Weather - Well, when you have a bit o' writers block, talk about the weather. We've had some nice weather this past week, but on a couple of days it got into the upper 80's and humid. While that might not be unusual in California, it's too rapid a change for this region. Today was the worst. Our neighbors across the street held a birthday party for their son who turned four. All of our kids were invited. Boy! Were their faces flush! And it wasn't sunburn, it was just the heat.
Mosquitoes - On the first of the hot days, the weather really brought out the mosquitoes. It was such a surge in population, despite the fact that our mosquito magnet has been running for three weeks. Of course, the first propane tank of the season ran out on the very same day the surge occurred. As I pulled up from work Michelle had me hop back in the car and get a new tank. "Do not pass 'GO'. Drive directly to a propane reseller."
Claire - Claire went last night to a sleepover, but only stayed for the first few hours. She planned it that way. Claire knows she doesn't do well at sleepovers when it's likely her friends will stay up late watching movies and talking. She knows she needs her sleep. I think she gets that from Michelle. Michelle has a timer hidden in her spine that powers her down after 9 p.m. ;-)
Parish Day - Tomorrow is our parish's annual Parish Day. It's held at a nearby park/field. There's an opening Mass (which we'll do elsewhere), lunch, games for the kids, etc. The older kids are looking forward to it.
Wrinkle in Time - Claire and I have been watching the ABC/Disney presentation of A Wrinkle in Time. It was three hours long. Even though it was just produced, it still had a lot of 1970's psychedelic weirdness to it. While I haven't seen the end yet, Claire says it ended nice.
Midwest visit - Because I will have no earned vacation after June 1st, Michelle and I will stay in NH this summer. However, the girls will be traveling to Chicago on June 30th. They'll stay just shy three weeks with a visit to Indianapolis planned somewhere in the middle. Hopefully all the cicadas will be gone by then.
Daniel - We've spent a lot of effort this past week trying to get Daniel toilet trained. As is common, we've had mixed results: some events showing promise, some accidents. And once we get Daniel trained, we get to start all over with Michael. It's going to be a summer of little naked bums barely covered in oversized t-shirts.
Michael - Today a pair a brand new 'lambies' arrived in the mail. I had ordered them late last week in hopes of having some spares. As I feared, Michael wants nothing to do with these pristine lambs, even though these are as close to the original Beanies as can be. He likes his dingy grey, worn out lamb. Daniel, on the other hand, was glad to take ownership of one and consider it 'his lamb'.
Tom Sr. - Our hearts go out to the residents of River Grove (my home town) over the loss of their longest running mayor, Tom Tarpey Sr. He was loved by many and will be greatly missed.
Saint Gianna - Tomorrow Blessed Gianna will be officially declared a saint. I had just finished reading her biography last March. I didn't think her cause would go any further but evidently it has.
Superman - If you have the bandwidth and enough horsepower to stream video on your computer, I highly recommend the video of Jerry Seinfeld and Superman -- put out by American Express. Click on the film canister that says "uniform". Tom, I think you'll really get a kick out of it. If it doesn't work well at home, try it my folks' house.
Flying Car vs SUV - In news of the weird: Who would imagine that a flying car would actually have better gas mileage than an SUV? I knew SUVs were inefficient, but wow!