Our expected high temp for the day is 98*, and we're not even into July and August, yet. You lucky Bostonians get only 76* for a high, and Brooklynites have a good chance of thunderstorms with 81* as your high. Tampa is partly cloudy with a 91* high expected, while Makanda is partly cloudy with your high being 82* today. Woo-hoo! Rankin Co, Mississippi again wins as the most insufferable location for family members to be today, except Folsom, La, where Skip is, which has a 96* high predicted, but 61% humidity. Our sogginess will only be 35%, not much of a silver lining.

Ricky and his family have been woo-hooing Mississippi State Bulldogs and their entry in the College World Series. I hope Cooper was not too disappointed when MSU put FSU out of the running. If they were not already committed to their church's mission trip to do New Orleans rehab next week, they would probably be going to Omaha. Looks like Coach Ron Polk survives for one more season. GO DAWGS!!! (photo by Will Smith of The Madison County Register)

Benji and Karen hosted a birthday party for Bella at Giant City State Park Stables. Isn't she a beautiful 11 year old girl? The birthday is actually the 21st when they will be in Florida with Karen's parents. I'll see them Saturday, when they are planning to spend the night with me on their way down. From the pictures, it appears that everyone rode horses except Benji and Pip. Looks like Pip picked out what he wants from Santa Claus.

It is so dry around here that all three of my rose bushes needed life support. I performed radical surgery on them last night, cutting all the limbs back, watering and fertilizing, hoping to give them a fighting chance. It will cure them or kill them, last year it cured them. They were full of blooms around Mother's Day, then completely fizzled while the sun sizzled.

The weight continues to come down. Is it possible that EXERCISE ACTUALLY WORKS? I'm feeling really pumped by the results, so far. If you haven't used the Calorie-count website it's a cool tool to try. I especially like their use of normal daily activity to calculate calories burned, such a common sense approach. It has given me a new appreciation for making beds, washing dishes, laundry, and eldercare.