The Raft

You know the little programs you get at church? (Is that just a Lutheran thing or does everyone get those?) You know them - you follow along through the service, it tells you what song is coming up, what page to refer to, how much longer you're gonna be sitting there... And then, in the back pages, it lists what's going on in the church that week, and the following week. You need it during the service. But then what do you do with it? Some people leave it in the pew. I bring it home. I like to make sure I know everything that is going on. But now what? Well, I throw it out... but is that wrong? Am I supposed to be saving them? Should I pack them up for my eventual trip to Heaven? Is it like saving the top portion of the bill that you send in? If I save the church programs, do I show them to God to prove I went to church?

We need to buy a new grill. We wanted a new one, anyway, the burners were not functioning properly and the grates were burnt or worn out or whatever. I don't know, but Jay said we need a new one. Then, this winter, a small field mouse family took up residence. Jay was willing and able to evict the little guys but Abby & I pleaded for their lives so they stayed. Now - we reeeallllly need a new grill. No amount of scraping and fire is going to make me NOT taste mouse poop with each burger this summer. So - we're buying a new grill. Soon. I can't wait. But...

I'll miss cooking over the coals in the front yard. If you've been to our house then you know that the back yard is a slant, all downhill, no flat area. The front has a flat area before it slopes, also. Our gas grill (with the mouse family) resides on the deck, which is off the kitchen, in the back. But when you cook with charcoal, the open flame is a bit much for the second-story wooden deck. Why do we have a charcoal grill, you ask? Because we found the mouse family about an hour before we needed to use the grill for a dinner party (yes, we grill all year long, just not as consistently in the sub-zero temps). Jay jumped to the rescue and headed out to buy a grill. What can you buy quickly and easily and cheap-ly? Charcoal. Anyway - the charcoal grill is in the patio/walkway area out front. We have spent many an hour out there this week. The weather has been gorgeous and the coals have been fiery. Nothing smells better and nothing tastes better than beef on charcoal fire.

Our lawn guy still hasn't come. Every Spring and every Fall, I wait. Patiently. Impatiently. Bitchily and Crazily - I stare out my window and up my driveway, waiting to see him making his way down, blowing, mowing and raking his way down the hill to do the yard. Everything waits on his arrival. I can't mulch, I can't plant, I can barely trim and prune - I need winter to be cleaned off the yard first. And when I tell you that this guy (who's in-laws live across the street, does a great job when he does get here and charges next to nothing) has done every other house on my street already- I am not kidding. It's almost funny, if it weren't so frustrating. I have seen him do my neighbors house directly next to us, and at least a half dozen other houses right around us.

I need to order mulch for delivery. Nothing makes me happier than a fresh layer of mulch on a perfectly planted garden or a neatly trimmed border. Is there a more cleaning feeling than that? We figure we need at least 12 yards to start. Then we'll need topsoil the, probably, more mulch. I love spring.

It's been too hot for April. I love hot... in the summer. Because in the summer I can shower in the morning, sweat all day, hop in the pool periodically to cool off and then jump in my pool in the evening, after bed time, maybe with a cold glass of Crystal Light and relax with my husband. When it's this hot in April, all I can do it bitch about it and keep showering.

My son is a charmer. But let me tell you - he's a handful. He stood in my bathroom this morning as I was showering and just cried. He cried and called for me like I had just dropped him off in the woods and ran off leaving him to fend for himself. Never mind that I was 4 inches away, talking to him the whole time. He wanted me to pick him up. And even if I had, he likely would have wanted me to put him back down, then pick him up again... He is also a meat eater. Steak, hot dogs, ham with his eggs - you name it, he's eating it. And he only has 9 teeth (tenth one's on it's way as we speak). If he could have milk in a (very well pronounced) "bot-tle" and steak all day, every day, with a lollipop or banana her and there - he'd be set for life.

My daughter is perfect. Except that she has taken to talking back to me. When you consider that she's only 3 and she has been talking in full conversations since she was 1, it's hard to determine what is "not knowing it's fresh" and what is "knowing exactly how fresh it is but waiting to see what you'll do". That is a very difficult line to draw. If I say "it's time to brush your teeth and get ready for your day" and she says "in a minute, mommy" then I say "no, not in a minute, right now" and then she says "but I really don't want to" and then I say "I'm sorry to hear that but you have to, now let's go" and she says "I have an idea. I will not brush my teeth today, I will have the stink-breath all day"... seriously. I can go on like this for 98 more posts. She can talk all darn day. And she will debate you until the cows come home. (She gets that from her father.) So, I am trying to put my foot down immediately to end the debate before it begins. Really, there should be no debate. Mommy said it, now do it. And if you ask my husband, he will tell you this has been coming for a year, but I really don't see it. I don't want my kids to feel like they don't have a sya in their lives. They do have choices and they can compromise and ask questions and push back when they want or need to. But sometimes, SOMETIMES, it's just because MOMMY SAID SO!!! But she is so smart. And so clever. And so stinkin' funny. It's hard. How do we reign in our fabulous daughters without crushing them? Will I struggle with this for the rest of my life?

All in All, Life is Good. Vacation is less than 2 weeks away. Everyone is healthy and happy. I thank God for my life and our happiness every day. And, clearly, He hears me. (psssst - God? I am recycling the programs after I read them, I don't just chuck them!)