Mini Vacation Photo by Cliff Richardson
Lately we’ve been having a heat wave. Not as bad as the rest of the country, but it’s been hot! Like 103 degrees hot. Yes, it only happened one day and then the next was back down to 90 degrees, but 103 degrees is HOT! Without air conditioning 95 degrees is hot, 90 degrees is hot and 85 degrees is just about bearable. The overnight lows were the real bummer, only getting down to about 75 degrees. I get so tired of sleeping with the sound of the fan running, but I am so grateful that the fan cools the house enough to sleep well. I’ve learned a trick, a cold shower just before bed cools you off so that the fan keeps you cool all night. It works well. The temps pop up there for two or three days and then back down into the 80′s which is more normal for around here in July. There have also been wonderful breezes so that we can sit at our picnic table under the shade of the huge maple tree in the backyard and enjoy being outside. In the mornings I breakfast there, with my Bible and sometimes my cats, and sometimes it gets a bit cool.
With the hot weather we have found ourselves more and more heading into town to find air conditioning. Mac and I write better when we’re not at home. I know the housework distracts me, but I’m not sure what draws Mac to writing at a coffee shop rather than the kitchen table. We’ve had to be a bit creative though, buying drinks can get expensive. You see, we finally gave in and bought a 2008 Ford Escape to replace Bessie. Mac gets to drive Bessie for now. With the new car came a new budget and while we’re sure we can swing it, we do have to pick and choose a little better where the money gets spent. So, here I sit at Starbucks without my usual coffee drink. $4 coffees aren’t part of the budget, especially on days when it’s all four of us. Starbucks does have a pretty good iced coffee drink that comes in under $2 for a venti (that’s a 20 oz.) but since they make it up ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator, you can only get it in caffeinated. Starbucks caffeinated coffee gets me really jittery. Not the Frappuccinos so much, but all the other coffee drinks. We decided to take a look into the bottled drinks case in front of the counter.
I was first introduced to IZZE drinks at our homeschool co op. Soda pop was not sold at the snack bar. People had requested it, but the ladies who ran the snack bar decided against it. I agree with them, we don’t need the sugary drinks for the kids. Instead they found IZZE juice beverages. On the bottle I’m drinking from now (yes, I’m drinking straight from the bottle, how very unlady like of me, but so liberating, in a way, you know?) IZZE is an “all natural flavored juice beverage” which is further translated as “Pure Fruit Juice from Concentrate & Sparkling Water” So, basically, it’s fruit juice and sparkling water. A juice soda, if you will. The flavors at Starbucks are blackberry (my personal favorite) grapefruit (my second favorite) clementine (it’s okay) and pomegranate (an acquired taste, I think). At just $1.95 per bottle at our local Starbucks, it’s a more affordable treat.
The bottles are 12 ounces with just 130 calories and zero added sugar. Don’t forget that fruit juice itself has sugars so it does have 29 grams of sugar in one bottle with zero fat and 25 mg of sodium. I know I have seen cases of IZZE at Costco, but I haven’t checked the price and they do sell it by the four pack at Kroger for about $4.50 or so. They were on sale last week, but we didn’t get them, we like them as a treat when we go out.
All in all, our summer is going by nice and slow, sitting back, sipping our drinks, trying to stay cool and enjoying our time with Mac and Emma before school starts back up. Emma will still be at home, finishing her senior year and Mac is headed to the community college in the city two days a week. God is working on my heart as I begin my life outside of homeschooling. There is a job that I can do from home that Cliff found for me, my garden is growing and is an oasis of green in our otherwise brown lawn, Cliff is working hard and the kids are just enjoying being kids. Ah… as it should be.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Drats, guess I’m going to have to scratch Michigan off my list of cool states I’d like to live.
The heat and humidity has been extreme here. Even the a/c can’t cool the house down. I’m ready for fall and winter!
Happy, happy, happy to hear y’all got a car. Woohoo! Oh, my mind is all over the place today, but what stood out to me in your blog is the huge maple tree. Would love to sit under that tree. Sounds like bliss to me. Love y’all!
Michigan is a cool state!!! Winters are not too bad, summers are cooler than the south and spring and fall are just lovely. I should snap a pic of that grand old maple tree and post it for you. It’s one of the few reasons we have a hard time deciding to sell or not. My late neighbor, Marie, was the daughter in law of the people who built my house. She told me that when she first started coming out here from Detroit, back in the 40′s the tree was shorter than she. She stood all of 4’10″, so you can imagine. Anyway, that is the major draw to my back yard!