canned

What a great day yesterday was - my bff Melissa came over yesterday (bff = best friends forever - I want matching rings like Spongebob and Patrick, with little miniatures of the other person on the rings - funny!), brought a box of jars, and all the other accoutrements (wow - I had to spellcheck THAT word), and we got to work. I was her pupil, she my Master. I think I did well as a student - I'm in that role of master a lot, teaching others, so it's great to just sit back and get to learn for a while. We had a ton of fun, washing jars and talking about boys (we always talk about our boys). I can tell her anything, and believe me when I say that I tell a lot of people a lot of things, but I think she knows more about me than anybody ever. There's just that safety issue - I trust her, and that is not an easily won commodity. So, thank YOU, Missy Pooh, for the fabulous afternoon - I've got your jar of tomatoes on the counter. That was one thing I'd always wanted to do - can. Go figure. This appears to be the summer of firsts. I was with someone (Mom) when she died, I married Trin and Melissa, I canned, I ate a cricket. Oh, the list goes on.

Hey - check out the front page of Lifestyles, lower right - that's the recital I'll be a statue for. It's great they put it as a recommendation for the weekend. Holly Wrensch, the mezzosoprano is absolutely unbelievable. I was instantly transported when I first heard her sing in rehearsals. PLUS - world class musicians Leigh Wakefield, Deb Harris, Russ Peterson, Jane Capistran and others are part of a chamber orchestra - we need some really good energy right now in the midst of this mess, don't we? Friday at 7:30 at Concordia Recital Hall, and Sunday at 2PM at the Plains Art Museum - I'll be the uh, tall one, standing in the front, in the bronze and black girdle and headdress.

It is raining, and the candles are lit, and Justin Timberlake is singing of summer love, and I can still smell the chocolate chip cookies I baked last night - a double batch, first of four batches of cookies I'm making for care packages for Dad and Kari. Today I'll make snicker doodles, gingersnaps, and Christmas cookies (in shapes of leaves and pumpkins for fall). I love Dad and Kari, and I think they need care packages - I know I always loved them - I'll bring a few extra for the boys at the post office - they always ask.

So the sky is light steel gray, the leaves are greener than usual, the air is heavier, moister, and I feel like curling up in bed, having not gotten out of my jammies for two days in a row, but I will, I will - my day awaits.