Oh, I’m so thankful it’s Friday! It has been an interesting week.  Even though it was a short work-week, it’s been packed full.  Today the girls both have sleepovers – one here, one away – and SuperMan is working overtime, so the craziness continues.

I’m taking the afternoon off, though, so I plan to get in some quality scrapbooking and pool time for sure.

I am enjoying summertime so much this year… which is very different from years past. I used to think of summer as something to endure – endure the heat, endure the bugs, etc. Now, I’m relishing summer and all the unique things it has to offer.

I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite things about summer today ~ and maybe you can do the same in the comments?

So, here’s my

Five on Friday:
Summer Favorites

1. Fresh, sweet corn – cooked on the grill to enhance the sweetness – slathered in butter and sprinkled with salt.  I would eat this every single day in the summer if I could (and I usually do!)  It’s one of those things I find myself reminiscing about on the cold winter nights when we’re eating frozen (or canned, blech) vegetables because there is no fresh corn in sight.                                         
2. The sound of the tree frogs and crickets as they sing me to sleep at night.  This is the quintessential sound of summer to me.  The first time I hear the frogs, is when I know it is truly summer. Some nights, I leave my bedroom porch door open just a little so that I can hear the frogs in the pond outside our room as they sing to their lady friends.
3. All the fresh, local fruit you can eat – watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, nectarines, berries, plums, the list goes on and on. It’s a virtual smorgasbord for me. And since I’m not doing sugar these days, the sweetness of the fruit satisfies my sweet tooth in a healthy and acceptable way.
4. “Sleeping in” – or, more accurately, not having to get up in the dark to get going for the day. I love allowing my body to reset itself back to it’s natural sleep patterns… which, for me, means staying up a little later and sleeping a little later in the mornings. I relish waking up without the alarm clock and I’m dreading August 11th when the girls go back to school and we’re up before the sun again.
5. Lazy days spent at the pool or the beach – although we haven’t made it to the beach yet this year, we’re enjoying our neighborhood pool. It’s nice to unwind at the end of the day with a dip in the pool and to just let your body relax and swirl around in the cool water.  It’s even more fun when spent with friends. 🙂

What are YOUR five favorite things about summertime?

Share them in the comments below – or if you want to include them in your own blog post, include a link in the comments below!

As I mentioned last week, I am not an iPhone user. That is not because I don’t like iPhones. I don’t have an opinion one way or another, actually. It’s more that my cell carrier did not offer iPhones until recently and I was absolutely, positively not going to switch to the carrier that did carry iPhones just to get a particular phone.  Especially since I had left their service years ago because of terrible service!

Anyway.

Just because I don’t have an iPhone does not mean I don’t have some nifty apps on my Android phone. Actually, I love the fact that having an Android phone is a little bit like carrying around a mini-computer everywhere I go.  If I’m bored waiting for an appointment now, it’s my own darn fault. There’s plenty on my phone to keep me occupied.

I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite applications ~ and I’d love to hear from you if you have an Android phone – share your favorites, too!

• Lookout Mobile Security: this is a terrific application that has saved my skin quite a few times. You can back up your contacts, locate a missing device, and even remotely wipe your device if it’s unrecoverable.  I’ve had to restore contacts on SuperMan’s phone a couple times… I can’t tell you how nice that was. I can’t imagine trying to recreate a phone list of several hundred names/numbers that are not documented anywhere else other than on his phone. *scary*  It is available on Blackberry, Android, and I think, Windows mobile phones.
• Silent Sleep: I can’t sleep without this. Literally. During spring break it got accidentally turned off. I was awakened I don’t know how many times during the night because of the beeps and blips my phone was making. *ugh*  For a pre-menopausal middle-aged woman, sleep is a precious thing. Getting woken up for no reason is no stinkin’ fun. Hence, this program is permanently on my phone. I can set the time for the sounds to be turned off and back on again. Sweet, silent sleep.
• Angry Birds Rio: Duh. Who isn’t addicted to Angry Birds these days? I am late to find Angry Birds, but boy, oh, boy am I addicted now.  SuperMan found it on my phone this week. I got out of the shower the other night to find that he’d played on my phone and advanced me three levels. Instead of being happy I was up three levels, I was mad that I wouldn’t be playing those levels! (ha!) It’s crazy fun, a serious time-suck, and way, way worth having on the phone.
• Audible for Android: I love being able to listen to books when I am traveling, especially if I am the one driving. My short attention span means driving on a long trip is b-o-r-i-n-g!!! This allows me to occupy my mind while I drive – or wait in carpool lines, go for a walk, etc.  I love that it saves my spot when I stop listening, automatically pauses if the phone rings (and automatically resumes where I left off after I “hang up” the call) Couldn’t live without it.
• Where: This is another great app for when you are traveling (can you tell I was on vacation recently?) – I love being able to look up restaurants, movie theaters, etc. while I’m in a strange city and the app will tell you where it is, give some reviews and even provide driving directions.

Okay, I have TONS more apps on my phone, but given that this is “Five on Friday” I will stick to these five. More will come in another post.

Now, it’s your turn. What are your favorite phone apps?