turning the page...

most families have traditions and ours is no exception. we started an annual tradition about 5 years ago where we have a bonfire, make a few 'smores, and talk about our favorite parts of the summer on the night before school begins. as a symbolic gesture, when the fire burns out, summer is pronounced deceased (not unlike the olympic torch but on a lesser scale). the challenge is that, even though it gets darker earlier now, the kids need to bathe and be in bed by eight - their official bedtime during the school year. this often means that i light the fire under bright sunlight at six, not necessarily an ideal time for bonfire making. on this particular eve due to abnormally hotter than average summer weather, we found ourselves nestled cozily around the fire in 90 degree heat. this certainly could not be considered "best practice" but the tradition lives on, and all was not lost as the sun began to set on cue and darkness slowly enveloped us, we acknowledged the unofficial end of summer and beginning of a new school year.
in other news a lot has been accomplished with regards to final wrap-up of project basement finish. 2 weeks ago we got a leather sofa, last week we got tv stand, this weekend we got 2 book cases and a new lcd tv (i wanted a 50" inch, the wife said absolutely nothing bigger than a 37" so we compromised and got a 37"). it really is looking great and i plan on putting together some before\after pics a little later on for those who still care. i have one more day of vacation left before i go back to work on wednesday. i'll be around to see the kids off to school in the am and have a few errands to run. other than the fact that i seem to be getting an end of summer head cold, i think that pretty much catches me up. more later.