midnight ramblings....

Yours truly and Paul, way back in the day, in the summer of 1982, when I had just turned 17.

My girls dug up some old pictures and letters last week when they helped Grandma clean out her attic.

My arms were thin back then! Paul...um, he DID have shorts on, they were just...short.

Anyway, here I am, as Monday turns to the wee hours of Tuesday, awake and writing. The house is too quiet, the teenagers are still up but are watching stuff. Paul is still on France time, so he conked out hours ago. Joseph is still up, but is back in his room, and the little ones are with Emily. She texted me a picture this afternoon of the kids all excited because she stopped at a grocery store and let them pick out Lunchables for lunch. blucky, but I guess my kids see kids eat them in school, and think they are all that. blah. Anyway.

Emily and Evelyn and Jon and Char and Cam left with their tents and backpacks and jammies and snacks and Barbies and sand toys, and went to the mountains. Why didn't I try to get in on it?

Not that I have had a bad day. I had to run to town to pick up some certified mail for Paul, and get some coolant for the minivan which has been overheating. Then Aaron came for a visit, we had coffee and some of the chocolate Paul brought back from France, with coconut in it, oh yum. I was pleased that the teenage girls finished it off, phew. 'Cause I totally would have.

Margaret and I decided to get some groceries. The minivan drove about ten miles then decided it was really hot, the warning beeps and gauges were going beserk, so I let it cool down for a bit in the minimart parking lot, then headed home. We had to pull over once again to let it cool down, but then made it home. We left again in the other car...

We went to Target, but only got a few things. A nice hat and a pair of sock/shoe things for my granddaughter, some really nice new tumblers for 70% off, and a much needed bra for one of the teenagers.

Grocery store #1: chicken breast was $1.99 a pound, with $3off stickers on each package. I also bought yogurt and milk and wipes and trash bags and brown rice and coffee and raisin bread. On to McDonalds for a coffee, then to grocery store #2 for peaches and a watermelon and strawberries and some kale and a few plums.

Home, ah home.

Paul checked the coolant which Jonathan and I put in all by ourselves, and lo and behold, we had filled the reserve tank and not the radiator. oops. So much for feeling so cool and mechanic-y.

Our evening was too quiet without the princesses and Jonathan. I vacuumed the couches and the living room with my new Dyson, vacuumed some cobwebs too. I shined the fronts of the appliances, and cleaned off the counters. I spent too much time on my computer, and read some of a new Stephen King book, but it's too scary for me.

Tomorrow is another rainy day. I will go on my walk anyway, and perhaps take some girls to the library. I need to get some shock for the pool, it is turning green again, blah.

I love summer. I love it. I sat here tonight and sipped some tea that Paul brought from France from a friend who lives in England, yum, and I thought about how nice it is no not worry about homework or school clothes or projects or snack days.

I want the days to slow down, and I want to enjoy them.