Fourth of July

My BIL put it best tonight. The 4th of July just isn't as much fun when you are an adult. When we were kids, it was almost like waiting for Christmas. You waited eagerly for the day to come in the summer where you could shoot off pop bottle rockets, light fountains, do smoke bombs, etc. It seemed like it took forever to get here and you never had enough time to light all the fireworks so you strung the popping out for at least another weekend or two.

As an adult now, you are sitting outside thinking about how stinkin' hot it is. The breeze that has been around all day, of course, desists as soon as the sun starts to set. Even if it is a fairly cool 4th, the lack of breeze, coupled with the humidity in the South, makes the evening sweltering. If you are lucky enough to be the parent or aunt or uncle that isn't appointed to supervise this year, you pull up a lawnchair and help keep an eye on the kids and freebase liquids to stay hydrated. If you are a supervising adult, you get to assist with the lighting of the fireworks, which also goes hand-in-hand with being the enforcer.

"C, get back. M make sure your arm is extended. J don't go past your uncle. Ok, run kids. Not now C; it's J's turn."

My evening consisted of me sitting in a lawnchair at the edge of the driveway and the country road. I was the designated sparkler adult. M would get up next to me like he was getting ready to sit in my lap and we would light a sparkler and wave it around. This only lasted for about 3 sparklers and then he got bored and wanted his father to get his F-150 truck out of the back of our truck so he could drive it around the yard. I also lit sparklers for my nephews, C & J. They did ok with them, but you still had to remind them to hold them away from their body and don't get near anyone with them.

Fun, huh? Now, I'm sitting in the living room with the air conditioner blowing on me and the fan blowing on me as well--cooling off--before I head to bed. You see, this parent (like it seems that my parents did as well on most 4ths) has to work tomorrow.

So, now I will retire to bed for the night. I pray there are no thunderstorms like there were last night. My built-in thunderdetector crawled into bed with us at 1 and spent the rest of the night there. My neck and upper back have been killing me all day. I know B pulled him away from me at least 3 times and I moved him back in the center of the bed twice. Sleep peacefully and Happy 4th!