Fiesta Time & the Chipmunk Assassin

On the corner, a few houses down from me, live a bunch of Mexicans.  And I do mean a bunch-several families live in the same house.  In the summer, whiffs of well-seasoned barbecued meats and wafts of ranchera or salsa music float on the breeze into our open windows.  Yes, it's fiesta time.  Just about every weekend, they have a party and invite friends...they eat, laugh, and drink, and often sing loudly.  Either that, or turn up their favorite songs so that the entire neighborhood can hear as well.  They are out until all hours-kids and all.  Sometimes it's a little annoying, depending on the volume of the music, and, well, whether the music sucks or not.  Most of the time, I simply note that they're having more fun than me.  Kinda like tonight. 

I had a fabulous day.  It was Courtney's turn to go to Starbucks, so I had 15 extra minutes this morning.  I wasn't too tired, and had a great day at work.  It wasn't too busy, but just enough to keep me from getting bored.  After work, I went to my mom's, where my husband and children had been since lunch time.  The kids played hard all day, and then we cooked out.  We ate burgers, hot dogs, potato & pasta salads, and mac & cheese.  The kids loved it because there were no veggies tonight (usually we do a stir fry when we grill, but no one felt like it today).  Then there was angelfood cake with strawberries & whipped cream, or ice cream (or both) for dessert.  We sat out on the deck and relaxed in the breeze, and it was truly heavenly.  I gave the kids a bath at my mom's, so I only had to tuck them in when we got home.  They are suffering so badly, the poor things...their eyes are swollen and itchy, their noses are stuffy, they have headaches and earaches.  The allergy medicines just can't keep up with the huge volume of pollen in the air right now, and their poor little minds can't grasp that the medicine will not cure their misery completely.

Anyway, by the time I came downstairs fom tucking the last one in, G was already asleep on the couch.  Part of me cannot blame him-he's under an open window, the cool breeze on his face, and he's snuggled up under a soft blanket. 

 

The other part of me is screaming, TALK TO ME!  WAKE UP AND SEE ME!  He hasn't seen me all day, and spent most of the time at my mom's inside on the sofa, watching Pirates of the Caribbean (again) on his laptop.  I think tonight, it's going to be me and a new book, until I fall asleep, too.

Tomorrow we're having Family Bowling Day.  A bunch of us will get together for duckpins and some greasy pizza.  Sounds like we made a good plan, considering it's supposed to rain until Tuesday.  Hopefully, I can get some flowers in the ground and clean up my perennials this week.  My garden is a hot mess right now, but just seeing the stuff that is blooming is encouraging.

And then there are the chipmunks.  Or, were the chipmunks.  See, we have a colony of them living in my garden, in the yard, and out back in the retaining wall.  We recently discovered that they are under our porch stoop, as well.  G insisted that they will ruin the foundation of the porch and cause it to collapse, and that we must get rid of them.  Well, last night, while I worked, he decided to do just that.  He lit a fire in one of the holes.  He was trying to smoke them out.  Instead of going the other way, a family (read: parents and babies...cute little baby chipmunks) ran right past the fire.  At least one baby was badly burned.  The parents fled, and he put the babies into the lawn waste bag (although they were all alive).  Did I mention my children saw all of this heinousness?  They have been traumatized.  As soon as I got home from work, they converged on my car, crying about how daddy killed the baby chipmunks.  What can you even say to that?!  What kind of man does something like that, let alone in front of his kids?!

Anyway.  One more confession to make, since it's obviously been too long since I blogged, and I have a lot to say.  I drove the Tahoe a couple of times last week, and I discovered something: I don't miss it that much.  The Sienna's drive is so nice, and it seems so much more agile...not lumbering and hulking like the Tahoe.  Then there's the fact that it starts right away...the Tahoe always starts, but always sounds like it's not going to.  Here lately, it's sputtering so badly that it sounds like it's could quit running at any second.  Frankly, that's embarrassing.  So yeah, I kinda like the minivan.  On the other hand, I think I would have liked any vehicle that was 8 years newer.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Archives-Hot in the City 7/9/2007

July 9, 2007

So, yesterday we went to the zoo, as G's place of employment had their regional picnic there. It was so very, very hot. While we were sitting beneath a tent, which was in the shade of those huge old trees, and the breeze was blowing, and we were not moving a muscle, it wasn't too bad. Otherwise it was pretty relentless. I'm pretty sure Baltimore City was 10 degrees hotter than my home here in the 'burbs. We missed some of the animals, at least I think we did...but it was so hot (and we'd had enough fun) that I really didn't care when 4:00 came. I miss the old Baltimore Zoo with the victorian iron cages and quaint feel. I understand that it's now on lease to the state, so it's now the Maryland Zoo at Baltimore, and the state has invested millions in the overhaul and upgrade of the zoo, creating habitats rather than just cages. That's a nice idea for the well-being of the animals, but I do miss the cages. Let's face it, a zoo is hardly animal friendly. They're still wild animals, taken out of their natural habitats and kept in captivity unnaturally. Some are born there, yes, but still...I just miss the cages.
Anyway...we stopped by my mom's on the way home and ate more cookout food, which was so fabulous. We went swimming and had more mojitos. I think that because I was so dehydrated from the 100-degree heat, the mojitos really packed a punch. I only had three, but it felt like six. Then we went cruisin'. I drove the Bus (as in, VW, 1973) with the boys, and G drove the Karmann Ghia with Cam. My stepfather & mom drove his '64 Fairlane, and we all went to Bruster's for ice cream. I was a good girl and got the [slightly better for you] frozen yogurt, but caved and got the peanut butter & hot fudge toppings. That has to be my favorite thing in the world. I don't know if I'll ever get used to the European pedals in the Bus, which push straight down instead of back. G joked that I nearly ran him down, coming up the driveway. G converted that Bus from automatic to manual, God knows why...and the gears have been ever elusive. Not to mention that reverse is down-left-back. That and the need to toe-heel it, so that it won't stall at low speeds (so that you can have feet on clutch, brake and gas all at the same time), and the "Volkswagen supplemental braking system"...which is the chock you put behind the tires to keep it in the driveway. We thought it was strong enough to stay, at one point, until the across-the-street neighbor came over to tell us that she had rolled down the drive and across the road to his house, possibly into oncoming traffic. She is Herbie's big brother, you know.
Well, time to see about building another lasagna. I don't feel like making my own sauce this time, nor do I have the time. I do, however, feel like making fresh garlic bread. Mmmm.
Have a good week.