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"It&amp;#039;s been a brutal month or so, let me tell you. Finances are stretched beyond tight due to a situation completely beyond my control, and my blood pressure is right in line with the temperature outdoors most days. I&amp;#039;ve decided I need to count my blessings a little more and stop rolling around in my own misery. Yesterday, I made the 45 minute drive after work in my minivan with the broken air conditioning. The interior temperature was 104 the whole way home! I sweated so much, I think I saw my animal spirit guide and I am now ready to go on a vision quest. Holy cow. But on the plus side, I got rid of a bunch of nasty toxins. It&amp;#039;s an added bonus to my weight loss plan, right? My lawn mowing tractor is dead and in need of (I think) a new battery and plugs. I haven&amp;#039;t been able to afford them, but with this heat wave, the grass has gone brown and hasn&amp;#039;t grown an inch in weeks (thank goodness!). I have found all sorts of innovative ways to make pasta. Not for the kids, of course \u2013 they only eat it with red sauce or cheese \u2013 but I think I&amp;#039;ve made just about every form of pasta a human being can make. I should write a recipe book. The kids are still having fun. They get to go camping in the back yard, popcorn and Netflix are a weekend staple, we take trips to the library and we&amp;#039;re hitting the playground in the early evenings when it cools off. Then they go to Peter&amp;#039;s and get movies at the movie theater, shopping at the mall, dinner in a restaurant and fun day trips. They honestly get the best of both worlds, and I think it&amp;#039;s good for them. Add that to the fun of their summer camp, and it&amp;#039;s been a good summer. You know the old saying \u2013 money isn&amp;#039;t everything. It sure helps a lot, but as long as we have each other (and air conditioning in the house!), we&amp;#039;ll be OK. How do you keep a positive focus when it&amp;#039;s hot outside and life is generally miserable? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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