Thursday, July 13, 2006

What's been up

I've had two modems fried by lightning, but am very pleased to report that I am back up and running on a SURGE PROTECTED phone line, now.

It's been a good summer, so far. Lots of work coming my way and plenty of social activities to fill in the gaps (I broke things off with the Lawman a couple months ago--he just wasn't all he was cracked up to be, I'm afraid. *SIGH*) Back to online dating. Lots of dates with lots of men. Nothing even approaching a relationship.
Some good dates, some--not so much.
A few examples of the not so much:


*the guy whose posted picture was obviously taken 10 years and 40lbs ago...I didn't even RECOGNIZE him when I pulled up to the restaurant! We shook hands and I watched, dismayed, as he waddled into the restaurant in front of me.

*The fellow who sounded pleasant on the phone but whose dinner conversation consisted of detailed retellings of how he had "gone off on" and "cussed out" his son's baseball coaches at various different Little League games. Ummm, yikes!

*The Younger Man I accepted a dinner invitation from who thought it was cool to tell me all about his My Space profile and his love of horror flicks and rap music. It was like being on a date with your irritating kid brother!

*I have enjoyed some pleasant evenings out, too. Exquisite meals, nice wine and intelligent conversations. These were mostly older men, Dr's and such. Nice gentlemen.


Camping with the kids at Mom&Dad's, down by the pond was a blast! We took a midnight paddle around the pond, through the mist and were rewarded with the gruesome sight of a HUGE watersnake trying to swallow a HUGE bullfrog. Upon the children's urgent request, I paddled closer to the shore and smacked the snake on the head with the oar (by the light of a VERY shaky flashlight, held by Jackson) causing him to release his victim and both creatures swam away into the night. Very cool. The only thing that would've been cooler is if Austin had been able to join us (baseball obligations, of course!). He'll be there next time, though.:0)

The following night, Q camped out with us--his very first time sleeping in a tent. He was a real trooper!!! Remarkably fearless--actually fearless to the point that I was having to watch him or he'd just wander right off into the night chasing fireflies and such! :0) We all had a great time. At one point, in the late hours of the night sitting around the fire, Q entertained us all with dramatic, firelit poses representing different countries around the world. A sort of dramatic interpretation. VERY cute!

Q awoke once during the night to rearrange his sleeping bag and just then a really loud and creepy bird made this goshawful screeching-croaking noise as it flew low over our tent. The other kids were awake now, too. There was dead silence in the tent for a few seconds and then Q's very small and curiously toneless voice

"Um.What was that?"

"Just a crane... a little water bird" I replied as cheerfully as is possible at 2AM with a tent full of creeped-out kids.

Thankfully, Q just took me at my word and snuggled back down into his sleeping bag. All was quiet for a few minutes and I thought everyone was asleep. And then Jack's groggy little voice

"That...was the scariest sound I've...EVER...heard"

And then they were all back asleep. Except, me of course who really wasn't 100% convinced about my own water bird story. (shrug)

It was a great time.:0) Here's a few pics:

the boys peeking out of the tent
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a sampling of Q's fireside dramatic interpretation--he is one neato kid!
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the ride back to civilization the next morning, i.e up the hill to Mam-ma&Pa-paw's
Tuckered-out bunch of young adventurers!!
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Father's Day was celebrated at the Beach house with all of the fam. Steamed crabs, ribeye's on the grill, kids all running around and happy. Later Melissa and I enjoyed apple matini's and chips and salsa and hilarious conversation. A GREAT day!!

Alrighty, I'll end this with two prayer requests; one unspoken and one very important one for the health of a friend.

Good night, all! :0)