Fun Friday

I had fun today, mostly. There were a couple of rough spots where I had to set some boundaries with Helena regarding our mini-pool in the backyard (it's one of those semi-inflatable dealies where the water provides the tension along the sides of the pool.) Then tonight some friends came over and we all had tacos and desserts - very tasty! We watched part of a movie/documentary, but basically we just talked. Conversation just doesn't have a price! It is so valuable, at least to me, to enjoy intelligent (or ridiculous!) conversation among friends. It's much different than the wholly adorable and equally valuable conversation with my kids.

It's so hot outside. Actually, the last few days the humidity hasn't been as bad, but it's still hot and dry, with no rain, and thus our lawn is getting brown, even with underground sprinkling. Because the water for the sprinkling is drawn from our main city water line, we pay for it all - even sewer fees. Dan's in the middle of digging a well - don't tell him he can't do it himself! - which would cut our costs down considerably. We pay about $6-7 every time we water the lawn. We also have to water all of our other plants daily by hand so they don't wither and die. I don't know if global warming is causing this or what but it's amazing that we're stuck between three lakes and the grass can still get so brown, you know? On the up side, it's great beach weather!

I just finished a book called "If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News From Small-Town Alaska" by Heather Lende. I could write a book on that same theme about North Muskegon, but it wouldn't be as interesting (nor as well-written). Lende is a writer for the local paper - social happenings and obituaries. The book was much better than I thought it would be, and it's a nice, easy, couple-of-evenings read.

Tonight we talked about co-ed sleepovers, and how we're going to ban our children from attending ANY sleepovers b/c there's just too much that can happen that would be possibly harmful. But, I do remember many happy co-ed parties from my youth (remember the MoTab? Anyone???), with a bunch of LDS friends who didn't do anything more shocking than go to the beach late at night and discuss the gospel. Shocking. Those were good times. What's amazing is that almost every period of my life can be classified as "good times" but I rarely realized how fantastic it was while it was happening.

THIS is a long post! Last night I had a long chat with my sister. (Many, many thanks, Andrea - you know me better than I do!). I came to the conclusion that people do change as time goes on, including myself, and that it's only right and good that that happens. I realized that one way I've changed is that I'm more cautious in my relationships than I used to be, and I've decided that I don't need to do that, that I can give what I have and allow it to just be there, whether it's accepted or not. (This part of the blog is really just for me to remember later, as the "journal" part of this whole thing. Sorry if no one understands.)

And because I feel like a big loser without any pictures on my blog, I put up just two of my most beautiful creations. They are lovely, huh? :)