Deja vu summer

This summer is shaping up a lot like last summer:

1. we once again mulched the asparagus bed with more cocoa bean shells
2. and we're harvesting asparagus now (Mike made asparagus risotto today for our Monaco party tomorrow)
   
3. I'm not planning a garden this year, but I'm going to try to grow some herbs on the deck, if the raccoon will let me
4. the phoebe (or her daughter?) came back to build a nest on the cable next to the gutter; after a battle of wills where I tore down the nest every day for several weeks, and she rebuilt it every day for several weeks, I gave up; we'll have baby birds at the front door again this year
5. we're once again hosting a Grand Prix of Monaco (and Indy 500) party Sunday, but we are desperately hoping that there will NOT be a repeat of the devastating Hugo tornado

One difference this summer is that I can't really take a vacation...due to a mandatory vacation schedule dictated by my company for the remainder of the year, all but two of my remaining vacation days have to be used on company designated days around standard holidays, like the Friday before Memorial Day, the Thursday before the July 4th holiday, the Friday before Labor Day, etc. So I get some four day weekends, but no full weeks off until Thanksgiving. They claim this saves money, and if it saves some of our jobs, I'm not going to complain too much. (Plus, we're getting a lot done around the house this weekend.)