The Dwindling Fourth

The long weekend is starting to wind down. The excitement of the 4th of July, everyone’s extra day to play, and the beautiful weather is all dwindling goodbye. Back to work, too hot temperatures, and the day to day busies of our weeks. Right now I’m thinking about putting my freshly washed sheets back on my bed (is there anything better than just cleaned sheets?), going to Target to buy groceries and laundry detergent, calling my sister, and smothering my sunburned lips in Blistex Melon Medley chap-stick.

Ryan and I spent a relaxing Saturday sunbathing at his pool, headed to South Charlotte for an emergency visit to my sister’s, and then cooked corn on the cob, tomatoes, and mozzarella for dinner. Are you wondering what an emergency visit is? It goes like this: you call your sister multiple times a day for four days in a row and she doesn’t answer. Then you call both her and her husband in an alternating pattern, leaving voicemails and calling and calling again. Nobody answers. You think about all of the CSI and Criminal Minds episodes that you have wasted countless hours of your life watching, and you decide that, yes, in fact, something terrible has happened. So you talk your boyfriend into driving you to their house, just to make sure everyone’s body parts are attached and all is well. And it was. Of course. But I went over there equipped with pen and paper in my pocket, just in case I had to communicate with their kidnapper. You know, since kidnappers usually like notes instead of verbal exchanges. Somehow, this all made sense in my head at the time. Now I’m not so sure. So, like I said, all was well. We woke up their baby and passed him back and forth and examined the spots where he has started gnawing on his crib. It was a worthwhile visit for sure.

Yesterday, we hopped on board our friend Dan’s pontoon boat and went out on Lake Norman. There were maybe a zillion people on a billion boats that were tied together at the sandbar. We ate twizzlers and danced and jumped and floated in the water. I lost my headband and Ryan lost all but one stick of his sunglasses. Is that what it is called – a sunglass stick? Sunglasses don’t do you much good when all you have is a stick, and headbands don’t you much good when they are sitting in their wet, sandy grave at the bottom of Lake Norman. Other than this, the day was a success. AB and I performed Fergie’s new song on the boat ride home, Ryan wore a captain’s hat, and almost everyone was in bed before sunset.

Ryan and I played a game of Phase Ten this morning (which I unexpectedly won by five points in the last hand), and then I went to AB’s house. We took a quick trip to Pier One, TJ Maxx, and Harris Teeter, and then we watched the new Alice in Wonderland. This is something we have been talking about doing for weeks, and I’m so glad we were able to find the time. It was a magical movie (probably not for children), and we both wanted her to choose to stay in Wonderland at the end. The Mad Hatter seems to have quite the infatuation with Alice – did you know? Perhaps I’ll begin working on an alternative ending.

How was your Independence Day weekend? Did you see fireworks? And enough for me too? I didn’t see a single sparkle this year.