I’m wishing everyone a Happy Independence Day one day early, since we’re kind of celebrating tonight. We’re letting the girls stay up late and watch the fireworks. They loved it last year. I’ve spent most of the afternoon cajoling and threatening in order to get the girls to nap. Lily finally succumbed for about 45 minutes - Arden, being the willful, stubborn child of her father, stayed awake all afternoon and will probably be uber-cranky tonight. Should be lots of fun! I hope everyone else is hanging with friends and family, eating a lot of grilled foods and sugar, and generally having a great time.
I realized today that I really miss the way I spent the 4th growing up. Living on the lake in Michigan with parents who had a boat meant watching the fireworks from the water. It also meant avoiding a lot of drunks who were always nearly bumping into you, but I didn’t worry too much abut that then. I hate that I had no appreciation for living in Michigan then. I took the water for granted, I thought everyone had boats, and I probably spent most of the 4th sulking because I wasn’t doing “cool” stuff with my friends. Stupid girl. Kristin blogged about her 4th of July tradition, and since she lives in Minnesota, she also has a family that “talks funny” and does a lot of nutty water-related activities. Every time I read about her family antics I get a little homesick.
In the meantime, I’ll be enjoying my “landlubber” 4th on the Genworth grounds with my two wild, overtired children and my parents. My mother, who had a stapedectomy a week or so ago, will be wearing earplugs because she has freakish super-sonic hearing for the foreseeable future until her hearing equalizes. Apparently she thought her refrigterator was so loud, it was broken. Turns out she’s just hearing sounds she hasn’t heard in 30 years or so. Reminds me of a Corelli’s Mandolin when one of the characters thought he was deaf for his entire life. Turns out he had a pea lodged in his ear canal, and the doctor removed it. As soon as he heard his nagging wife’s voice, loud and clear, he begged the doctor to put the pea back in. I think after a few times of my kids screaming, my mother is going to be requesting the same thing.
