Memories

Today has been a great day! It was hot as all but what is the "unofficial" start of summer without some heat? My AC guy came over -- a little later than he said but at least he showed. The unit will last at least another year and maybe two....to replace everything that needs to be replaced will be very, very costly. The "in the ceiling" unit is as old as the house -- about 28/29 years old (I think) and the former owners installed the outside unit a few years before I bought the house...so, it's time and I'm okay with that. Don't have the cash but at least I have fair warning that it's coming so I can begin to save.

On to the fun stuff.....so mom shows up at the designated hour and we truck on over to my uncle's house. I can smell the stuff on the grill. Here's the funny thing -- he loves using a charcoal grill and has pretty much perfected it. Last year he bought a high end gas grill -- he very rarely uses it. Today, though, we had both of the grills going. I love to cook outside. There's something about hearing the meat sizzle when you drop it on the grate that is perfect.

My nephew (the oldest) was home from West Point so I got to see him. He's really maturing. He's been working out and is really, really fit. He looks good. I was glad to see him. I was also glad to see one of his friends that I haven't seen since last summer. Tuck looks good, too. I love that kid. He went fishing with the crew last summer...caught a 42 lb drum fish and threw it back in! To this day, we still don't know why and I don't think he knows why either.

The (youngest) niece had a "squad" of girls over. I was amazed -- they all had LONG hair -- really long. I guess being in 7th grade you tend to do what your friends do.........it was good to see them enjoying themselves. I can't tell you how many veggie burgers they went through. Honestly, a burger isn't a burger unless it's made with meat!

The (middle) niece came over after work with one of her friends. It was really good to see her and hear how her summer job is going. She likes it. We sat around listening to silly trivia facts that the friend had downloaded on her ipod. It was neat because we started talking about a lot of stuff.

One of the best ones was that Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a belly button. Mom chimes in with "Maybe that's why he was so smart." We all stopped and looked at her..........what? I said, "Mom...I think you're thinking of Albert Einstein. Hitchcock did the Birds and Rear Window." That did it...she busted out in such a laugh that I thought at one point she stopped breathing.

Being with my family amazes me. With my mom, my aunt (her sister) and my uncle (aunt's ex) there is never a dull moment. If we're not talking about bodily functions, we're either repeating ourselves so they can hear what was said or fixing some gadget that they don't know to. I love them, I really do. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Tonight was a great night. We're going to do it all again tomorrow...sans the two oldest kids. I think I'll take my camera so you can start putting faces and names together.

Until then.............