The Month of July

In the last twenty-five days:

Phil has been sick five of them. One Virginia friend said, "That's the just the air here. There is something pollinating twelve months of the year; the allergens never stop." If that's the case, I'm not sure what we can do to help him, if anything.

We watched the semi-final between the Netherlands and Argentina, when the Dutch lost in the penalty kicks at the end. And then we watched the whole final, and rejoiced when Germany won.

We've had a marvelous run of friends and fellowship. Four friends came to visit one-on-one; we hosted one large group party, one baby shower, one good-bye dinner; Phil had two visits with friends in town over coffee; I cooked a couple meals for an out of town group; and we went to another good-bye party. This besides church and community group. It's been fun.

The blackberries we planted in the greenhouse (that have since run riot) have started to ripen. I can pick a gallon for the freezer and still have some left over for a buckle or just eating.

I've practiced the flute all days but two. It's a fun challenge to see how much I can regain skills I had in high school and college. I am enjoying letting the flute sing for me, and enjoying the challenge to my fingers as I work through exercises. I'm not sure what to do after I get through the first practice book: after that I should work on my repertoire, and I probably will need a teacher for that, should I choose to continue. We'll see!

Phil and the boys built two planter boxes. And I haven't planted anything yet.

Phil and I went through our four deep freezes and took inventory. I was glad he was there, because the freezer with pork had frozen into a solid mass. Phil hacked it out over the course of a half hour, and my entire sink is now thawing a massive quantity of pork. I will probably grind it up into sausage and call it good. Oh—and I finally decided I never actually want to make stock with chicken feet, so I threw away the fifteen gallon Ziplocs I had accumulated over the last five years. That freed up some space!

Caleb took his first step, on his nine month birthday. Two weeks later, he started to take multiple steps, multiple times. He had a fever and has more teeth. He is starting to understand the word, "No!" He has an astonishing appetite. And he uses the toilet about 80% of the time, which I think more than adequate for someone who has no words.