Summer is going well so far. I had forgotten how much more food our kids seem to consume when they’re off school. It seems as if they were born with hollow legs. Also, Polly has been having friends spend the night, and the addition of a few more mouths to feed has made it always time to run to the store. I have been hitting the farmer’s markets this year, as well as a store that I found quite by accident that sells items directly from farmers, resulting in huge savings. With the plan to freeze a lot, I went a little crazy. They had these huge bags of red and green peppers for sale for $2.99 per bag. I had planned to roast some, and then maybe make stuffed peppers. I ended up chopping a whole bunch to freeze so they wouldn’t go bad. Add to that chore the vast quantity of Oregon berries I just had to buy, by the flat, of course, and I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Oregon strawberries are so good that I couldn’t resist. They are so sweet and juicy that they really put the California berries I had been buying to shame. I wanted to stock up, but with all of these kids to feed and the possibilities of numerous desserts, not to mention just plain snacking, and it doesn’t look as if they will be lasting as long as I had hoped. Maybe I should buy some more before the season ends. Alex and I talked it over and decided to buy a food processor. I had a blister on my hand from all of the chopping, so my “yes” vote was admittedly biased. It arrived today from Amazon and I haven’t tried it out yet. Alex mentioned that if we had more tomatoes he could whip up a batch of salsa, but I don’t want to go to the store again.

My Mom bought a house so she is very stressed right now. She closes in less than 30 days. It is a nice ranch style, three bedroom, 2 bathrooms with an attached garage and a beautiful yard. It is about 15 minutes from my house by car, but it’s walking distance to my sister Maria’s house, so at least we won’t have as much worry with her being so far away from family as she is now. I know that her tastes run more to the large 2 or 3 story Victorian style houses she has always been drawn to, but I convinced her that a one level house would be easier for her, especially in the years to come. She already has one artificial knee and her doctor has said it is only a matter of time before she needs to have the other knee done and also a hip. She just can’t have all of those stairs to deal with. I reminded her that she promised to pay someone to move her so I am secretly hoping she doesn’t even ask me. Why can’t my mom like rattan furniture? It’s so light.

Not much else going on here. We have decided to send Nathan back to high school in the fall. He needs the social interaction and I am not the best home schooler in the world. Trying to get a 15 year old with ADHD to study is hell. I did manage to get him to read a few books though, and I am happy to report he is now reading for pleasure. He even asked me to take him to Powell’s book store the other day and I almost passed out. Polly was mad that I was so excited because she is always asking me to take her to Powell’s, but Nathan has willingly read a book in years.

My camera is still in the shop and I am starting to get pissed. I want it back! Alex asked me if they had sent it to Japan when they told me they were shipping it out to be repaired to keep costs more economical and I had to admit that I hadn’t asked them.

We are going to the beach for five days next week and I am looking forward to getting out of town, even if it does mean shaving parts of my body that usually go neglected.