del, there's coffee...

Aah, words I love to hear. Aaron is 19, and he calls me, "Del". I answered rather enthusiastically, since I haven't had any coffee since my one morning cup...so Aaron said, "It ain't gettin' itself, Del." Please, I asked, will you get me some. He did. He is such a nice boy.(and the coffee is his from his own stash of Starbucks) He came home in some spiffy scrubs this afternoon, from orientation at the hospital. He went to visit his big sister Emily at work, in the same hospital, and she had the same scrubs on in a different color. Ha, nerd alert, said Mirielle.

It is hot today, 86 degrees, and a bit humid. But it is hotter in Afghanistan. And windier and drier. Benjamin is leaving his little base to go on another mission, so I won't be talking to him again for a while. He called me this morning while I was taking Rosie for her walk...it was strange to me, the old lady who still marvels at cell phones, to be talking to someone who is on the total other side of the earth, is in a hostile country in a war...while I walked through the peaceful woods on my own road.

He is doing well, all things considered. On his last mission, he had only MREs to eat, which he does not care much for. Then he remembered the cans of Ravioli I sent him, and he was a happy boy eating that every night. He has a Sgt. who takes good care of the guys, and I am ever thankful for that. He says that at his "home" base, the guys are personalizing their spaces around the cots by building walls with scrap wood. I am glad they are allowed to do that, if it will help them cope and get through the days, then it is good.

This morning I dragged Joseph, 21, out shopping for the last of the grill items. 20 twelve packs of soda, cases of water and Snapple and Gatorade. And fresh bakery buns for the burgers. He didn't go grudgingly, but he didn't go over-willingly, either. He just went. He will do the right thing, and he will be fine about it, but he doesn't care to shop. He is like his dad, get what you need and get out of there. Me, on the other hand...well, I wanted to look at everything! But I didn't. I did look at the produce section. We had fresh peaches on the way home, and I sent him with some strawberries...he went to the church to put the drinks away and do some weed-eating with a bunch of other boys.

My little princesses do not get bored. They helped me weed the garden in their bathing suits. Camille plops right down in the dirt and digs those weeds out. I gave Rosie-The-Bad-Dog a bath today, and brushed and trimmed her. She looks fantabulous, but it won't last. I know that when she is clean she finds mud first chance she gets. But for now, she looks amazing. Anyway, the girls played in their little pool, and colored, and now have princess dresses on.

Well, dinner isn't going to cook itself. I am making burgers on the grill tonight. And perhaps some green beans. I will also grill some chicken breast that is marinating in the 'fridge, so we can eat it tomorrow at the soccer tournament, with black olives and green peppers and bacon, in wraps. Do I feel like getting out of this comfy chair? ha. The ceiling fan is on, and the drone is making me sleepy. I woke up too early this morning after staying up so late last night, couldn't fall back to sleep, on this one morning that I COULD have slept in because the kids had the day off from school...of course NOW I could fall to sleep immediately...but. I have dinner to make. And perhaps a long walk, since I did no official exercise today. ha. Busy all day, but no exercise.