Weekend with the Fam

How quickly I lose steam while blogging, or maybe I've just been busy! You know, family time, it can be exhausting. Especially when your morning starts with the dog being dumped on your bed by Mom, already dressed in her running clothes. The woman is a little Energizer bunny. I was dying on our run - but I blame it on the coffee and cinnamon roll I had before we went. Good excuse, right? For my mom to last longer than me? She was proud and demanded I take this picture "for the blog."

Saturday we celebrated Father's Day with grilled stead and a rousing game of croquet in the yard. Rousing because our yard is sloped, my family is competitive, and despite it being the summer solstice, we still ended up chasing poison balls around the yard in the dark. It was beautiful though, perfect weather and more fireflies than I've seen yet this summer! Our neighborhood is a good mix of trees and open spaces and the fireflies were going to town. My mother, however, prefers to smell them. Try it sometime . . . I don't really know what she's talking about . . .
Sunday after church (and packing), we went to a Redhawks minor league baseball game. Our little Bricktown ballpark is adorable and, on a Sunday, sparsely attended. We went with some friends from church (and some out of towners) and had a nice time . . . nothing like a ballpark hotdog to say "summer!"

Today's big activities included pedicures, the "perfect book" hunt, and a trip to the drive-in. I know I'm going to be having some down time (long flights, quiet nights) in the near future and my biggest fear is having nothing to read. I blew through A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 5 days this week. (I love Francie!!) And lately I've been on a secondhand kick - it is 'greener' and I have some romantic notion that a book is richer if it's already been read once. So anyway, we browsed some used bookstores for a thick good book that would supplement Emma, which I'm reading with three girlfriends. So what did I end up with? Gone With the Wind. It was long, and cheap, and I've been told - a classic. When I'm sitting under a thorn tree in Machakos 2 weeks from now, I'll let you know how it's going.

So besides packing, that's what I've been up to. I'd rather not dwell on the packing, it gives me a stomach ache. More on my baggage situation soon.