How to make a yummy iced tea (so this is sort of totally stolen from the Smith Tea house that has THE BEST iced tea on tap, so very good): Brew a fruity brew nice and strong, extra tea bags and extra long, for me preferably some herbal blend so I can drink it all day long... I like Smith Red Nectar the best so far (I am new to cold tea drinking at home). I make a pot and sort of keep it room temperature, fill at least a pint glass full of ice, and pour the tea over it. Owen is on a no-sugar kick with my Mom, so I blend up banana, coconut milk and mango smoothie thing and thin it out a bit, pour it on top like cream and enjoy! This is not nearly as good as the in house stuff at Smith, but it is a really nice home version!
Plus it's been a pretty Ugh end of summer, politics illuminate the ugliness in our world, "natural" disasters abound with huge fires throughout the West including the beloved gorge, filled our skies last week with smoke and ash, red suns and moons and a ghastly haze, storms batter the South resulting in casualties, damage, fear, basically keeping me glued to the screens. Sept. 11th crept up on me and for some reason this heart wrenching moment in time reminds me that in spite of the awfulness around, that the highlight to the darkness is that the heroes emerge and that gives me hope, that sometimes only when there is darkness the light becomes visible. So, when it feels all blegh, I will try harder to remember the folks who work tirelessly to prepare us for disaster, to help us when it inevitably strikes, who risk themselves for others, the true heroes.
Weird conversation with Grace: Basically she says that she has been reborn, and that we all have but only kids can remember it. In her past life she was a girl named Ava and had a sister. There aren't a ton of details, but she is sure of this.
Middle school: Woah, this is a serious milestone and it has me super impressed with my kiddo. Suddenly, he is responsible, thoughtful and helpful (except to his sister). He has nice friends, they bike to school together (and this is quite the distance frankly, across several major streets, causes me stress). He has his own phone now (so I can check in on him really, hello helicopter parent), has to change classes, has harder homework, is taking band and is super excited about the clarinet (really his gateway to the Saxophone). Now, if he could just stop badgering me so much about computer time, and realize there are other things he can do with his "down-time", and if he could not do every little nit-picky thing to subtly annoy his sister who is anything but subtle, then it would be perfect... but who wants perfect anyhow.
