The Third of July

I am ready for the long long weekend. Since I don't work on Friday, I am trying to take Thursday off, at least mentally. While waiting for people to pick up their payroll checks, I am making lists of things I need for the barbecue tomorrow. I'm bringing a watermelon, buns, chips, a croquet set (look J, I spelled it correctly!), and my family. I will need more sunscreen, chairs, towels, sunscreen, hats...

When I leave here, I will stop at the produce stand down the road. She has watermelon at 2 for $6, which isn't bad. I saw pretty tomatoes as I drove by this morning. She has flowers and other plants, too. I wonder if I can get them in the ground this weekend?

A good thing about a Friday holiday is that you get the visiting over with on Friday and can recover on Saturday and Sunday. I have lots to do this weekend. I am trying to scrub my kitchen cabinets. We started last weekend and didn't finish, so the cabinets are empty but the living room is full. I'll grab the kids and start scrubbing on Saturday.

I am also reading the Narnia books. They are shorter than I remember, written on maybe a fourth grade level. The theology/philosophy is more mature. I've read articles about the books by people trying to tie the stories to Biblical events, which shows they don't get the point at all. Religion & spirituality is about how we are now, not how they were then. It is growing and continuing, not engraved in stone. But that's just my belief, of course.

So I have a good bit of reading to do. I'm also reading Dracula, which is a little spiritual too. I recently finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It is about Dracula, sort of, and the style is similar to Bram Stoker's, which means it's more formal than I am used to reading. But it has made me think about evil both supernatural and natural. I wonder if I can protect my children from pedophiles, murderers, and thugs by wrapping them with garlic and wild rose? I might give it a shot.

And now the payroll has gone out. I will head home with my lists and try to get everything done before I crawl in bed with my books. Wish me luck and fortitude. I think I'll need both.