Life Happenings

The end of summer is fast approaching.  The air is cooler and less humid (did I actually say that in mid-August???; the crickets are singing 24-7; the cicadas are still at it, but not at night as the air is too chilly for them now.  I haven't seen any geese gathering and the leaves are still on the trees.  But, there is a definite change in the air.

I haven't felt the need to whine about the weather this summer and the grass is green, even though it is mid-August.  This leads me to my point of how strange this summer has been:

There has been entirely too much travel for my comfort--I'm a home body.

There has been entirely too much sadness--the health of my mother continues to be not good and the losses of great talent just breaks my heart.

And on that note, I have to make mention of the loss of Robin Williams.  He and his characters have been a part of my life since I was probably close to Aidan's age.  He and his sayings are a part of so many of us of my age and time--we say them all the time without even realizing it.  He always had such great reminders to not take ourselves so seriously.  He was an Episcopalian, as our family is, and even found a way to make that funny with his top 10 reasons it's great to be an Episcopalian:

10. No snake handling.
9. You can believe in dinosaurs.
8. Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them.
7. You don't have to check your brains at the door.
6. Pew aerobics.
5. Church year is color-coded.
4. Free wine on Sunday.
3. All of the pageantry - none of the guilt.
2. You don't have to know how to swim to get baptized.
And the Number One reason to be an Episcopalian:
1. No matter what you believe, there's bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you.

If you belong to the Episcopal Church, I'm sure you've heard these before, but isn't it funny????

There are so many memories of laughter and tears and laughter through tears while watching his movies.  I just love nearly every one of them.  One of my personal favorites was Dead Poet Society.  Walt Whitman wrote O Captain! My Captain! which is about his great love and admiration for Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated. . .and be honest, how many of you reading this never read any Whitman until you saw this movie and found out how interesting his work can be?  An yet, reading it now, I can't help seeing Robin Williams guiding and anchoring a group of boys while traversing the trials of life. . .and Uncle Walt's poetry.

And even Aidan will be touched by this.  His favorite movies include Night at the Museum 1 and 2. . .we'll definitely go and see #3 when it comes out in December.  So much fun in those movies. . .

I'm not sure if the lump in my throat will ever go away.

But, we are humans and we have to move on in life, so I'll go back to talking about the end of summer happenings:

We have had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year.  We have been eating them daily, making salsa at least once a week (yum!) and now we have decided to make tomato sauce!  Just look at this!  We opted for freezer bags of 8 oz. each because we were pressed for time.  But doesn't that look great???

This weekend we will do some canning though.  I'm going to make my world famous bread and butter pickles and Pat will put up some pints of perfectly pickled peppers.  : )  I love saying that.

Aidan is finishing up another week of hockey camp and is feeling great.  Although he is currently on the pink stuff. . .he was fine last Friday, but Saturday morning he woke up not feeling very good and it sounded like he was talking around his tonsils.  So I called the pediatrician and got him in right away.  Sure enough, he had strep.  I think I caught it quick, though, because he was feeling better after just two doses of the pink stuff.

Aidan Strong!

Pat and I have been laughing because Aidan loves to play with our phones.  But, usually when we get them back  there are about 200 new pictures. . .most of them are Aidan Selfies. . .: )

200 of the same Aidan Selfie, actually. . .so funny!!

On another note, Pat and I were introduced to Waze recently.  And we have been having fun with it.  It's really great for letting us know about traffic and where the police are when you're on the road.  With all of the hockey travel we do, it is a really nice little app.  

Here's a Screen Shot of my Waze

The second Screen Shot is the Scoreboard on my Waze. . .and yes, I check this every day to see if I am ahead of Pat on points. . .I'm competetive.  I can't help it.  : )

And here's another screen shot to show just how beautiful it is here lately!!

That is 78* at 4:00 pm!!!  In mid-August!!!  I just love this weather right now.  I could have this all the time.

And, one final Screen Shot, since I just discovered how to do this. . .

This is the cool page on Aidan's Xtreme hockey team.  There is a full team section, but each player has their own section where we, the parents, can track schedules and etc.!  Very neat little site called Team Snap.  Love it!!

2 more weeks of camps and then we're into the new Fall routine. . .which is already looking to be very busy and active.  All good stuff.

Well, that's about it.  It's Friday.  It's beautiful.  And we have an entire weekend ahead of us.  Have a good weekend.