Highlights

I’m writing this blog post pre-coffee so it’s probably going to be a bit skatter-shot. (Is that a word?) Maybe I shouldn’t be writing without coffee. Oh, well.

Here are the highlights of the weekend.

Friday: I weeded the grass. Why is that I can grow beautiful flowers and my grass looks scrofulous? I think it’s my neighbors’ fault. They both grow weeds and are allergic to lawnmowers. Luke used to mow the neighbor’s yard until he got frustrated that she never cleaned up her dog’s poop—it was like mowing a field of landmines. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t mow, the ground’s got to be solid dog poop by now.

Saturday: We watched the Derby. Everyone rooted for a different horse, except my 93 year old grandmother who wanted to cheer for the horse Matthew was rooting for—they yelled for Dialed In. We were all cheering for our horses, and then some horse named Animal Kingdom won. None of us were rooting for him. We didn’t even know his name. I guess that it’s good that none of us plays the ponies. We suck.

Saturday, later in the evening: After the race, we decided to watch a movie. My dad had never seen Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince so we started it. My grandmother asked me, “Is this one of those Potter things?” I said, “Yes. Do you like them?” After making a Dutch expression of distaste that sounds like a cat gargling a fur ball, she said, “No, they are strange.”

For Mother’s Day, I got a lovely Cross pen with red ink. (I asked specifically for one.) My teacher/homeschooler friends and writing friends all know why, and I’m sure you’re drooling with envy. I am so tired of editing and correcting with those lame Papermate pens that run out of ink or goop it in piles across my manuscript pages. And even though I have a drawer of red pens, they disappear—stolen by my children who like red ink or don’t want to bother looking for a pen in their own pen box. And the cheap red ink pens that I do have get chewed on by a child who will remain nameless but has long blondish hair.  Now I have a pen that writes with a constant flow of ink, cannot be easily stolen because it’s distinctive looking, and it can’t be chewed because it’s metal. Yeah, baby! I’m moving up.