one of those

It was just one of those days. By the time the kids were in the bathtub, I was very close to putting my facebook status as - "Why do I bother talking?" then decided against it, because I don't necessarily want to discuss my parenting frustrations with people I knew in the third grade. But it was that kind of day.

I put Asher to bed at 6:45 p.m. And if that sounds cruel and unusual, let me say for the record he said NOT ONE WORD once his head hit the pillow. Maybe that was part of the problem today. Or maybe they were feeding off of me. Tension feeds itself in a home. Is Mama tense because the babies are screaming? Or are the babies screaming because Mama is tense? Then again, if the bottom line is that nobody is happy, who really cares, right?

Anyway, since I am having that kind of day, I thought I'd tell you about some things happier than this moment.

1. We went to the u-pick berry farm yesterday morning. It was every BIT of 99* with a thousand percent humidity, but the kids held it together surprisingly well and now I have a half-gallon of blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries in the fridge. Silas spent most of his time eating green berries (not surprising for the kid who has never once met a lemon or pickle he didn't love) or feeding my friend's baby blueberries from the trees. As long as he wasn't taking them out of buckets, I didn't care. Seriously, how cute are these kids?





2. So now I have a half-gallon of all three in the fridge. And it occurs to me that I'm not sure what to do with them. The blackberries will go in a few upcoming desserts, the blueberries have been frozen for Silas. But it's Asher who eats the strawberries, and he won't eat frozen or cooked fruit. Hmm ... I guess what he doesn't eat I could turn into jam, but jam sounds like WORK, friends. And at the end of it, all I have is strawberry jam. It's like my friend said - I could spend three hours and twenty five dollars canning sauce, or I could spend eight dollars on sauce at the store. We'll see how it goes.

3. I just LOVE summertime fruits and vegetables. This may sound ridiculous to some, but it's as though the oppressive heat and daily afternoon thunderstorms that characterize this region are no longer a burden, but a blessing. It turns out that heat, humidity, and plenty of rain are key ingredients for growing crops. Now I see the steam coming off the roads in the late afternoon and think, Grow Tomatoes Grow! I know how silly it sounds - I'm like a cheerleader for container gardens - but it really is so much fun. I have a few tomatoes not quite ready to pick yet, and several other buds that look promising. I also have a thriving rosemary plant (I had forgotten how GOOD fresh rosemary is on potatoes and squash and, well, almost anything). The container garden is good for my ego, because so far I've killed everything else I've touched. The flower bed I spent so much time on for our outdoor Easter dinner? Totally dead, friends. Little black mounds, just mocking me. Alas.

And with that, I'm off. With miles to go before I sleep.