Now I Can Exhale

I may have mentioned that Sam and I drove Helaina her boyfriend to her boyfriend's parents house about a month ago.

And I may have mentioned that they were going to leave the next day for a long planned trip to Europe.

What I didn't mention - to you or anybody else - was that on the ride back from dropping Helaina off, the news came on the radio, and it was all about warnings to Americans traveling to Europe, and the elevated terror threat.

Naturally, I handled this pretty well- just like I handled it pretty well the couple of dozen other times I heard it throughout the month.

Update From the Hood

Apparently, Neighbor A's dog has been pooping in Neighbor B's yard for much of the day.

I'm kinda thinking that if this were my biggest concern today, then life must be pretty friggin' good.

Night Music

Last Day

Sam's last day of school was yesterday, and he was pretty much a mess. This school has been a home for him over the last five years and it's been a safe place for him - and he's comfortable because he knows the people and knows the routine. But it was time to move on, unfortunately.

If this had been me at his age, I would have been counting the days until I was free. But Sam is quite different. I'm sure he was counting the days - but they were filled with dread.

I left work early so I could meet him when his bus brought him home. When he got off the bus,
he seemed to be doing better than he had earlier in the day - but he was still sad.

The night before, he had asked me if we could do something special, and he had made a suggestion or two. So that's what we did.

The first thing he wanted to do, was visit a park that we hadn't been to in many years. He wanted to bring his metal detector and see what he could find. Sam managed to find a fair amount of loose change.

Our second destination was closed so we ended up getting an ice cream at the nearby creamie.  Then we walked over to a nature center that Sam had visited with his class earlier in the year. This gave Sam the opportunity to act as a tour guide, which he obviously enjoyed quite a bit.

We headed home afterwards. Sam seemed pretty good for the rest of the day. I hope it lasts.

Happy Father's Day

I'll end today, as I end most Father's Days.

As a matter of fact, it's how I end most days - by thinking about how lucky I've been - and how lucky I continue to be.

I've been lucky enough to have great parents.

And I've been lucky enough to have great kids.

Every night, I thank a God that I'm not convinced exists - for blessing me with each one of them.

But since this is Father's Day, I will end this day, like I have most Father's Days, with this video...

At the Flea Market

Well, it was a nice Father's Day today. It was nice having Jake home, and it was nice, as always, to have Sam around as well. It would have been nice to have Helaina and Rachael home, but each of them are tied up with other endeavors. I think if they're unable to be home, the next best thing is knowing that they're happy where they are.

As for the rest of us, we headed to the flea market early this morning. Here below are a few astounding photos for your view pleasure. I apologize in advance for the blurriness of most of the photos. My hand must have been shaking with the excitement.

Here, as you can plainly see, is a box of beaters - no doubt painstakingly collected over many years. I'm not sure what possesses someone to start collecting beaters, but I suppose if I really wanted to know, I could have asked the guy selling them. I didn't want to know that badly.

 Here's a blurry picture of Jake perusing all of the many, many bargains.

This formally alive miniature person stood at the end of one of the tables. I'm pretty sure if followed me around half of the flea market.

Another guy was sitting on what appeared to be many hundreds of packages of brand new paper clips. All he has to do is wait, wait for that one special paperclip collector to show up and, bingo - pure gold.

At only "$4 each", it seems like a pretty safe bet that at least one of those jewels are real.

This was a little odd. Even if it's not being sold along with the half-full can of Coleman lantern fuel, who, besides this guy, would be interested in buying a Kotex dispenser? Maybe he figured he was going to make a fortune (Every Woman in the World x 10 Cents Ea. = $$$$)

True story: I actually overheard the guy that was trying to sell this thing, tell two women that this was "signed by the artist". Yes, he actually said "artist", and no, he wasn't laughing. Shockingly, the women left without buying it.

I'm always a little curious about people who sell new clothing at flea markets. It seems to me that they're going to an awful lot of trouble in setting up such elaborate displays. Who buys this stuff? I'm also wondering about those bottom-half mannequins. Do they come this way or do you have to buy the whole mannequin and break them in half? If they actually do sell bottom-half mannequins, who makes them? That has to be one of the worst jobs in the world, being a bottom-half mannequin salesman.

On the more normal side of things, there was a woman selling quite a few flowers. We bought several, which Jake planted for me when we got home.

And speaking of Jake, here he is with Sam, heading back to get one last bargain before we all left to go back home.

I even got to talk with both Helaina and Rachael before the day ended. All things considered, it was a pretty nice Father's Day. 

Today's Brief Comment

I'm thinking it's probably about time to put away the Easter baskets.