August 27

It's been an interesting week. It's not uncommon for stuff to break while Adam is out of town so I wasn't exactly surprised when both the countertop nugget ice maker and the Nutribullet bit the dust. But then the sun rose on today and a whole 'nother level of weird began.

Incident numero uno commenced when, as I was vacuuming in the family room, I spied movement on the couch across the room. I took a closer look and spied the itty bitty lizard that Brady first saw while I was at dinner with Sherrie. He'd sent me a text with a picture of the little guy and asked what to do. By the time I replied and told him to try to shoo it outside, he said that it had already scurried under the couch. When I got home that evening I couldn't find him, so Brady and I made a pact to not mention his presence to Abby and hope he'd just come out on his own.

Anyway, I approached little liz with a Starbucks cup and, after much maneuvering, managed to trap him against a cushion. He remained quite calm, and occasionally looked up at me through the plastic as I tried to figure out how to get him all the way into the cup. Long story shorter, I eventually summoned Abby to give me a note card, carefully slipped it under his little feet until he moved fully into the cup, and rushed him outside and to freedom.

Incident numero dos followed a short while later. I cleaned the washing machine filter and started a fresh load, only to discover that I hadn't pushed the filter fully back into place. So yep: water all over the laundry room floor. Since this happened a few years ago as well, I decided to go to Walmart to buy a shop vac, which I set up and put to work. I guess I was probably yelping in the laundry room --I was definitely trying to keep myself calm by saying things like "it's a blessing to have furniture for lizards to hide under" but I'm sure I was muttering less inspirational things too-- because Abby left and returned with a coffee for me. As she handed it to me, she explained that she felt bad because so many things kept happening to me today. And then she laughed. And I laughed, because this week has indeed been pretty ridiculous. It was a super sweet gesture on her part and honestly, I almost cried when I saw it. 

Yep, it's been a weirdly tough week. But my girl made it so much better with a simple act of kindness. So for her thoughtfulness, I am thankful.

August 26

I thought it would be fun to eat at the Costco food court tonight, just like we did back when Abby and Logan and Isaac were young. (Those trips happened primarily during the pre-Brady days.)

So we did. I drove Abby and Brady over to the Livermore Costco this evening (because although I prefer for my tax dollars to stay in Pleasanton, Livermore was always our destination back then), we made our picks, and we sat down at one of those classic white tables. 

It was surprisingly busy for mid-week and someone who shall not be named was miffed to be there, but it was still a pleasant mini-shot of nostalgia for yours truly. 

So I'm grateful for that. And I'm grateful for yummy chicken bakes, too.

August 25

Since Adam is out of town, I decided that it would be a good time to reach out to friends to schedule some get-togethers.

And then I was a complete slacker and only sort of followed through. But I did arrange to have an early dinner tonight at Strizzi's with Sherrie.

I've known Sherrie for quite a long while now; Abby and her daughter Liz were in dance class together a number of years ago and we started meeting for coffee back then.

I don't see her often, but it's always wonderful to catch up because as I often say, friendship is a blessing. And friendships that hold up over time are doubly blessed.

August 24

Adam is on a work trip to Beijing this week so it's just me, Abby, and Brady holding down the fort.

Although we each have our own individual activities during the daytime hours, we reunited for dinner tonight. And as we ate, we watched ESPN Jeopardy! (just like we did last night).

Brady fared quite well (especially with the baseball-related answers), I got a handful, and our resident non-sportsball fan even managed to get a few right (largely courtesy of her ability to identify Messi and Ronaldo).

We had a good time chuckling at our responses and "competing" for dominance. So for the time (well-)spent hanging out with some of my kiddos, I am grateful.

August 23

Oh, the minds of teenage boys.

I asked Brady to put the box that contained his pitching target out by the recycling bin this afternoon. It's a pretty large box so it had been sitting in the living room against the wall for a few months now, and I decided I was tired of looking at it.

Anyway, I got on with what I was doing and happened to walk through the front of the house a few minutes later. And that's when I found him trying to ride the box "Home Alone" style down the bottom section of the staircase.

The effort didn't yield the ride he was seeking, but it did fold the box so it would fit into the recycling dumpster. And watching him chuckle as he scooted back and forth and back and forth was pretty amusing. So for the gift of finding funny moments in the oft-strange behavior of teenagers, I am thankful.

August 22

Brady was back at it in the kitchen this afternoon. 

After deciding that he was hungry and bored and that we didn't have what he wanted to eat on-hand, he opted to make loaded mashed potato balls. From scratch, of course.

I served as the official overseer (so I cracked eggs, showed him how to plunk the potatoes into boiling water without splashing himself, and so on) and he got to work.

In the end, he'd baked two full trays of bite-sized potato balls. And he ate nearly all of them, courtesy of the Teenage Boy Appetite. 

It's a blessing to be able to watch his creativity and attention to detail come to life when he's in the kitchen. (And tasting said-creations if pretty cool, too.)

August 21

When Abby and I got home from the Mother Ship this morning, we found one of her sneakers at the top of the staircase as we came up from the garage.

A few moments later, we spied her other shoe underneath Berto (the Roomba) in the dining room. The little vacuum was no longer running, but I could tell that quite the battle had taken place in our absence.

As I stood there gawking at the strangeness before me, Abby simply quipped "it's like a dog." I snorted aloud, but I laughed and laughed inwardly because it was an incredibly sharp, accurate assessment of what we were seeing.

I'm still not entirely sure why Berto attacked the shoes, but it made for a funny moment. And for that, I am grateful, because humor makes for a light heart.