Who Doesn't Love a 104 Degree Day?

so, i went out this afternoon around 1:30, and when i passed by a bank with one of those flashing time and temperature things, it informed me that it was a blistering 104 degrees. well, that blew the 96 degree forecast right out of the water, now didn't it?

wow. is it ever hot. and will it ever rain again? i seriously cannot remember a drought like this. ever. or a "week ahead" forecast with no rain in it. we are nearly a foot and a half behind our average rainfall for the year. it rained, like, a week ago. but where are the afternoon thunderstorms that we're all so used to around here? i'd much rather see afternoon downpours every day (or nearly every day) than have some tropical something come and dump two feet of rain on us in a day and catch our rainfall totals right back up to the local average for this time of year. i hope i didn't just jinx myself there, what with mentioning tropical weather and all. stay clear, tropics! stay clear! ...for at least another three weeks.

so, as of right now, the closing date on our house is all set for july 14. the inspection looked really good (did i tell you guys that already?), and our insurance agent has been out and is ready to write us a policy as soon as he gets the appraisal report. the appraiser went over to the house yesterday morning, but i don't know what he found yet. katy has advised me not to freak out about that, because the appraiser pretty much works for the mortgage company and will likely appraise the house for about $100 more than we offered. at least, that's the way it worked when she bought her house.

hopefully, we're done with paperwork until closing. or, we will be as soon as chad signs the seller's disclosure and we fax it back to our realtor. but anyway, we can't wait to officially own the house and move in and stuff. i've been watching tons of HGTV lately and making plans in my head for what i want to do inside (even though it looks really great as it is). the first thing i'll do is get a slipcover for the multi-colored couch so that it matches the other one a little better. and i want to put a chair rail in the living room so i can paint the walls two different colors. but that might have to wait until after maine and spain. but if i have some free time in early august, maybe not. we shall see.