Friday Miscellany

* Sometimes I love to lie on my bed with the door open and listen to the sounds of my family. This evening Randy and Laurel are fixing dinner. I hear them figuring out what time to put on the asparagus so it's done the same time as the chicken, discuss whether or not to broil or grill. They start listening to music, and Jesse, finished drumming, wanders in. Jesse starts singing loudly. His phone rings, and he's off. Duncan, meanwhile, watches TV, zoned out in his own little land of obnoxious cartoons. The door opens and slams shut. I hear a knife tapping on the cutting board. Smells start to drift in. Someone rings the new bicycle bell, over and over again. I am purely content, in spite of a nagging headache.

* Today is our last official day of school! We meant to go out for ice cream to celebrate, but we forgot. Instead, I made key lime pie.

* Today we also bought a new stove and microwave, as well as a refrigerator for our apartment. I wanted to buy a big, beautiful stove with all kinds of fun gadgets. I wanted people to admire my amazing-looking stove when they came over. "You should see Sarah and Randy's new stove!" But, well, I just couldn't do it. I don't need anything fancy; I just need four burners and an oven. Maybe someday we'll splurge, but right now we have college, curriculum, and Converse. And I'm thankful for the funds to buy new appliances when we need them, even if they aren't stunning.

* I made the key lime pie in the oven at our guest apartment. It is mustard yellow (the oven, not the pie), but it works in a pinch, like when our house oven stops cooking. In case you were wondering.

This is our cute kitten, who has absolutely nothing to do with anything in this post.

* I love my new church. Someday I'm going to blog about it.

* Do you say PA-prika or pa-PREE-ka? That is the current debate in the kitchen. I'm of the latter pronunciation.

* I find dialects and regionalisms fascinating. If I were to go back and get another degree, it would be in linguistics. What I find particularly interesting, too, is how tied we are to our own pronunciations and to our own vocabulary. We get so defensive, so certain that we are right. I used to be terribly vigilant about commenting on pronunciations and accents, but I think I have cleaned up my act a lot. Yes, the word "pop" still makes me cringe slightly, and I don't understand "pellow" for "pillow," but I've come a long way from being certain that upstate New Yorkers know the right way to say everything. Seriously, what possessed me to ever be so smug? I am offering a blanket apology to everyone at whom I ever raised my eyebrow.

* So back to point 2. This was our last day of school! As usual, we fizzled out at the end. Duncan and I were doing practically nothing but reading these last two weeks. Laurel still has to finish her algebra, but that will probably last through June. We'll call today our last day anyway.

* I got my hair cut yesterday. I love it sooooo much. I took in pictures of two of my real-life curly girl friends and said, "Please cut my hair like this."  She took off 3 or 4 inches, and I feel fantastic. I don't often love my hair, but I do right now. Straight-haired people, be thankful. Curly hair is very, very tricky.

* Jesse is back from picking up his friend and is singing again. I imagine he is dancing too. I think I shall stay hidden away in my bedroom until dinner is served.

Hope you have a fabulous holiday weekend!