August 30, 2011

            This morning seemed slow getting started.  First of all, I awoke later than usual.  Then I spent time this morning blogging about the dream that I had.  Then I worked some more on the sermon for this coming Sunday.

            At some point, Ella woke and we fixed and ate breakfast.

            The morning was overcast and cool and then began a slow rain.  That is the kind of rain I like.  Those are the type of rains to go walking in.  I didn’t.

            What I did do was bake a flat loaf of true unleavened bread.  The recipe came from First Kings chapter seventeen and verses ten through sixteen; a handful of flour, a little olive oil and enough water to make a dough.  I kneaded it for about five minutes trying to develop the FLOUR.  It never did become shiny and elastic as bread dough does but I thought that if it hadn’t by then, that it never would.  I formed a ball and flattened it by hand to make a disk between one-eighth and one-quarter inch thick.  I had preheated the oven to four-hundred degrees and then placed the bread on a cookie sheet, into the oven.  After fifteen minutes it had not begun to brown, yet seemed to sound baked through.  I left it in the oven for an additional five minutes and pronounced it ‘done’ even though it still had not browned.

            While it was cooling, I took a digital photo and blogged, on my other blog, about using it for communion at our last worship service at Cutty’s Campground.

            By now it as around eleven o’clock and the morning’s egg and toast had worn off.  Nothing was thawed out to fix for lunch and we would need to pick up our great-granddaughters from their schools in the early afternoon. So I suggested that we go to Ryan’s for lunch. 

            The lunch buffet is substantial and very cheep for two old people.  I am a carnivore and so am disappointed with a lot of buffets that should be more rightly called, “salad bars”.  With the senior discount and only water to drink the total for two is only eleven dollars.  I haven’t found a better quality meal for less money.  Really, I haven’t found an inferior meal for less money.  (I have not been compensated in any way for this endorsement.)

            We took a long and leisurely time at the table.  Because of the rain, it was not very busy and we didn’t feel as though we had to give up our table for others to sit. But finally we decided to leave.

            By now the rain had ceased.  We drove to our grandson’s condo-townhouse-whatever.  (I’m not sure what the difference is between condo and townhouse.)  We had to get the key to his van so that we could move the government-approved child car-seat to our pickup.

            It was still an hour before we were to pick up C from school.  She is a first grader this year.  That makes one “great” and two “grand” daughters in first grade. 

            Because we had time to kill, we watched the grandson’s large screen TV for and hour.  I didn’t know that the Teutuls had split up!  Watching “American Choppers” just isn’t the same without Junior and Senior yelling at each other.  And Mikey has a full beard and seemed more man than child! Wow!  The things you miss when you don’t have cable!  Okay, so there isn’t that much to miss without cable – just more channels with nothing on!

            It had started raining by the time we got to C’s school.  Grandma went in to find her while I found a place to park.  The city really needs to do something about the traffic snarls caused by people waiting to pick up their kids.  Rather than come into the parking lot and park in marked spaces, they line up for several block on both sides of the street, which completely blocks the streets.  I hope that an emergency vehicle never has to get through there.  It ‘aint gonna happin’!

            I took C and Grandma a while to realize that they were both standing and looking for the other one.  Finally, one of them moved enough that they could see the other.  I don’t know which one moved but I was glad when it finally happened.

            From there we drove to L’s preschool.  It was still half an hour before it dismissed so we sat in the truck and waited.  The rain stopped again.  C played games on Grandma’s Droid.  (While it was on the charger.  I will not get into ‘why’ Grandma’s phone is constantly in need of charging.  It is a battle that I’ll never win. GRIN)

            When it was time, Grandma and C went in together to gather L.

            L was very tired.  We asked her about her day. “Did you color?, Did you draw? Did you sing?  Did you read books?”  She answered that she did all of those things except ‘draw’ to which she replied, “I did not.”  I had to laugh at the fact that she didn’t use the contraction “didn’t”.

            Both girls decided that they wanted ice cream.  Grandma tried to tempt them with string cheese however neither thought that it was a good swap.  Ella texted (Amazing spellcheck thinks texted is a real word but spellcheck isn’t!) N that we had the two girls.  He responded that he was leaving work at four-thirty.  As it was already after four, we decide against Dairy Queen and picked up some ice cream sandwiches at Kum and Go. (I added a link to Kum and Go for those that just got a laugh at the name.  Yes that is the name of this convenience store/gas station)

            We arrived home with just enough time for Ella to change clothes and go to work.  She is currently working three hours a night Monday through Thursday and then six hours on Saturday and Sunday.  It is seasonal work here at the campgrounds and will soon be cut back to eight hours a week.  The money isn’t much but it lets us do things like go out to eat occasionally and buy ice cream sandwiches for great-granddaughters.

            The girls wanted to play outside.  Since it had begun a light rain again, we played on the patio under the awning.  Bubbles are always a hit with these two.  We have a bucket with four bubble wands that they usually play with.  This time I had found a tube (think very long test tube) of bubble fluid with a collapsible bubble wand.  It makes nice BIG bubbles and lots of double bubbles, which C calls ‘butt bubbles’.  L, at three-years-old, didn’t do so well with the larger bubble wand.  She would shake it so fast that the fluid flew off before forming bubbles.  C could get as many as six large bubbles and would then catch some of them on the wand and get even more bubbles from the recaptured fluid.

            Daddy showed up within about a half an hour from when Grandma went to work.  The girls were glad to see him and tell him about their days at school.  I miss that time that I had with my four kids.  Oh well, that’s why you have grandkids and great-grandkids!