I have poison ivy.

It sucks. I had poison ivy one summer as a kid, and it stuck around for about 6 weeks. I have some excellent prescription lotion stuff this time, but I can't get rid of it fast enough, please.



I can't believe how fast the month of August went. I really feel like I just blinked and summer was over. I love autumn, but I could have used a little more summer.



The kids who live next door and on the second floor of my building have a fort under the porch over their house. They have an old mattress propped up against the side of the porch with a crawl space. Sometimes it sounds like they're playing "Army Guys," sometimes it sounds like a "Cops and Robbers."



Either way, their "missions" usually involve peeking through the fence at Bella (and consequently, at me reading in the hammock), then screaming and running away.



In an effort to keep them from thinking that Bella is like the psycho dog from that Sandlot movie, I've been letting them play with her, pet her, give her treats. She's loving the attention, but now they stand outside on the sidewalk and call her name until she barks. Why, why, why? The kids in Miami did this, too.



Eh. They'll be back in school soon. The truth is, sometimes I also want to hide in the crawl space under the porch. :)