July 23

I don't particularly enjoy cooking, probably because a handful of picky eaters who shall remain unnamed didn't care for culinary variety during their early years. But I did have more fun than I expected helping Brady make dinner today. 

While he was trying to figure out what he wanted to eat this afternoon, he pulled a box of Bisquick out of the pantry with an eye toward preparing pancakes. (With chocolate chips, since we have a big bag on the shelf.) 

But a recipe for cheeseburger pie printed on the back of the box caught his eye, and he decided he wanted to make that instead. Since it was a multi-step process, I suggested he wait a few hours and make it for dinner, with an assist from me. He agreed, so off to the store we went for ground beef and an onion, the two things we didn't already have on-hand.

When the clock struck 5:45, we got to work. We walked through the steps of the recipe together, and he did most of the actual prep and clean-up, from dicing the onion (with sunglasses in place) to washing the dishes. I was mainly the supervisor who cracked the eggs and carefully slid the very full pie plate into the oven. And told him how "brown" was "brown enough" for the cooked beef and which knife he should use to cut the onion. (And many other little details that I've had filed away in my brain for years that he didn't yet know.) And the final product? I thought it was pretty tasty, so it was a win.

It's such a gift to be able to spend quality time with my kiddos that doubles as education. Of course, I try to "teach" them every day with how I react to them and to others and to situations, but to be able to share knowledge I've acquired over my own lifetime that will expand their own bodies of practical knowledge feels special. So tonight I am grateful to God for the time with Brady and for his willingness to listen and learn.

July 22

Isaac's last day of work at the Dairy is tomorrow, and since Abby has evening class, she wanted to be sure she got to see him on-shift one more time.

So she, Brady, and I loaded into my loaner car (because two and a half weeks later, my car is still at BMW waiting for its new hybrid battery) and headed over to get some ice cream early this afternoon.

Isaac was working the register so he wasn't able to make our cones for us, but he did see us in the walk-up line and waved animatedly in our direction. And when he had a free moment, he did come over to say hello and to introduce us to one of his co-workers. 

He's a good kiddo, and I'm grateful that he's had the opportunity to work this job. I know he's enjoyed the experience and I appreciate how it's taught him more about financial responsibility than he ever could have learned from school alone. So for the blessings of first jobs and for the taste of fresh ice cream on a summer afternoon, I am grateful.

July 21

As I left the house to pick up Brady from church this afternoon, I spied a plume of brown and white smoke as it rose above the nearby hills and into the blue sky. Although I had an inkling that it probably wasn't a good thing to see smoke on a very dry 100-degree day, I didn't think much of it at the time.

But then I checked the Watch Duty app and saw that the smoke I saw was from a wildfire that started in nearby Sunol. And I watched as, over just a short period of time, the fire spread from 75 acres to 150. And then to 400. And then I watched as mandatory evacuation orders appeared on the map. And I listened as helicopters and planes flew by overhead, providing air assistance to the ground crews.

When Ruby Hill --a community a few miles down the road from us-- received evac orders, I calmly told the boys to gather up their irreplaceable prized possessions just in case. And I texted Abby (who was at school) and Adam (who was at work) and asked them if there was anything they wanted me to get for them, too. I packed up photo albums and mementos and important documents, and watched with interest as my kiddos chose their own irreplaceables: Isaac picked items from my grandma's house and Bibles and things he'd handwritten over the years. Brady grabbed BearBear, Chub, Bagger, and Froggy, who are his four favorite stuffies, and the ring he got for winning a baseball tournament last year. (I almost cried when he plunked them down on the dining room table and declared "just about everything else can be replaced.") Abby wanted Pilly and Blankie (which, quite obviously, were her childhood pillow and blanket), and Adam requested a book of pictures Logan drew.

The fire grew to 950 acres and the evacuation line came within a single street of our house, so we literally sat around waiting for directions. Isaac meandered between the deck outside --looking up at the sky and the helicopters and the planes-- and inside. Brady followed me from room to room. Eventually, I sat down on the steps near the front door, and Brady plunked down nearby while Isaac settled into the dining room across the way. I prayed aloud for the firefighters and for everyone affected by the fire. 

The evac line hadn't moved in a few hours, so Adam and I decided over text that we'd offer to take the boys to dinner with us. And they agreed to go. We packed all of our irreplaceables into the Explorer (just in case something changed), and went downtown to Strizzi's.

Since then, the evac lines have been pulled back, and we're no longer on the edge of the danger zone. I'll still probably sleep with one eye open and I'm not in a hurry to unpack my irreplaceables, but I'm grateful that the immediate threat seems to have been resolved.

Although the experience stressed me out, I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to see what my children view as their prized possessions. And I'm grateful that they --at least in my opinion-- chose well: they went with sentimental items like photos and writings and things that hold special memories for them. (And I'm also grateful for the reminder that I should get to work on digitizing all of my old film photos.)

And beyond all of that, I am grateful to God for being with every single person who is out doing hard, demanding work in hot weather to keep the rest of us safe. I am thankful that He gave each of them the desire to serve and the bravery to serve well.

July 20

The house was still and quiet when I got back from my coffee outing this morning. A few minutes later, Isaac padded down the stairs and joined me in the kitchen. He confirmed that he'd already eaten and aimlessly circled the island a few times, so I asked if he wanted to play Go Fish. 

And since he's a do'er, he said yes. (I was pretty sure he would when I asked.) So I retrieved a deck of cards from the nearby desk and we played several rounds of Go Fish at the kitchen table.

It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it gave us the chance to connect. As we played, I asked him questions: which of his friends are going to leave for school first? (Probably him, he said.) What is he looking forward to about going to college? (Learning, he said. Learning things he's interested in learning about and not what the school says he should learn; that's what I knew he meant. And also seeing snow, he said.)

We sat and shuffled and Go Fished until he said he needed to take a shower and get ready to head to work. 

It was just a few hands of cards, but I'm grateful to God for the time spent with my soon to be college guy.

July 19

Way back when, we used to go to A's games fairly regularly. There was nothing quite like kicking back on the third deck of the Coliseum on two-dollar ticket Wednesdays, munching on one-dollar hot dogs while watching the likes of Barry Zito, Eric Chavez, and Eric Tejada as they put on a show under the lights. Those were some good days. But that was a long time ago now.

In fact, we hadn't seen the A's play live since they left Oakland, mostly because it's just not convenient to go anymore. (And also because we don't like John Fisher. Boooo. Sell the team.) But today, we finally took the 90-minute drive to Sacramento and settled into our seats at Sutter Health Park to take in a game.

Although they did what they've done more often than not of late and lost to the Nationals, it was a fun new experience. Since it's a Triple A ballpark, it's very small, so it has a homier feeling than the much larger, much more urban Coliseum we're used to visiting. Though it was hot, hot, hot out (in the 90s) and the sun was bright and mostly unrelenting, we still had a good time watching and cheering and hanging out together (even if Abby did irritate Isaac and Brady by alternating her two hats --since she had one from the Nats game we attended last year in DC, she brought it along with her A's cap-- from inning to inning). And Abby and Isaac even came away with squishy A's balls that they caught when the broadcasters in the booth above us tossed them down to spectators. Talk about fortunate!

So tonight, I am grateful to God for time with my family. I am thankful for the blessing of their company and for the ways we can both amuse and care for one another.

July 18

Brady has historically gone on cooking jags. I can't remember them all offhand because there was been a few, but I know that at one point, he really liked making pancakes, so he ate and consumed a lot of them.

His current culinary interest is working with potatoes. And more specifically, potatoes and the air fryer I bought Adam for his birthday (which said-husband does not use).

He started off by just reheating pre-cooked items like frozen French fries. It helped him to get a feel for how the machine works. Then he moved on to grating fresh potatoes to make hash browns. When they were a little too loosey-goosey for his taste, he added cornstarch to said-hash browns and created patties that held together. 

Then today, he decided to make potato chips. He used my veggie slicer (which is a marvelous contraption, for the record), brushed them with olive oil (as he doing in the image), and sprinkled them with salt.

I had one after they were done and it was quite good! Definitely crispy, and I am definitely a girl who prefers crispy to not-crispy when it comes to my air fried potato products. I think he was pleased with the outcome, and I was pleased to see him successfully tackle a new task. It's a blessing to witness his confidence --and patience and perseverance-- grow over time.

July 17

I was working on my latest crochet project in the bedroom this afternoon when Isaac and Brady suddenly (and loudly) appeared. 

Now they don't just enter a room together these days; it's truly more like they storm castle gates. There's lots of chatter and arms and legs flying everywhere. It's simultaneously funny and exhausting, and definitely overstimulating.

But I love it nonetheless. And then I loved it even more when, a few minutes later, Brady left to find BearBear and Isaac picked up my stuffed cat SOC (pronounced "sock") and wrapped him in an embrace. 

I watched him as he sprawled across the foot of my bed hugging my cat. And I smiled to myself. He may be 18, but he's still my little boy. And I am grateful to God for the gift that he continues to be to me.