Trying to Write a Post that's Not Random but ehhhhh.....

1.  Is it just me or is Hell’s Kitchen getting trashier and trashier?  Last night wasn't terribly satisfying.  Owen and Ernie didn’t even do their Gordon Ramsey imitations.  My favorite is when Owen yells “It's RAW, RAW, RAWWWWW…..”  Not last night though....

2.  A couple of pictures of Amy Rigby from the other night....hopefully some video clips to follow later....  This photo is nice because it kind of captures the whole room....including several men wearing....dare I say it?  sandals.....

photo by Lori Stewart

photo by Richard Hill

3.  Oh, and here are a couple of pictures from one her last time(s) in Champaign.....at Ernie's Club Twang in 1996 touring on her first solo album Diary of a Mod Housewife.....as I told her, she basically looks the same but her skirt is way shorter....impressively short I might note.... photo by Richard Hill

4.  I got home last night, stared in shock at the amount of tree in our yard, talked to neighbors, talked on the phone, talked to my mother, stared at the tree again…..went inside and watched Hell’s Kitchen and listened to the boys and the neighborhood kids run around the field…..I think the downed tree had them all excited….

5.  In gardening news.....as lousy a year as it is for tomatoes they are coming along.   So despite not having much space for vegetables we are getting overrun with zucchini, summer squash, kale, swiss chard and tomatoes.  My cucumber plant is big and green and covered with flowers….but cucumbers?  Not a one.  My tomatillo is also less than productive…..I imagine it would have been happier with a hotter summer.  The Amish Watermelon tomato plant my friend Mel gave me is AMAZING though.  The tomatoes are HUGE, sweet, dense and rosy, rosy red..... Thanks Mel!!!

And my morning glories are finally blooming and my zinnias, cosmos and nasturtiums are making me happy.  Also, I planted lemon verbena right next to the walkway and I like to grab a leaf every morning as I leave for work….mmmmm.......

6.  Last night in the middle of the night Owen started yelling for me.  I trudged into his room where he was covered head to toe in a blanket.  I blearily said, “what is it honey?” and he sat up and exclaimed, “I’m SWEAting.”  I stared at him for a moment and then said, “uh, well….take off the blanket.”  “Oh,” he said.  So he took off his blanket, and his flannel  pajamas (geez) and of course took this occasion to crawl into bed with us.  Oh well….as he drifted off to sleep he said, “I love you more than you even know.”  When I woke up this morning I was smashed into a sliver of mattress with Owen glued to me.  I looked longingly at the empty expanse of bed on the other side of him but damn….he’s getting so grown up it won’t be long until he won’t want to do this…..and he IS my sweet pea….

7.  Speaking of being grown up.....I'm rather unnerved that Leo is going to be 10 in just two months. 

TEN YEARS OLD.

I have a ten year old. 

And his feet are huge. 

And he jumps to answer the phone and chats to people and even does what I ask him to do.  

I suppose that last part won't last.....

And he calls me on the phone at work and asks me computer questions. 

And he's still Leo.

And he's still my sweet pea.....

But he's so BIG.....

sigh.

He didn't even have crayons on his back-t0-school supply list for crying out loud.