Remember when I was excited about ball season ending? The problem with that is that July always goes so fast, and next thing you know summer is slipping away. We can feel it slipping away….we are definitely still in full summer mode and don’t even want to think about it! Instead we focused on having a really low key, fun weekend. I had to work Friday night, but as soon as I got home we were in summer weekend mode! Jim did work some too, but we also convinced him to go on a fishing trip with Andrew, and to get his non-touched-by-sun legs in the pool with us!
Saturday was one of the great, coveted types we have like 3 times a year. Nothing planned, no place to go, nothing to do, no expectations. I actually told Jim we could do anything we wanted but I was not leaving our property!
I started in on a list I had, things like cleaning the pool, doing laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, taking apart the fountain filter in Jim and Andrew’s hot tub fish pond and cleaning it. Random, boring tasks that require very little brain activity. And I was happy about it.
We had lunch and I was sort of contemplating maybe letting Jim watch some ball game while I dozed in the chair, when we had a surprise! Wrenley, Evelyn and their parents! Evie wanted to swim. Wrenley wanted to eat. We enjoyed a nice visit with them, and Poppy decided pizza should be ordered for dinner. I think he was trying to soften me up to break the news that he wanted to go fishing with Andrew! As I said - do whatever you want but I’m not going. I
Had a nice time swimming, and watching Evie and Saige’s fashion show, snuggling the baby and visiting with Madison. It was exactly the Saturday I needed.
Everyone loves snuggling babies and preschoolers!
Since we only accomplished half the list on Saturday, I set out to recruit some help today. After mass, the girls helped me clean up the house a little, and they cleaned the rabbit pens. I got a pork loin into the smoker, and had the temperature just perfect. Jim mowed some, and then went into work to finish a project that had a deadline July 1 (not his fault). Preston decided he was going to clean and reorganize the garage. Production was happening when Preston came in to ask if I knew what this weird thing was and if he could throw it away!
This! Not trash! This is a swinging cow that my mom bought me. She has some cousin who makes them. I used to have it hanging in the yard in town, but when we were moving, I noticed she was in bad shape and I put her in the garage. I then forgot about her for like 9 years! Today, she got a major overhaul. I think it turned out cute, although not perfect. Evie loves her and helped Preston pick a tree and hang her back up. Not a planned project, but one that made me happy!
We had a fun time swimming and waiting for the pork loin to finish cooking. Strangely, I had a photo from Cameron and Lauren - of them also smoking pork loin! We could have had a contest to see who smoked the best loin, but it’s hard to taste something from that far away! Cameron probably wins for prettier presentation. I was impressed with how good this one turned out! I’ll admit I usually leave smoking meat up to the boys because I tend to lose interest after a couple of hours!
I enjoyed seeing the grandkids, some of our kids, and having a nice dinner. Preston pointed out that there aren’t many Sunday dinners left before he moves. I’m excited for him, sad for me - as he is great to have around. I’m gonna miss him. I have a feeling with faces like these around, he will be home to visit a lot. How can you resist this?
Tomorrow we have a title 9 meeting for the problems that we had with Saige last school year. Although I am dreading it, and would really prefer to drop the ball at this point, it is extremely important to me to teach our kids (and particularly our daughters) to stand up for what is right. We discussed the importance of advocating for yourself, and how sometimes the right thing to do is not the easy thing to do. I will be glad to close this chapter, however I am no fool, I know we will likely face more adversity in life. I am just hoping this is somehow preparing our kids for the future.
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