Saturday Skinny....

I am not sure what that means, the Saturday Skinny. So I am going to just tell you random stuff from my house and say it in hushed tones and make it sounds gossipy.Head over to BTL to read all the skinny from around the country!

Today is a day of celebration and we are going to the farm to fish and roast hot dogs over an open fire and set off fireworks. I may or may not be turning another year older today.

The weather is warm but not hot this morning and I am sitting on the front step typing this. My back does not like the porch steps and there's a good possibility that it will protest strongly to this treatment. I must be turning OLD this year. Because my fingers are angry too and I have set off the carpal tunnel with a vengeance. My fingers are swollen and my ring finger on my right hand just hurts constantly.

I am a procrastinator. I thought since I am confessing all sorts of short comings, this is a natural thing to spit out next. I put off things I could have accomplished already. Like that deep cleaning I was going to accomplish this summer and painting some walls and getting centers ready for next year. I blame the stacks of boxes that I brought home from school that I don't know what to do with!

My youngest is still all about making Mom happy, which I adore while I wince and wonder what kind of codependent I am growing here. But she has been giving me daily gifts this week and made cupcakes last night to decorate for today. I am going to try and make that cream cheese frosting stand up more so she can use the decorator bags to decorate. My elder daughter is visiting her Nana. I am happy she can do this, but there's a selfish little (not so little?) part of me that wants her home to celebrate with her MOMMA. And she will be gone for HER birthday and I missed the deadline to send a package that will arrive on or before her day. IF I would have gotten her care package in the mail yesterday there would be a chance that it would arrive on her day, but with no mail running today and tomorrow I am out of luck. :(

I guess that is the skinny from the corner of Elm and Skancke (yes, my side street is Skancke.... pronounced with a long e at the end). People ask how I like having an Elm Street address (Nightmare of Elm Street) and I say it is no worse than living on the corner of Elm and Skancke! Did I mention that there's a dog in heat in my neighborhood? My dachshund is trying to sneak off down the block. And the animals were all 3 wonky last night from the fireworks. Why, oh why, didn't I go get doggy downers? They will be home alone tonight but their kennels are their safe places anyway, and we will turn on some music for them. If the cat would just go to his usual favorite haunts, he probably would not hear the fireworks so much (laundry room in the basement, back of the closet sleeping in a pile of clothes).

I love fireworks. But I have turned into a fear-monger at some point. I am afraid every time my daughter lights one that she'll be injured or maimed. Being a 4th of July baby, it seems it would be anti-american to NOT excite my kids about fireworks, even though they are not made in the USA.

Someone put on their facebook status: "I can't believe how poor people like to set off fireworks. All that money going up in smoke, literally." I can understand this sentiment from the point of.... I told my kid we were going to spend less than $50 total and then I promptly bought $50 worth of heavy artillery and told her she could spend $20 on the stuff she likes (hey.... that is a lot of bees and ground flowers.... ). I am not going to go into all the other rants this sets off in me. I'll just wave good-bye to my money and watch it go up in smoke.

She's off riding horse with the neighbor before fireworks start at 10. But I just heard someone setting off Black Cats and it is only 9:30. Even as a firework lover, this makes me mad. Knowing my child could be injured if the horses spook is one reason and the dog-owner reason is the other one. My poor dachshund is high strung anyway and scared of his own shadow, but today the hours to set off fireworks legally are from 10 til midnight. The terrier will at least come out and do her business. The dachshund will not leave the house and it will be hard to coax him out at 12:25 or 12:30 tonight when the neighborhood finally quiets down. Poor puppy!