's called an Atomic Clock - gets it's time from a satellite - very accurate, and it's temperature from sensor in our backyard) this afternoon. It doesn't say that NOW, and I don't know if that was the hottest it got, but still ... 101.6.

I find this sort of humorous since today was Ryan's first day as a lifeguard at Pecan Lakes Pool (stole the photo off their website):

It will be interesting to see what he says about it.

(Added later): He came home hungry, but said it was fine and everything went OK until some of the kids played what he called "Lets sit on the bottom of the pool and not breathe game" then muttered "the little shits":

Then we decided to abuse the dog by playing with Ryan's whistle. I believe these special moments we have with Charlie - the 'Let's see what happens when we ... blow a whistle at her, cure her hiccups by scaring the shit out of her by screaming right as she is nodding off (after she landed on her feet I noticed that it had worked!), etc' are what make Charlie, well ... Charlie.

(No, she really didn't like the whistle, bad, bad Lori and Ryan)


Also, an interesting side note (to me) is that not all my plants go to my 'Plant Hospice' to die. This photo was taken over a year ago and the pink little flowered plants, the 'chicks and hens' (I think that is what it is called) and the bonsai tree right in front hiding between the two pink flowered plants are still living. I seem to take photos of my 'hospice' when the patients are doing quite well and not like today when everything is very unhealthy - except for the pink flowered plants - which I still have no idea what they are called.

My theory on why these plants are doing well (or like the chicks and hens - thriving) is that they are all succulents (even the leaves on the bonsai tree are very thick) and since I neglect them horribly - to the point that I rarely bother to water them - only the thick leaved plants can survive days like today without me intervening and watering - which I don't.

I would go so far as to say the chick and hens love abuse! They started out in this pot:

Blossomed in March - about a year later - see how many new 'chicks' we have?

They were busting out of that pot so I transplanted them to a pot on my porch:

They don't scream 'welcome' like flowering plants do - but then again I came THIS CLOSE to buying a welcome mat I had seen that just says 'Go Away' so I am really not looking at having the most welcoming porch in the neighborhood. Why they are in that pot? It was the biggest pot I have and the plant that was in it had died - forgot to tell Ryan to water the plants in all the pots on the porch while I was gone two weeks in Australia. The others are holding on, but look sickly. Maybe I will just plant chicks and hens in all of them - apparently I cannot kill them and that says something about their tenacity ... and will to live - they got out of the hospice!