Today has been rather hellish.

Long saga with the a/c people, which I can't be bothered to type out. Let's just say they are extremely annoying and utterly disorganised, and I have come to truly hate Megan from Parts.

When I found out that dear Megan hadn't even ordered the Part I need as of three this afternoon, and that, once she got around to ordering it, it would be another four days before the Part arrived, I fired her. A/C firm number two swears that they will be here tomorrow, with the necessary Part, and will install it forthwith. At a cost, of course. Sigh.

Meanwhile, we swelter.

Normally, being without air conditioning wouldn't bother me that much. Yes, it is hot, but we have ceiling fans, and it's not intolerable by any means. But
today was the first day that the house was officially listed as being for sale, and I was worried that the house would seem hot and uninviting. Specially considering that most people here keep their homes icy cold during the summer.

Today went okay though, I think. I tried to get around the lack of air conditioning by opening all the doors that lead onto the patio, sitting out there, and letting Sophie swim. That way it seemed (I hope) fairly natural to have the a/c turned off. Four couples came by, one of whom told me that they love the house, and are going to put an offer, and another who seemed very enthusiastic and came back this evening to take a second look. So hopefully my strategy worked.

I can't wait for the house to be sold. All the cleaning and tidying is turning me into a shrewish bore. It also seems to be making the kids rather whiny and obnoxious; I suppose they are picking up on all the tension and anxiety in the air.

The weekend, though, in contrast to today's sweaty cleaning nightmare, was lovely.

Saturday was taken up the climbing competition. This one was here in Orlando, which made life much easier. Once again, Emily and Sophie both took first place in their respective categories, and Stephen got fifth. Sophie was particularly impressive; her score actually tied her with the girl who came second in Emily's category. And she is a full five years younger than those girls.

Emily
Sophie in motion
Stephen balanced
The competition in progress. You can see Bobby towards the left of the picture, with his new short hair.
Kids playing while waiting for the results

I am going to miss all the people we've met through these competitions. I love the fact that the five of us have made friends from all over the state.

We were rather startled when we got home from the comp. and saw the "For Sale" sign up in our yard. Our realtor had said she'd organise a sign, and I'd nodded and said fine, picturing something more or less along the same lines as an election yard sign. What we actually have is a huge white wooden structure that's dug into the ground. It's absolutely enormous, and looks very much like a gibbet. Only white. It's certainly sturdy enough to hang someone from. Bizarre.

So that was Saturday.

Sunday, the climbing team all had free passes to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, courtesy of a dad/coach/climber who works there. There are a lot of interesting rock surfaces there, which we always look at and wonder how climbable they are - well, our friend took us on a "climber's tour" and showed us all the bits that he has actually (illicitly) climbed. It was nice to be with a whole group of similarly obsessed people.

Emily was thrilled, because she is finally tall enough to ride the scary rollercoasters. Pictures below ...

The Hulk and Dr Doom's FearFall.

The Dueling Dragons - this one is cool, two coasters run simultaneously, and it looks and feels as though they're going to collide. You can see the upside-down people - two of my children among them - in this shot.

The Sophie-Coaster (so-called because it's one she can ride). It's surprisingly fast.

Kiddie water ride. The pre-teen set enjoyed it too.

Team members on a water ride

Squirting already-wet team members from above


We ate dinner at the Koh-i-Noor on the way home - yum - and were asleep before eleven. It was a fun, busy, weekend.