1. The other day my therapist asked me what makes me happy, and what gives me peace. I forget which one I was answering specifically, but I said that it is times when all four of us are just sitting together talking. I've thought a lot about that this week, particularly, of course, when the four of us are together, in the living room or media room talking and laughing, getting cross and then getting over it. Me trying to take pictures and everyone else rolling their eyes at me. This has been a quiet and hard summer for me. I have yet to hear about the neurologist consult. Some days I'm not too bad and I think I can maybe start doing stuff again, and then I have a rough, wobbly, dizzy day and I wonder when this will end. The boys bring me out of myself though, and make me incredibly happy. I am so grateful for them.
2. We have, gulp, become a three car family. Something I never, ever could have imagined. A 63 bug for Owen, a 2000-something Honda for us, and a 2014 cute little Kia for Leo.


3. Car insurance for a family of four, including two teenage boys? Ay-yi-yi. Luckily both boys are working and contributing, but still.... We will muddle through, as we always do. Leo starting working at Champaign Outdoors (and they are looking for other works---both store and warehouse I believe....15-20 hours or up to 40. If you're interested contact sue@champaignsurplus.com) and seems really happy. He's looking forward to starting Parkland, and has some trips planned...including a trip to Minneapolis to see a DJ set by his FAVORITE band, Pendulum. Owen is busy working at Black Dog, and playing with his band, the Taxi Boys. He also drums in another band that I always forget the name of. He's also starting an internship in which he'll help prepare and serve a community dinner. He got his food handling license the other day and is excited about it. He's going to have a challenging year, trying to juggle junior year of high school along with work and music. They both have grown up so much in the last year, and are so ready to finally start their lives, as they see it. They give me great, great joy. Maybe some of what makes me happy is that sense of exhilaration I get from them, even though sometimes it's balanced by frustration at things not happening soon enough. Whatever it is, it fills my heart.
4. In other news, I had a hamburger. I know, I know...this does not seem like news. But, in the past, the only gluten free buns I had tried were wretched. I had a frozen pizza a few weeks back that I didn't believe was gluten free until Ernie pulled the box out of the trash to convince me. Schnuck's also stocks their buns in the freezer section too, so I had him get them. It's a company called Against the Grain, out of Vermont, and the buns were SO GOOD.Not eating gluten isn't horrible, but I just miss sandwiches once in awhile. We had some leftover grilled chicken so I made a chicken salad and put it on the buns and we loved it. So a few nights later we had burgers. OH MAN. They were so good. Just simply done, with salt and pepper in a hot, hot, hot cast iron skillet. We didn't have any full size tomatoes, but we had a bunch of cherry tomatoes that were close to being overripe, so I quickly cooked those down into a kind of jam to put on the burgers.

Mustard, mayo, tomatoes, and some cheddar for me, Ernie had mustard, tomatoes, cheese, and raw onion on his. It seems a little thing, to be so excited to have a hamburger, but it was so delightful. We went for traditional potato chips on the side. If you're only going to eat a burger every year or so, you gotta do it right. A lousy picture, as it was dark, and I hate flash, but I still felt it should be documented.

5. In other odd food/health related news. I ate some onion and did ok. We ordered pizza the other night (note: not feeling well leads to lazy eating) and they put onion on mine by mistake. I felt no ill effects so I cooked something with onion the other day, and again....I was ok!! I'm trying to be careful and not push it, but I was pleased. Next up, I will experiment with garlic! And bless if you if you are reading all of this as this is exceedingly dull. Ha! Life unvarnished is often dull, I guess.
6. Poor Hattie had to have her anal glands drained again. Poor thing. She has lost a good bit of weight, which has me very concerned. I can tell she feels much better so we will try to entice her to eat. We're going to take her back in two months and see how she's doing. She the last other female in the house for God's sake. I can't let anything happen to her.

7. And then there are my zinnias of course, complete with butterfly.

Oh, and last, but not least: Monday night, August 13, 2018 at 10 pm, the Taxi Boys will be on WEFT 90.1. If you're not in the vicinity, you can stream it online. I believe they are also playing at Friday Night Live in Champaign on Friday, August 24, 2018. Not sure of exact time/location yet.
Recent Comments