Saturday, December 26, 2020

Keep Your Eye Off The Rocket


 I checked my photos to see if I'd taken any pictures today and I had but it was just one and it was of Jack sitting on a chair. I sent it in a text to the kids about how I caught him trying to scoop an egg out of the wooden bowl it was in on the counter in order to push it onto the floor to play with. When I gave him toys to play with and he discovered that he likes to play, I had no idea I was creating a monster. 
Rachel texted that his inner kitten just wanted to play and I answered by saying that if he starts breaking eggs on the floor, his inner kitten's ass is going to get whipped. 
Yeah, yeah. 

So I'm reading (with my ears) the book whose cover you see above and I'm enjoying it and I also thought the title would probably be appropriate for tonight's post so there's your picture. The narrator is tremendous and I have fallen in love with her. Well, I guess I've fallen in love with the character she is portraying but also with her voice. The storyline involves a protagonist whose best (and only) friend asks her to come and be a nanny for her two step-children who have the unfortunate habit of bursting into flames spontaneously. 
They spend a lot of time in the pool, as one might imagine. 
The premise sounds a bit iffy but somehow it's working very, very well. 

In other entertainment news, we watched a movie on Netflix, The Midnight Sky, with George Clooney. We kept expecting...something. And smallish and mediumish things happened as the movie plodded along but then it was over and we sat there and went, "Well. Okay."

"Hand me the remote," said my husband. 

Jessie just called. August shot himself in the eye with a rocket a little while ago and Jessie's trying to decide whether to take him in to the ER and she probably will. She says it looks a little funky and it hurts him and his vision is blurry. Jesus. She said, "I forgot to tell him to watch out for his eye!" so of course it's her fault. As I always say, no matter what happens, it's the mama's fault because we gave birth to them and if we hadn't, nothing would have ever happened to them. Now there's a pro-choice argument you never hear.
I told her I had no idea what to do because none of my kids ever shot themselves in the eye with a rocket (and it's a very soft rocket with a rounded end but still...). I told her I did remember taking a friend to the ER who'd done something to her eye and they treated it somehow but I couldn't remember what the problem was or what they did and then I said, "So that doesn't help AT ALL." I always erred on the side of caution about taking kids to the doctor but I can't tell you how many times I realized after interminable waits to see someone that either there had been no real cause for concern or else whatever the doctor had done seemed to have little effect. But of course, one can't base any decisions of this sort on that thinking. 
Poor August. Bless his little rocket-launching heart. And poor Jessie. I hope their adventure turns out to be easy and that there's actually someone there who knows what they're looking at when they peer into my grandson's beautiful, perfect eye. 

It did indeed get cold last night. Down to 25 I think. When I got up, Mr. Moon announced that we were down to 9% in the propane tank so he wasn't turning up the heat and had just put on more thermal underwear. He'd already arranged to have the gas guy come fill up the tank on Monday. I, however, did not like this plan and demanded in my pre-coffee state that he "CALL THEM!" and he said, "But it's a holiday," and I said, "No, it's not. Christmas is over and the post office is open."
So he called them and they came out and now we have a full tank and will not freeze when it gets down to 27 tonight. 
Crisis averted. 

Quite frankly, I've been in a very cheerful mood today and my stomach has not hurt. I am not surprised in the least. Christmas is over and the darkness has dispelled in my heart. For a day at least. I felt a little guilty when my children mostly reported feeling the let-down of it being the day after Christmas and also feeling the effects of eating so many Christmas treats and so much unaccustomed rich food but I didn't feel very guilty and although I did sympathize, I mostly just enjoyed feeling better than I've felt in weeks. 

My husband and I have been jokey and loving and so it's been a fine, sweet day. I even cleaned out the hen house and pitchforked the big pile of poopy hay that has been collecting over the months, turning it and compacting it into a smaller pile. I felt like Farmer Mary. 

Time to go make supper. I'm roasting some sea bass and making the grits that take an hour to cook because they are real grits and not the kind that are called "quick" or - horrors!- "instant". Those are not real grits although I will admit that I do cook the quick ones sometimes for breakfast if we're in a hurry. Needs must, as they say. 

Jessie said she'll keep us posted about August and I'll let y'all know how it goes tomorrow. 

Love...Ms. Moon

17 comments:

  1. Poor August! I hope his eye is okay, and I'm sure it will be. It got super cold here last night, down to 22 degrees! I put trash bags around the little fig tree I planted this fall but who knows if it will survive these cold, cold nights. Sea bass and real grits sounds like a yummy (and warming) supper. I love the long-cooking grits and that's what's in my pantry at all times. I don't make them that often because they take so long and must be stirred a lot to get that good creamy texture. Too much trouble for one person because my husband doesn't eat grits.

    I think I'll avoid Midnight Sky since it sounds kind of boring. We started watching Bridgerton last night which is almost a guilty pleasure considering what it is....but the costumes and sets are gorgeous and some of the actors are smoking hot and there's plenty of sex...even my husband was mildly entertained by it! Haha. So you may want to try that.

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    1. Those grits were great and the fish was good too. Sometimes when I am going to make cheese grits with the long-cooking ones, I use about some milk along with the water. So that makes it even creamier. About 1/4 milk, 3/4 water.
      You should make them for yourself. I wonder if you could freeze portions?
      Yeah. Midnight Sky didn't have much to offer in my opinion. We started watching Bridgerton last night but we haven't gotten to any nudity scenes. I keep looking at the actors wondering, "Is SHE going to be naked?"

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  2. If August gets an eye patch to wear, tell him one in a life time is his limit. I hope it's very easy to fix.

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    1. I don't think he'll need an eye patch. I'm hoping that by the time he gets to the eye doctor it'll be mostly healed up.

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  3. He can also play pirates!

    I already read the update so I know it's okay to joke.

    Like you I felt pleased with life today. Christmas is over and now I can feel better, is how it goes. Even though I enjoy the day, I'm still glad it's done.

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    1. No matter how simple you keep. Christmas, there are always expectations, aren't there?
      August would make a great pirate.

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  4. Farmer Mary :)

    What do grits actually taste of? Anything? And why are they called grits? It's not an appealing name.

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    1. I just looked it up, Jo! "Grits" comes from the Middle English word "Gyrt" meaning rough grain. Here's a little article and video if you have any interest.
      https://www.southernliving.com/grains/grits/southern-history-of-grits-video
      Grits are sort of like any cereal porridge- they do have a taste but you can dress them up however you please. Mine last night had cheese and paprika. Delicious!

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  5. Good that August will see the ophthalmologist on Monday. No use taking any chances with vision.

    Was pretty sure the day after Christmas would lighten your mood, so happy that was the case. It was basically a non-event here. The only surprise was that the day ended with snowfall (not predicted) enough to cover the grass, trees and rooftops, but not the roads. And yes, like you, 22 degrees by later in the day after starting with 58 at midnight. First Christmas Day snow in decades. But I do feel for you and those temps...so not what you are used to.

    Ah, well. Back to laundry and cleaning. Ho hum.

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    1. Snow! Hurray! Sort of.
      I don't mind the cold so much as long as the sun is shining and my house is warm. And of course it never lasts long.
      I wish I could make myself clean. I just can't seem to do that.

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  6. I imagine August's eye will be just fine. and I know how you feel about christmas being over. back when I actively despised the christmas season, the day after was one of my favorite days. I can't believe you're having colder weather than me. we've dipped down to freezing a time or two but not in the 20s.

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    1. Oh yeah. Down into the twenties but I think it's going to be in the high thirties tonight. Somehow it really does feel different as I am sure you know. And the plants certainly react differently.

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  7. Sorry about August's eye! Poor guy! Adventures in parenting, right?

    Glad you got the propane situation solved. It makes sense to just get it if it's possible rather than stressing about whether you're going to run out.

    I haven't heard about that book! It sounds...bizarre.

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    1. Adventures in parenting for sure. I think he'll be fine.
      Yes- No way I was going to be spending the weekend worrying about running out of gas if we didn't have to. But of course I'm the one who freaks and fills the gas tank in the car if it gets down to less than half a tank. And I drive a Prius so I could probably drive to Tennessee on half a tank.
      The book is good.

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  8. I agree with you about the Midnight Sky movie. Slow moving and kind of predictable, right? The dialog wasn't great either - the part when the 2 guys were leaving and they said, "wish us luck." and the Captain guy says, "good luck". Thrilling!!??
    Glad August's eye was checked out and hope he will have a quick recovery. I remember when my DIL had to take my grandson to the ER because he had a lego stuck up his nose! Kids!

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    1. I agree with you about the dialogue. And so predictable for sure. I KNEW that woman was going to die from the space walk situation before she even went out. Of course, all that blood floating around was a bit shocking. I kept thinking- how are they going to clean that up?
      Owen got a peanut up his nose once that didn't come out for months and we TOOK him to the doctor when it happened. She couldn't find it.

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  9. I'm not trying to be critical here, but I do believe there is a seasonal movie that is pretty much based on 'You'll shoot your eye out'.

    I should feel very guilty here. I should be deep into my text books, but I'm using my break to read a book that I got for Christmas. "The God of Small Things". It feels so luxurious to read for pleasure. I climb into bed at night and read for an hour and shut off the light feeling like the richest person in the world.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.