What a Ridiculous Hour of the Morning

I did it again. Decided to close my eyes for a few minutes at 7:00 p.m. and woke up at 12:30.

I still have a couple of hours before girls wake up so I will get something on here and try again (or not - depends on how I feel).

The first two words out of Elcie's mouth this morning were toast and spaghetti. Toast was easy.

So was spaghetti once I thought about it. Not on my original plan but so what. I started making sauce in the morning planning to do garlic bread and green salad as well. By a little after noon, the girls were smelling sauce and starving so I cooked the pasta and let them dig in. Lots of sauce left - we'll have the salad with it for the next meal.

I took them to the Memorial in the square as we planned. I was able to find three tiny pots of flowers for them. The memorial has a large marker for each conflict from WWI through Vietnam and another marker listing the Revolution through Bosnia (including the small "interventions" such as Panama and Grenada). Nothing for Afghanistan and Iraq yet but they were certainly on our minds.

The girls read them all and learned that their Uncle Jim's dad was in Korea and his brother was in Viet Nam. They hadn't heard of Korea and had barely heard of Viet Nam. They had learned a little because of their Hmong, Cambodian, and Laotian classmates as well as our Hmong congregation at the church.

Then we discovered one tiny stone dedicated to the anonymous women who lost their lives (probably through WW II or Korea). By Viet Nam I think they were included as names. Two flower pots went there immediately - their idea, not mine - although I was inwardly cheering.

The final flowerpot was placed on the WW I memorial because there were no other flowers and the girls thought there should be. Then Rebecca and Rochelle made a trip around the green gathering wild flowers (weeds but to them beautiful) and aranged them around the other monuments with an extra batch for the women. No one was excluded.

Rochelle and Rebecca each said their own little prayer - Elcie listened. I was so proud of them. I didn't coach them at all. It was something they wanted to do.

By then Elcie was tiring so we dropped her off at home and headed for the only park in town which still has a tire swing. Tiny strip park but they've always loved it. I don't so much - no shade - but it has a couple of pieces of equipment that haven't been torn down in the name of progress. I stayed in the car (I could see them), worked a crossword puzzle, and listened to the Giants lose. Then Tim called begging a ride home from work (not far from where we were). We picked him up and by the time we got home I was as tired as Elcie.

Which explains the 7 o'clock "nap" that turned into 5-1/2 hours. Actually enough sleep for me. I can always lie down for a little while in the afternoon if necessary so I may just go take a bath while the house is quiet and stay up. Ray put the girls down which doesn't involve much except kisses now they're older. They can do baths, sleep clothes, and beds. Ray always tucks Elcie in anyway with a blessing - she expects it. She was pretty clean to begin with and I'll sponge bathe her (or she can) in the morning and do the whole works before she goes to bed tonight.

I'm meeting my journalist friend for coffee tomorrow (cancelled last week - too much going on -) and we can talk about local politics for a while. Nothing else pressing on the schedule so far as I know except reinstating my driver's license and that will go easier if I make an appointment.

Talk to you later. Hope all your weekends went well.