2 day pass

it's sunday afternoon.
i cleaned the whole house, did a mountain of laundry and changed all the sheets and there are still hours of daylight on the horizon.
the pork chops for dinner are already marinating.
all the windows are open and jackson brown just came on pandora.
in case you don't get it...this is pretty much bliss.
miss bit is playing with her friend who came for a sleepover last night and is still here.
i have to keep calling and texting her mom to extend the visit because they are having so much fun.
their continuous giggles let me know just where they are:.up in the crab apple tree in the front, on the trampoline out back, in the playroom in the basement, up in bit's room.
the boys are on their way home from a baseball tournament.
1 win and 1 loss for the day...same as yesterday.
t. bone is not the least bit unhappy because now he can golf with uncle b. bone.
he has a whole new golf wardrobe and some new to him clubs too so he has been crazy to get on the course.
i doubt coach is bothered either because his entire weekend revolved around baseball.
he's plenty passionate about this pastime, but 3 days and nights gets to be a little much even for him.
plus the grass needs to be cut.
yesterday was a shout out of a day too.
miss bit had a baseball practice of her own so we opted out of spectating at the tournament an hour away.
then we went to our favorite place to pond, but it was a little cool and cloudy so the water creatures were scarce.
we lucked out though because the raptors were all out on the trails for photo ops.
we didn't pay the fee for the privilege of photographing the awesome birds of prey, but we were able to hang out with the great horned owl, the barn owl, and the kestrels.
and maybe i was bold enough to take a picture of my favorite...orion.
we headed to the beach to try and catch up with the bald eagle as well, but we just missed him.
to cheer me up, my girl searched the shore for a heart shaped rock.
it's our thing and special.
i don't want to sound weird or anything, but i sort of felt very blessed to be in the close, intimate presence of these birds.
it was way better than the time i met charlie sheen in an airport or saw woody allen on the streets of nyc or was shopping in the same store as joanne woodward, paul neuman and their dogs in new haven, ct.
bit and i came home and worked together to prep for dinner.
we are quite the culinary team.
it's so lovely too because it's moved beyond the it's more work and mess to have her help to the point where i dislike cooking without my incredibly pleasant and helpful sidekick.
she chops, stirs, tastes, cleans...she'll do anything really and with a smile.
my brother and sil showed up while it was still nice enough to sit on the patio with a cocktail and toast a sublime saturday night.
i juiced a pile of ruby reds and a few limes, and made a simple syrup for the sake of the cocktail of the eve: the paloma.
we decided it is a more sophisticated margarita and a make again.
the boys grilled up a true summer smorgasbord.
we rounded out the meal with sweet corn on the cob, a salad and those same homemade onion rings i'm still shamelessly addicted to.
t. bone went to bed without dinner.
after 3 ball games, he was too tired to eat.
this has been the quintessential early summer weekend and it has been such a blessing.
van morrison is on now.
and to think we have a summer's worth of weekends still in cue.