Summertime

I may not have decided what impact I believe humans have on global warming, but this is just wrong. This is summer, people.

Done

Two and a half hours, two scrapes in the wall paint, one 12V cordless drill battery and one smashed finger later...



Not to mention that we had to take them back down once to get the cord mechanism to work properly.

Grandma

She always had Cocoa Puffs to give us for breakfast when we visited. When I was about 12, I flew to Idaho to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a whole week, all by myself. She took me shopping to choose my favorite colors of yarn for my Grandma-made afghan. She loved Grandpa and they always were comfortable with teasing each other - but only nicely. Her hands knew how to give the perfect backscratch, and in the middle of church she would reach over and tickle my arms just how I liked it. There was always a tissue on hand, or up her sleeve. Her hair was permed for as long as I knew her - in the mornings all she required was a bit of work with a pick to reshape the curls around her head. She always was ready to give us Bubble Yum bubble gum from that drawer in the kitchen. And she made sure to carry a few twenties so that each grandkid had a little poop-away money to buy themselves something just for fun when Grandma came to visit. Her hugs shrank (or I grew) but they were always just as strong. She drove up with Grandpa and stayed with us, in my room. Sometimes I got tired of not having my own place while they visited, but it was good to have them come. She loved music - she loved singing the hymns and she always encouraged me when I wanted to go into the living room across the fresh vacuum tracks to play on the piano. Her smile in my wedding pictures is happy - rejoicing in her posterity indeed. She used to misplace just her purse, or little items. She loved her sisters, and boy! could they ever talk! Some things I found out later, like her very active role in the community where she lived - she was even given an award and written up in the paper. As she changed, losing track of conversations and forgetting the events of five minutes past; she also stayed the same, with a smile for her husband and love for all her family. The last years were the hardest to see - knowing she wasn't always aware didn't really help. Then, in January, Grandpa passed away. I'm glad he didn't have to wait too long for Grandma to be with him again.

One for Two

Today's dinner contained two experiments. First, I tried making hamburgers. I never knew a hamburger could get so small. And black. Dan tried tasting it, but I had to start over with new burgers. Second, I tried making homemade horseradish. I pulled up one of our horseradish roots, trimmed off the leaves, washed the root and it in the blender with a couple tablespoons of vinegar. Dan devoured it and is looking forward to using the last of it on his sandwich Monday.

One for two isn't bad, right?

I like sleep

I like sleeping in, which happens about once a month. I like sleeping when I'm on a plane, or in a car. I like sleeping when you wake up slowly, knowing you are awake but feeling fully relaxed because you haven't yet moved a single muscle. I like the feeling of my eyes relaxing and rolling back into my head. I like Sunday naps, lunchtime naps, and after-dinner naps. The tone of a whole day is set by the previous night's sleep. So I like sleep a lot.

But once a week, on Thursday night, I like volleyball more. Tonight (I mean, this morning) was a record night - we played from 8:30 to 1:15. I'm happy, tired, and ready to get some ... sleep.