Here I am!

Well, I did it again.....it's been about a month since I posted anything. I'm sorry dear friends. I have no real excuse....just didn't have much to say. Let me catch you up on things here. We took time to go to Grandma's house the middle of June. I hate the drive to Grandma's.....roughly 6 hours. But I love visiting my in-laws. They're wonderful folks. This time was a little harder than normal though. The girls that we had as foster girls for 1/2 a year were not there much (back with their mother) so Little Critter was lonely for them. Budget was tight so not much shopping for me to get to do....bummer! And that means there's not much to do but watch the grass grow and sit in front of the TV with Grandma. ARGGGGGG. Usually I take plenty of books, handwork and movies for us to watch, but silly me left the bag with all that stuff in it here at the house while we were there. And since my in-laws are not Torah observant, there was the usual difficulties with Shabbat and such. But we're used to that. All in all, it was a nice visit. We were there in time for Grandma's birthday, and one of the sisters-in-law had a big party for her at sister's house. There was food out the bazoo and we were at her private pond so it was beautiful. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. ARGGGGH again!
Little Critter was great with his 4 yo cousin...he loaded her fishing pole with about eleventy million worms and 'helped' her fish for hours. It was so funny. He put the worm on the hook, hand her the pole, she'd hold it about three minutes then hand it back and run off. When he'd catch a fish, he'd yell "Gabby, you caught a fish!" She'd come running while he'd reel the fish up to the bank, and then hand her the pole to pull the fish onto the bank. She'd show everyone her fish, then hand it all back to Little Critter to take the fish off the hook and throw it back so they could repeat the process. They did this for about 3 hours!!!!!!! It was SO cute!!!!!

Fourth of July (a couple weeks later) we fixed burgers and dogs for Papa. We also took some home made ice cream that Little Critter made. (Fresh cherry! Yumm!!!!) While eating, we watched the movie 1776. I LOVE that show!!!!!  Then met Papa and Brother in law at the park for the city fireworks. Due to rain, there was no music this year which was disheartening. But the fireworks were spectacular!!!!!!  Then we went home and watched the DC fireworks with the Boston Pops on TV. The fireworks were great, but I was totally bummed when they didn't have the Boston Pops play the 1812 overture for the finale. They've always done that and it just makes your heart soar! This time they used inane PC music that really hurt my feelings. Sigh...all our wonderful traditions being changed....poop! The next morning the cub scout troop (both boys that are still active!!!) met and we cleaned up all the exploded fireworks mess. Little Critter even found several that still had the wicks in them with unexploded caps!!!!! We disarmed them of course. It was a lot of work for the two boys, but of course we helped and we got it done quickly. One of the major perks was we got to bring home all the used 1/2 lumber they'd used for the fireworks. So far, Little Critter (with a very little help from Dodi) built me a corner shelf to put out by our pool so we can listen to music while in the pool. He did a GREAT job on it!!!! Next, he's going to work on a chicken tractor for us. I'll try to get pics.

Then the week after the Fourth, I had to have oral surgery. YUCK! I'm allergic to local anesthetics so don't like dentists much to start with. But this time there was no avoiding it. One tooth had roots that had gotten tangled in the nerves that control my face....and the root was being strangled so was rotting. My whole face hurt most the time, I could hardly eat anything, and was starting to have trouble with paralysis/cramping in my face. Needless to say, with my allergy to locals, this was a trip to the oral surgeon. He put me out, told Dodi he used an anesthetic that wears off quickly so I'd have to have pain pills within 2 hours of surgery. Silly Dr. He didn't know me well......3 1/2 days later when I finally figured out which planet I was on and who I was I really didn't need any pain meds. Yes, I said 3 1/2 days later! Poor Dodi was trying to keep fluids in me, (all I could eat), feed himself and Little Critter and then explain to Little Critter why Mommy was so odd. Thank goodness Shabbat was not with our congregation that Friday!!!! I was still half dopey, so we ate really simply here at home. Dodi was beside himself trying to figure out how to make the challah....Little Critter was trying to help, but I don't have a recipe. At least it's not written down. And I don't usually measure things, so Little Critter was having a mell of a hess trying to explain amounts he'd seen me use to Dodi. I walked in, figured out what the problem was, and salvaged what they'd started. But I goofed too. I thought I'd picked up the flax seed, poured it in, then discovered it was Gluten!!!! I poured in about double the normal amount. oops. Did I mention those were GOOD drugs the surgeon used?!?!?! Anyway, the bread was extraordinarily light and only tasted a little bit strange. So there's proof YHVH loves me!!!!!! LOL!

So as you can see, we've been blessed. We got to share in Grandma's birthday party, still keep our traditions in a modified way, saw outstandingly beautiful fireworks twice, and even got to enjoy challah that had to be made by Yah Himself.....No one else could have straightened out the mess we were making of it!!!!! And I finally found my way back to the land of the living on the same planet with those I love. What a wonderful month it's been. So did you have a blessed month? I pray you each had blessings you couldn't begin to count. Yah willing I'll be back in a few days with pics and more to share. In the meantime, look around you. I"m sure Papa sends you love letters everyday....several a day in fact. Take the time to look for them. He loves you, you know. Be blessed. Shalom, Spitfire