Friday, July 06, 2012

Since Our Last Episode ...

Okay ... I THINK Bubbles is going to stay down for a nap while I type this.

And then Bucket asks if she can have potato chips for breakfast. Ha! As if!
(I may be a bit lenient in some things ... but ... no. Not potato chips.)

So, what all has gone on ... Let's see.

Monday, Michael came home early and we picked up (and paid for the repair of) the truck. Back to having two vehicles. Phew!
He took the kiddos home in the truck and Bubbles and I went to Target to pick up some groceries and things.
Michael worked at trimming the grass until the Weed Whacker quit (might have to get a new one. No idea).
And we went out and bought fireworks.
(I don't know that we'll do BoomTown again ... there were QUITE A FEW duds in the assortment that we got. The sparklers in that assortment were pretty pathetic, so it happens.)

Tuesday, Bruise had a dental appointment, so we headed out that away. And stopped by WalMart to pick up the last of the groceries for feeding the missionaries that night.
I made a pudding pie -- graham cracker crust, strawberry cream-flavored pudding, and strawberry glaze on the top. For dinner, we had grilled chicken, salad, and watermelon (I think that was it. It's been a few days).
I like when we get to feed the elders (even when I'm dashing about cleaning the house like a MANIAC, which I had been), because we get to talk to them and get to know them better.
(And, hey, the house is a HECKUVA LOT CLEANER. Which is nice.)
The kids and I also went downtown to get some more stamps on their scavenger hunt. Just a few more to go! Pretty exciting!

Wednesday, we went to the Farmers' Market, then to the Dollar Store (for candy), then to Michael's folks' house (to drop off Bubbles), then to watch Brave (we liked it. The kids want to buy it NOW so we can watch it again). Then we went back to Michael's folks' place (to pick up Bubbles and) to eat tacos with the family.
We headed home and did fireworks in front of our house ... and got to see some of the neighbors' fireworks. And caught a glimpse of some larger fireworks (some legally done by the county ... and some ...NOT).
I had a headache and Bubbles was hungry, so I bowed out early and went in and fed her.
Once we got her laid down (in her bed, even, not just the swing!), she slept through the night. Which was very nice.

Yesterday, Bubbles had her four-month appointment. She's up to ALLLLLLMOST 13 pounds and is just over 24 inches long. Her doctor looked her over and pronounced her a beautiful, healthy baby.
Bruise's Molluscum are nearly gone. Bucket's are working their way through. Bubbles does not have ANY. (And I'd like to keep it that way, thankyouverymuch.)

Now, since I read a Tumblr and I have friends who love the series, I'm passably familiar with Doctor Who. Michael and I are now watching the series together. (And, while chatting about it last night, I was able to accurately guess how many seasons Tennant and Smith have done.) So, we're about halfway through Season One of the newer series (with Eccleston). He really DOES say "fantastic" a LOT.

In other news, Google announced that, come November next year (2013), they're retiring iGoogle ... which Michael and I have LOVED as our homepages (on our respective computers/accounts) since it launched.
So, I'm now setting up a protopage ... which is a lot LIKE iGoogle. So, I hope it'll be suitable. Still, it's sad.

As I was driving us back from Bubble's appointment yesterday, I was hit (SO hard!) by a wave of nostalgia. I'm in my thirties now. And I just wanted (SO badly!) to go back to being around Bruise and Bucket's age. Back when everything seemed so much simpler.
Back when my cousin S and I were always hanging together during the summer.
We'd play in the wading pool at Nana and Pop-pop's. Or get to "help" drive the riding lawnmower with Pop-pop. Nana would feed us fresh strawberries with cream and sugar on top. She'd give us a bath and then dry us off with a hair dryer and powder our skin with a puff. We'd play dress up with her old nightgowns and use her umbrellas as parasols (I wonder whatever happened to the one that we'd fight over? One was a plain black umbrella. The other was [so wonderful!] a dusky lavender umbrella with a white handle that ended as a swan's head. Like a more elegant version of Mary Poppins' umbrella).
I miss going to the Pinecone (restaurant) for ice cream with my dad. Or going to the 76 Station so he could talk to his friends working there and I'd get a soda out of the machine in the office.
I miss the smell of the town Drug Store (it STILL smells the same. Still. I can walk into that pharmacy and, for a second, I am a child again ... a lot of the stock has changed. But never the smell. What will I ever do when it gets torn down or turns into something else??).
I miss the smell of Javelin's health food store (it, too smells the same. Even though his daughter and I are all grown up, moved away, and have our own children).
I miss waking up to the sunlight slanting in my window and the smell of a summer's morning filling the air. I miss the possibilities -- I could read all day. I could go play in the creek. I could go to Nana's house. I could maybe go to S's house. Or play down the street with Heather or the Brinkerdinks (not their real last name ... but one of the Bishopric members later? He couldn't pronounce most people's names. And we always got a chuckle out of some of the mistakes. Strangely enough, he always got my name PERFECT). ... I could walk down to the elementary school and play on the playground ... I miss all of that.

And, there I was, driving home and missing everything SO. MUCH.
I was fighting back tears for a minute or so.

I wish I knew of a way to bottle up those scents. I'd bottle up the drug store. And the health food store. And Nana and Pop-pop's attic (since it was always SO SPECIAL to get to play up there. Even with the threat of rats).
... At least, with the carnation-scented oil I do have, I get to smell a bit of my childhood, a patch of carnations that grew in our yard. They always smelled AMAZING. These little pink flowers with dark magenta stripes ... all spicy and lovely-smelling. Carnations from the florist never smell nearly as nice. Which is such a disappointment. If you haven't smelled a carnation NOT from the florist's, you're so missing out.
You should change that. Post haste.

What a tangent ... but, well, isn't that why you read this blog?

Regardless, I am missing family that have left me behind shuffled off this mortal coil before I was ready to let them go.
I'm not able to remember their voices as much as I want to.(Oh, but when Grandpa C's brother talks? It's so close. And ... well, I forget how much I miss hearing Grandpa's voice. Even though it's only been a few years.) I do have a video I made (back when I was SO MUCH MORE ANNOYING. Seriously, it's a testament of love that I have ANY friends or family who put up with me back then) with Pop-pop talking a little in it. ... I don't have anything with Grandma Darlene's voice, though. ... And it's been almost 16 years since I saw her last.

Okay, I need to wrap this up. I should eat breakfast. And make sure that we have something ready for lunch. And Bubbles is waking up again (after either filling her diaper or just passing a ton of gas).
... And I have a cat on my lap. I shouldn't go anywhere. ... But I do have things that need doing. ... So I'll get them done after I have some time with my sweet, purring Freyja-cat.

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