Conversations About the 4th

I took a break for the holiday, but here I am, at it again. As holiday weekends went, this one was tame. It all started with a conversation on Friday.

She: “So, what are your plans for the 4th?”

Me: “Nothing.”

She: “For real? You’re always on the go, or traveling or something?”

Me: “Precisely why I’m not going anywhere this weekend.”

So it was almost the truth. In actuality, I did have sketchy plans to go to karaoke on Sunday and to the golf course across from my alma mater for jazz and fireworks. On the 4th of July, I sat around in my homemade Public Enemy shirt (more on that in a later blog), yoga pants, knit booties and granny bonnet (yes, really) drinking a cup coffee while writing this blog, watching my son eat his lunch and the rain come down outside. And life is perfect. So what did I do all weekend? Exactly squat.

Friday, I went to work and after work, my hubs and I decided to go to Sam’s Club (if you’re not familiar with Sam’s, think of any big box super club). I was prepared for a madhouse: it was after all, a Friday, the 1st of the month, and the kickoff to a holiday weekend. In addition, a colleague had put her experience at another big box club up earlier that day. Yet I was pleasantly surprised. It was actually emptier than I’d anticipated—even emptier than a typical Friday, and everything was well stocked. So we navigated through with ease and came home. That was Friday.

Saturday, we got up to take our kid to soccer practice—only to remember after we got there that there was none. At least one other parent was as dedicated as we were. Since it was in the 9 o’clock hour we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, where I convinced my son and hubby that every child needs a talking toucan toy. Although Cracker Barrel has good country breakfasts, there’s just something a little disappointing about the service since most of the time, my food comes to me lukewarm. After Cracker Barrel, we each ran an errand, got some gas, and came back home. After watching a movie, I took myself out on the deck with a book and a glass of Chardonnay. Then in the evening, I enjoyed good conversation and another drink. And that was Saturday.

Sunday was supposed to be church in the morning followed by karaoke in the evening. Neither happened. I desperately wanted to cling to my bed most of the day. I did manage to get up to eat breakfast, season some chicken for the grill in the afternoon and make some from scratch potato salad for dinner. And that was Sunday.

On the actual holiday, I got up that morning, warmed up some pancakes for my kid and prepped a flag pie

I’d seen pictured on Facebook. It came out rather nicely, although I will confess that I’m not a fan of strawberry pie. I even had enough blueberries left to make a blueberry pie.

Alas, no ice cream. For dinner, we had food the hubs had grilled Sunday and sat down to family movie night watch Zootopia and Chicken Little. No Independence Day celebration would be complete without looking at the fireworks on TV and listening to James Earl Jones read an excerpt of Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July.” Such ended the holiday.

In my usual fashion, I could not sleep, so I stayed up until at least 2a.m. reading, knowing I had to be up in the morning.