This evening I was at the grocery store to buy grapes for Transfiguration tomorrow. As I was standing in the checkout line with about six pounds of grapes, the lady behind me says, "Looks like somebody likes grapes!" If I were a better witness for Orthodoxy I would have said, "Well, tomorrow is the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, and Orthodox Christians bless grapes on that day." Alternatively, if I weren't a shy person I would have said (having looked into her basket and seen that she was buying three twelve packs of Miller Lite) "Looks like somebody likes beer!" But I didn't, I just pointed out the grapes were on sale and my kids like grapes.Sometimes I wonder if I could be any more of a dud.
Mark & I returned from the beach around 3:30 today. We went on quick trip to Charleston to have a few hours to ourselves before heart of the homeschooling season begins. My mom babysat the kids and nothing eventful occurred there except ants in the foyer, but they're all dead now.
For our part, however, there were a few events. Mark was stung by a jellyfish our first afternoon in the water. I don't think it was very big, but it left some welts all the same--and made him yell.
Someone accidentally walked into our hotel room last night, having been assigned the wrong room by someone at the front desk. It made me realize that my first inclination in a seemingly dangerous situation is to hide under the covers, which is what I did. Mark very boldly jumped out of the bed and shouted "Hey!" At which point the intruder left.
Then this morning as I was strolling in the water up to my knees, I saw a porpoise about 30 feet away. I've heard that porpoises and dolphins show up when sharks are around humans so I watched the fin go up and down for a few minutes. Then I turned around right when a wave was crashing over the top of a SHARK about 15 feet from me toward the shore. So I ran like a crazy woman out of the water. It might not have been that big (four feet or less), but this is what my nightmares are made of. Mark was at the car getting the beach chairs, so he didn't see it and doesn't believe I did either.
Rose just left for Niagara Falls with Mark's mom & step-dad. I put Ella on notice that she's the oldest this week so she needs to step up to the plate. At that she announced to the children, "Line up! Single File!" and marched them upstairs for bed. I was pretty impressed.
Right now Mark is at church for Vigil. The catchy melodies of the kids' Geography Songs are wafting down the stairs. These are the songs that plague me in the middle of the night because they get stuck in my head and I can't get them out. When I rid myself of one, it's replaced with another. Songs like "The Southern Africa Song" or "The Russian Federation Song" torment me in my sleep--but I love them all the same because I know the kids are learning something easily. Before this we were singing our skip-counting facts which were much more enjoyable. I'm sure I could teach my kids anything if if were set to music and put on a CD.
