food and beach and football and dylan

Busy return-to-normal week around here.

We went to the farm on Sunday and weeded like crazy, which is what is needed after a bunch of rain and hot weather. Whoa. Bob and I stopped dead in our tracks when we saw the mess ahead of us, but when B + B jumped in to weed too, it got done in a matter of, well, 2 hours. Still - NOT BAD considering how much there was to do. We left with about 4 pounds of green beens, probably 25 pounds of cucumbers, 13 green peppers, and way waaaaaay too many yellow summer squash.

So, on Monday I made stuffed green peppers (enough for 4 meals for our family - one of which we ate that night and the other three I froze). I also canned 8 jars of bread and butter pickles. This is my first foray into pickling cucumbers and the reviews are fairly good. They could be crispier, we have concluded. I also pureed a bunch of cucumbers, added water and lime juice, and froze this concoction for a Cucumber Aqua Fresca, which could be drunk as is, or added with gin/vodka to make a Cucumber Martini. I'm not yet sold on this little number, but I'm going to a pool party at a friend's house next week, so we'll try it out there.

Today I need to track down some dill heads so I can make dilly beans. I also have to address the 25 or so pounds of cherries we picked in Door County. Oh, and more pickles -- this time, dill spears. My dad came over yesterday to take some of our garden booty, and I gave him all of the yellow squash. I believe he was taking most of that to St. Vincent's food pantry, which is where he volunteers on Tuesdays. I'm hoping others found ways to use the squash that I just couldn't.

In the middle of this food fun, we met friends at Tenney Beach yesterday, which was the perfect way to spend a hot afternoon. The kids played (and didn't complain too much) and we moms chatted. Nice and easy and relaxing, and we even squeezed in some very intellectual discussion about the mid-east conflict. Or maybe it was about reality tv shows. Well, either way, I was happy.

After Tenney, we came home to quickly regroup, and we headed back out to One's football practice, which is this week from 4 - 6 pm at West High. This football clinic is for kids in 4 - 8th grade, and they start the practice with the high schoolers. So, I sat and watched my earnest, serious first born run sprints, do stretches, and go through many, many football conditioning exercises. And my heart broke a little bit. It feels so serious all of a sudden, this sports life of his. I waved to him a couple of times (ok, I even blew him a kiss) and he didn't respond. I was torn between being so proud and happy for him and feeling sadness that his innocent little life is gone. I'm not articulating this well. Since I started this paragraph, I have processed this with my boy, and he thinks it's totally cool. So, perhaps my maternal worry is unnecessary.

In other news, I had a dream last night that I was writing a letter to Bob Dylan, who was, of course, a personal friend. I was a bit intimidated.

Anyway, we are off to do some errands. A dear old friend (classmate of One) is joining us, so the energy level is HIGH. I need to command some authority here.

what was great about vacation, part deux

1. cherry picking in the rain

2. geocaching event at Peninsula State Park

3. being kidnapped and taken to the Jacksonport Farmer's Market, where I bought produce and a super-cute apron that I'm in love with

4. my late-night date with Bob at the local watering hole

5. my new glass-fused necklace, purchased at an arts/craft fair

6. watching tv late at night alone (did I mention there was cable?)

7. watching the boys (my three plus their cousin) play and laugh and make memories

8. having leisurely conversations with my brother and sister-in-law

9. biking around Fish Creek

what was not so great about vacation

1. Sponge Bob Square Pants marathons every. single. morning. (the downside to cable)

2. the mosquitos

Still. Greatest week ever.

what was great about vacation

1. location - smack dab in the middle of fish creek

2. weather - hot, sunny, and some rain just to mix things up

3. unexpected pleasures - scoring a bike trailer in great condition at a resale shop, a tractor show with a sweet little arts/crafts fair, bowling in an alley where we had to keep our own score, 10 pm happy hour a block away, cable tv (!!!)

4. expected pleasures - lots of great beach time, PC Junction, lots of laughs, euchre and dirty clubs, easy meals, people watching, juicy reading materials

5. lodging - old house with tons of bedrooms and a lovely front porch. "if you stayed here, you'd be home by now!"

what was not so great about vacation

1. having it end

2. saying goodbye to our far flung family members.

Perfect week.

July 13

Summer keeps marching along, and we are in step with it.

Our days have been sweetly filled with the planned and the spontaneous with a healthy dose of outside time. Our bronzed skin is proof of that. Tennis lessons are done. Rugby is still going on. Soccer for three was a bust again this year. We've gone to the pool more than we haven't.

Bob and I expended lots of sweat deconstructing the overgrown flower gardens in the front of our house. It is greatly thinned and simplified. We planted a cherry tree and will plant grass seed in a section that was previously referred to as "the jungle". What a relief.

We are busy planning for our Door County vacation next week. Went to Cosco yesterday. Woodmans today.

on fear

hey,

I want to blog about something that's been heavy on my heart this week, but I don't want this to be about me. I am often accused by a very good and direct friend that I make things about ME. Which I do. So, I'm trying to be more aware of this.

That said, I heard yesterday morning that a neighbor of ours died on Monday afternoon. I didn't know him very well, but what I knew, I liked. He seemed to be a very kind, witty, gentle, smart man. He and his wife, whom I know better but still not that well, were very kind to my rambunctious family during a fairly disastrous dinner at their house last November. (In a nutshell, we arrived 1 hour early - thinking we were 1 hour late. One boy refused to enter the house. Another boy left their yard and went to our home. Another boy came in but didn't talk and didn't eat. I vacillated between apologizing and trying to ignore the child-troubles -- all the while feeling mortified.) I didn't know him well but really looked forward to some interesting chats with him in the future. He was the kind of guy who seemed like he had lots of good stories and witty insights, if you catch him at the right time.

Anyway, this kind neighbor had some health problems but seemed to be on the mend. He ended up going to the ER a couple of weeks ago and he never returned home. I don't know the details - which is fine - but it seems he was in excellent medical hands, but even that isn't enough at times. He is survived by his lovely wife, beautiful adult daughter, and spirited 9 year old daughter.

I am profoundly sad for them. On my weekly grocery run yesterday, I picked up some snacky-type food for the family. I dreaded delivering it because I didn't want to become a blubbery mess in front of them. So I delivered the bag of food, and I became a blubbery mess. I don't even know if any of my words were coherent. I caught the wife as she was heading out the door, so she asked me to knock on the door again and give the food to their daughter. Their poor daughter received the bag of food I shoved into her hands and I turned and practically ran home, crying all the way.

It reminded me of a memorial service I attended several years ago for a friend/former boss, whose husband unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm. I was such a mess during one part of the service (when they played "Knights in White Satin," which I knew had significant meaning to this couple) that I was crying so hard that other attenders were comforting me. You know, that can't-catch-your-breath sobbing that really is only good when you're in a room alone.

So, I keep looking at our neighbor's house through the windows of my house. I think about their grief. I worry about their future. I think how fair it is that the rest of the world just goes on, like normal, when they are going through this terrible, awful time. I want to reach out again, but I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable by my emotions, or, worse yet, make them feel like they have to comfort me. Maybe I should send a note.

This whole situation scares the hell out of me. As much as Bob and I have had our bad moments as a couple, and we've had some ugly ones, I don't want to be a widow. I don't want to raise these children alone. I don't want to go through life without a partner. I look at the funky orange house on the corner and I shudder. That is my biggest fear.

berries, etc

As promised, photos...

Raspberries...

which One faithfully picked...

into this bucket...

and then I turned into my "raspberry delight", which is really chocolate-raspberry sundae topping (quite delish!)...

a raspberry pie! (I prefer the rustic look for my crusts, which is what I tell myself to make my crude crusts look better)

And in a different day this week...

sprinkler time

followed later by a less-than-capacity crowd early at the Mallard's game to watch the ...

flag rugby exhibition!

Post exhibition, enjoying the rewards of a gatorade.

***************

I woke up at 5:30 this morning. I was crowded out of my bed (one husband, one doggy and 2 children made for no room for mama) and I thought, "5:30 isn't so bad. I'll head on downstairs." Headed on downstairs and thought, "gee, it's awfully dark for 5:30," and saw the clock said 4:30. Oh well. Now I've been up for HOURS and have only had a small bit of caffeine.

I sat at this computer at 4:30 and noticed my neighbor's motion light go on. I looked across the yards, wondering what intruder was lurking around her backyard. It was an opossum. Ugly creatures, those are. I am not charmed by them at all.

It's chore day, chez mooncrawl. I realized I sold myself short in yesterday's post about the dirty house. I actually have a method to my madness. I have declared Friday to be chore day, and I gave the kids until 10 am to lounge around before we got to it. They have things to do, I have things to do, and we should be able to get them down well before our park time this afternoon. It's now PAST 10 am - oops - so I need to pry them away from whatever video they are watching and get to it.

this week

Kids have totally bogarted my beautiful Mac computer, so I'm left to using this sad, 6 year old laptop that is hanging onto its life by a thread.

As I've inferred in recent posts, life has been wonderfully busy and full. I'm going to attempt to record our recent goings-on as succinctly as possible. This will be a challenge (the succinct piece, not the recording piece).

• tennis lessons
• wrestling camp
• flag rugby
• playdate and Shrek 3 movie watching with friend for Three
• boating and tubing for One and Two
• addressing a nasty case of Two's poison ivy
• swimming at the Goodman Pool
• swimming at Bernie's Beach
• weeding our garden
• raspberry picking and processing (I made a pie and a delicious batch of chocolate rapsperry sundae topping)
• swimming birthday party for niece
• running through the sprinkler
• rugby exhibition before Mallards baseball game
• Mallards baseball game

Other than wrestling camp (which was last week), all of that happened THIS WEEK. And it's ONLY THURSDAY. No wonder the kiddos are still in their pjs and zoning out for hours this morning to netflix tv shows.

One is sick today. I'm sure it's part exhaustion and part lingering one-day-fever-bug that Two and Three had last week. We are heading out soon to the beach for a friend's 4 year old b'day party. One may stay home for a bit, or he may bike over to join us. It's kind of fun having a slightly more independent child.

Housework is suffering a bit this summer, which I'm perfectly comfortable with. I've been able to keep up on meals (simple, but balanced) and laundry (folded this moring, thank-you-very-much). Vaccumming, dusting, bathrooms ... well, that'll happen on a rainy day. (or not)

Since I've run these children to the ground, their behaviors have been pretty good. I'm sad it's already July 1. So much more to do this summer, and time keeps on clipping along.