It's Friday. The last day of the long, hot work-week.

It was technically a short work week since I took Monday off as a "vacation" day. I took the vacation day knowing I would need a full day to pack up all of the tables, chairs, tent top, left over food, lights and basically get the house, back-yard and garage re-organized.

Nearly a week later..... it's almost done.

Yep. Friday evening. And here I sit. On my front porch..... originally my hope was for some quiet time so that I could visit with all-a-y'all, but I'm realizing that's going to be just a tad difficult.

As such, this is my life:

Clean lawn chair. Mosquito coil smoking away. One kid at work. Spousal unit not home yet. Two little girls riding bikes up and down the driveway "Look Mom! Look Mom!" Flip-flops slapping the concrete as they run around. Older girl telling younger to do it like this or like that. Younger girl whining about everything she's told. Never a happy medium. Cranky son (really, who can blame him after helping his grandfather all week in this weather) sitting on the outdoor toybox, noisily sliding his skateboard across the surface of the porch. Not quietly rolling it back and forth, but obnoxiously, noisily scraping it from side to side. And of course, as teens do, gets angry at mom for asking him to stop.

Okay, he's gone. I'm having a hard time getting over it. Because this seems to be our new normal. Mom tries to be creative in finding a way to avoid making people angry - particularly on a beautiful Friday evening leading into what deems to be a beautiful weekend. It's not as simple as just getting them to bed earlier or making them take a nap. And even if I can get the spousal unit to let them sleep in on Saturday morning, they still manage to wake up hating life.

I know. I know. As a kid I was the same way (sort of - not really that bad). I dreaded waking up in the morning. I never did manage to put enough sugar on my Cheerios.... Yeah, I'll stop there. After all, I've got a reputation to uphold...

So the three kids are temporarily getting along, because for the moment they are all getting their way. Brother is filling and throwing water balloons and the girls are getting wet. So until someone gets a water balloon square in the face, I suppose they're all "content".

I often wonder what our neighbors think of us this time of year. Windows are left open and most normal people sit outside on their decks or porches enjoying the weather - but when the kids start getting annoyed with each other and screaming I begin to feel really guilty. When we first moved here, our immediate neighbor on the right said it would be good to hear kids playing in the neighborhood again - I wonder if she still feels the same way. I do notice she goes for a lot more walks now.

Well, they are starting. I knew it wouldn't take long. And, guess what? The spousal unit is finally home with a fresh supply of wine coolers.

**Note to Seagram's: Jamaican Me Happy! :)