I keep not writing here because I don’t have time to craft a beautiful blog post, one of those posts that make me feel like a real writer.  I check out the clock on the lower right of my computer screen and it’s already so late (past 1:00 AM) and I know how early I have to get up so I think, tomorrow.  Maybe tomorrow I will write.

But the problem is that every day is the same, even though it’s different.

So for tonight, I am going to just type awhile before going upstairs to finish the novel I’m currently reading.  (Gone Girl.  Yes, I’m very late to this party.)  I really should not read before sleep but I am so close to the end.  I’ll probably fall asleep turning a page, though.

*

Today my 11-year old and I went to Legoland after we dropped her 16-year old brother off to work at the employee gate.  One of his job benefits are a bunch of Legoland passes, so we took advantage of that even though a summer day at Legoland is a day full of toddler tantrums and heat and lines and very slow moving people who block pathways.  And did I mention the lines?  (I find toddler tantrums to be adorable, mainly because I no longer have a toddler, so I admire the tantrums without having any obligation to deal with them.)

We first went on the roller-coaster to see my son in action.  Before we got to the front of the line, my daughter chickened out.  She hates roller-coasters.  Then, on to the waterpark–the world’s most adorable waterpark, really–and I started reading while she went in the wave pool.  All too soon she was done and we left the waterpark area and had lunch and wandered through Miniland and then onto the Coast Cruise but then we were so hot.  Back to the waterpark we went.

I ended up sunburned despite my sunscreen.  Which is annoying.  I am developing a well-defined farmer’s tan.

Anyway, while we were eating lunch, I got a text-message from my son who was on his lunch break and it said this:

Mom, Nicholas Cage is here.  He just went on Technic.

What the what?  Technic is the roller-coaster where my son was working.  But he was on his lunch break . . . he noticed this guy with a VIP pass (an “old” guy, he said–Nicholas Cage is one year older than me) who was with a woman and two kids.  And then my son’s supervisor said, “Hey, did you see Nicholas Cage?” and my son realized he HAD seen Nicholas Cage.

So, there’s a Brush with Greatness.

*

Sunday night, I was working in my downstairs office when I heard a loud crash.  I ran from my office to investigate.  My son told me the noise came from my bedroom, so I opened the door and my husband–who had been asleep for a few hours–sat up and asked, “What happened?”

I thought maybe the pictures I’d hung in our bedroom earlier in the day had fallen.  When I flipped on the light, though, I found this (photo taken at 12:20 AM with my phone, so excuse the quality!):

The 7 foot by 3.5 foot mirror from the master bathroom had simply fallen off the wall.  Eventually, I concluded that the installers had used too little mastic which had failed for no apparent reason.  And there were no clips reinforcing the mastic, though there should have been.  (I have been to Home Depot already to buy clips to reinforce my other mirrors.)

I cannot believe that the mirror fell.

I cannot believe that no one was hurt or . . . worse.

Well, with that, I’m really going to bed.  My husband is out of town, so I have to get up a little earlier than usual to take two of my sons to work before I start my own job.

One of my co-workers lives in the Midwest.  Her home was struck by lightning and her electricity and Internet were out for a few days which meant I had to work some extra hours for a few days.  That explains what I was doing when I last wrote in this blog.

Meanwhile, we had a house-guest who had arrived mid-June and stayed until mid-July.  Even though she was undemanding and easy to be around, a house-guest is still a house-guest.  Extra people exhaust me.  Who am I kidding?  Even the regular number of people exhaust me.

On July 13, my daughter, our house-guest and I went to Imperial Beach (an hour south) to watch a dog surfing contest.

Hilarious and entertaining and just plain fun.  I highly recommend you spend an afternoon watching dogs surf, should the opportunity ever present itself.

Then in the past week, these things occupied my time:

1)  Daughter went to day camp all week, 9 AM to noon;
2)  All three sons went to jobs;
3)  House-guest went home;
4)  My sister arrived for a visit;
5)  My husband left for a business-trip (a denominational annual meeting in Rhode Island);
6)  I worked;
7)  My sister flew back home to Seattle.

I did a lot of driving around, delivering kids to their jobs and activities.  And yes, at some point the kids will drive, but they don’t yet.  (It’s complicated.)

So, that’s why this blog has been neglected.  I’ve had a few thoughts I wanted to share, but I can’t remember what they are.

And now, it’s time to sleep because I have to deliver my youngest son to work by 8:15 AM.  And so it goes.

Reading: 

Schindler’s List.

I saw the movie in the theater when it released back in 1993 and it remains one of my favorite movies.  I have had the book on my shelf for a long time and just picked it up recently.  I’m a little more than halfway through.  Excellent book, lots to ponder.

Watching:

24

I have been an avid fan of Jack Bauer from the very beginning, back in the old days when I didn’t have a DVR and had to watch carefully with devoted attention so I wouldn’t miss anything.  I am loving this new (short!) season.

Big Brother

I can’t help it.  I’m a voyeur and like reality shows like Big Brother and Survivor and The Amazing Race.  I work at my computer 8+ hours a day and have my television on most of the time to keep me company.  Reality television doesn’t demand my full attention and is the perfect accompaniment to my work day and night.

Listening:

I never listen to music at home.  In the car, I listen to talk radio if I’m alone and a station that plays old (old?!) music from the 80s and 90s.  At home, I listen to the sound of kids discussing pointless topics and the dog barking her fool head off and most days, an electric guitar in a distant bedroom and the other random sounds pollution in my house.

Anticipating:

My sister’s visit in a week.  School beginning in a month.  A surf dog competition next weekend.  Supergirl Pro surf contest in August.  My 27th wedding anniversary soon.  More sunsets at the beach.

* * *

And now, since I’ve promised to make my husband pinto beans and cornbread for dinner tomorrow, I have to go sort beans and soak them in a pot.

My life is all sorts of glamour.

 

 

 

 

Today, we went to the fair.  To be honest, I can’t quite remember if it’s called the Del Mar Fair or the San Diego County Fair or something else entirely.

But here’s all you need to know:  While riding on a ferris wheel, you can see the ocean waves just over there.  Not that I rode any rides because I gave all the ride tickets to the teenagers and twenty-somethings with me.  I hung out with my 11-year old and she hates rides, mostly.

Her main goal was to hold a piglet.  Everything else was just a bonus, including watching pigs race and eating chocolate covered bacon.  (Two related and yet completely unrelated situations there, but that did sound kind of weird, right?  And . . . the pigs raced around the course to get an Oreo . . . so chocolate inside and outside of the pigs . . . nevermind.  Let’s stop thinking about eating pigs.)

If I weren’t so exhausted, I would have a clever ending to this post.

The end.