Seven Quick Takes Friday

1.  Lightning, Thunder and Water Oh My!

This week, we awoke to 90 strikes of lightning. Naturally the power went out.  Later in the day, it rained four inches in the course of an hour, causing the window outside the basement bedroom to fill up with water.  It seeped through the window and proceeded to drench everything.  I have to praise my children for rallying in a crisis. 

My teen waded into waste deep water and began bailing.  His brother waited to drag the bin of water out into the yard so it wouldn't drain back into the well of the window.  Two of my daughters began ferrying towels to blot up the mess and piled stuffed animals not soaked on a bed.  When the daughter whose stuff had been ruined sobbed that she didn't want to live in the basement anymore, her younger sister softly and immediately offered, "She can have my room." 

2.  Eat Pray Love

I read this during my vacation because it's been on the best seller list for three years and so I finally got around to it.  My first thoughts are reading this book felt similar to eating the most decadent pizza available in Naples.  It is oozing with cheesy tastiness but absolutely unhealthy if you make a habit of it.  While Elizabeth may be an engaging writer and I did enjoy her words and word play, the quest to repair one's self from one's own deliberate self destruction via a year long vacation from being obligated to anyone but one's self through Italy, India and Indonesia; eventually wearied.  You can only live on that kind of stuff for so long, and then it fails to satisfy.  The whole spiritual quest is a transcontinental indulgence.

3. New Things

My laptop got a virus this week, hence the light blogging.  It was an old machine and so when I found the repair would cost only 50 less than a replacement, guess what happened.  So I'm cruising on my slick new blue Inspiron Dell and it's like having a rent a car, it doesn't yet feel like home to write.

4. Anniversary

This week, we subjected our children to viewing our wedding mass.  It's a yearly experience for my husband and me and a tad bittersweet as the number of deceased on the video continues to grow and they all look so beautiful and vibrant and alive; it's a reminder to savor each moment, even when things are absolutely not how we would plan or want.  I love seeing all these people with smiles recorded in perpetuity. 

5. Fall Carnival

Yes, I'm at it again, planning the Fall Festival for our school.  I'm asking for prayers to make this happen and to help get the people we need to make this a community building event.  In this day and age, with so many stressed about money and jobs, we need a bit of sweetness and light so I'm hoping people will be willing to give a bit of their time to make this a fun day for all.  I've got a month and six days to pull it all together. 

6. Permanent Optimist

When we were faced with the momentary mess of the basement, my son would occasionally cry out because it was icky and gross and cold hard work.  I had purchased two t-bones for the anniversary feast which we didn't get to eat on the 11th, so to coax him through the hard points, I offered him my steak.  This was a good bribe.

I remarked, "It was a good thing we didn't have this to eat yesterday." my son who was receiving the t-bone winced.  "Mom. Do you always have an optimist perspective? Do you always have to look for the bright side?" 

"Pretty much yes." I answered.   Just after dinner, power went out again and the whole house was pitch black. 

The two oldest daughters would have to sleep upstairs with their other sisters because of the mess. I turned to my oldest son and said, "It's a good thing they aren't sleeping downstairs tonight." 

"Why?" he asked. 

 "Because the little girls would be scared about the darkness if they weren't there."  That optimism, it's in my blood.  I just can't help it.  

7.  Missing Tomatoes

This year, we're still waiting for big red ones.  I am going to take a trip to the local orchard because Summer demands an olive oil basalmic vinegar garlic tomato salad. My father-in-law taught me how to make this salad back when we first moved to Maryland and it has been a staple of my summer diet ever since.  Given the fact that I did not pass my glucola test (I have to take the three hour version), I'm going to eat this BEFORE I take the long test in case it gets placed on the prohibited food list. 

You can do 7 Quick Takes Too over at Betty Beguiles who is subbing for Conversion Diary this week!  I'm altering between Quick takes and Small Success so as to keep up the writing without having to struggle to produce two set pieces that are essentially lists in the same week.