Regulation Summer Weekend
The few of you who ready this regularly will note that every Monday of late I write a post that says, "gee, I didn't accomplish much over the weekend but I enjoyed myself. Well check off another one because that's exactly what we did.
Friday afternoon the boys and I went out so they could buy their birthday present for Ernie---a new fancy coffee mug/thermos for the car. Oh man they took it seriously.....we must have looked at a million of them. Then Owen, who comes by the Voelkl excess gene quite directly, would wave his hand and say, "oh look at that....let's get him that too" so soon enough there was a shirt, a pair of shorts, etc... We got to the register and Owen said "I bet it will cost $30." Uh NO Owen.....just a little word of advice but NEVER expect to only spend $30 at Target. Then we stopped at Schnuck's and as we were walking in Owen asked if they carried pens. I did the automatic parent hedge where you say, "uh, I don't know.....why do you ask?" He reminded me that Daddy really liked pens for his crossword puzzles so maybe we could get him one. I thought that was a brilliant idea. So we stood in the school/office supply aisle staring at pens. Owen had brought one with him so they would each hold the pen up and look at it then look at each and every pen hanging there, comparing them. They finally each picked one out and it just may have been the sweetest present ever....
That evening I attempted the fried chicken and although it was good I probably should have gone with Heather's offer of my favorite curry powder and done my curried oven fried chicken. My flavoring was pretty damn good (flour, lots of salt and pepper, thyme, garlic powder, cayenne and paprika) but my frying technique needs a bit of work. Not bad though....not bad.....and it was fun standing in the kitchen together watching it cook....
Saturday Ernie and I hit a steamy farmers' market...bought the last of the asparagus, a mountain of sugar snap peas, kale and peppered bacon. We got home, put things away and then we went outside and thought hell....it's too hot to garden. So we went back inside and actually were semi-productive---taking care of some paperwork/emails that had been on our to-do list for too long. Late in the afternoon Parker and Dema were over playing Lego and their mother Linda called and mentioned swimming but I said that the boys were going out to dinner with us. About five minutes later I called her back and said, "uh, did you say swimming?" because I knew the boys would have a wonderful time and we wouldn't have to worry about them saying "when are we going to leave?" So we took our sugar snap peas and asparagus over to our friends Boo and Doug's house....Doug supplied amazing ribs, Boo made wonderful potato salad, their daughter Laura contributed great biscuits and our friends Val and Bob brought wonderful strawberry pie. How much better could things be? We giggled about how long we'd known Boo, talked about aging, talked about kids, talked about jobs and nothing and everything. Then there was a huge flash of lightning.....and seconds later the phone rang with Owen saying, "uh Mom....where are you?" I said, "on our way home baby, on our way home....just sit right next to Leo and we'll be right there."
We got home....Owen devoured the ribs Boo had kindly sent and then Owen and I headed up to bed. Because there was lightning and thunder he got to sleep with us. Even though I wasn't ready to sleep I couldn't read so we just laid there and listened to Rod Picott together in the dark. Owen's new favorite song is Sheetrock Hanger. Leo came in and I kissed and hugged him and thanked him for taking care of his brother. He said, "yeah, I took him to bathroom once and there was such a big flash of lightning that everything outside was lit up and almost looked black and white." I told him he was an awfully good big brother and Owen chimed in, "yeah, thank you Leo." Just about makes up for when they squabble.
Sunday Owen woke me up to say that Daddy had the biscuits in the oven so I trotted downstairs only to be rewarded with my coffeemilk ready and waiting and biscuits with a side of Triple S' peppered bacon. We read the paper and the sky darkened and it started pouring. I said, "uh....I think I might go upstairs and read." I read for awhile as it poured outside, dozed on and off and listened to the sounds of the house.
The rest of the day was some shopping and such.....overall a lovely weekend.
Summer.
the first of the nigella (love-in-a-mist) that reseeds everywhere each year. This one popped up in the gravel of the alley:
the coneflowers are coming alone nicely...they're happy in this heat:
Summer.