Tonight was the biggest fireworks display in the Midwest. It takes place every year in a park 1/2 mile from us. We thought about walking up the hill and watching it from the mobile home park where a lot of people set up lawn chairs every year. But the thought of Ulysses running around in the dark in that big crowd near the main road and possibly getting away from me scared me. And if he got lost he couldn't even talk to explain to anyone who he was and where he belonged. Maybe next year he'll be mature enough ...   more »

A few weeks ago, Don saw a Good Eats episode where host Alton Brown, a fanatical do-it-yourselfer, constructs a smoker out of terra cotta flower pots, using a hot plate and a pie pan for heating wood chips and a round grill to suspend the food. He's been talking about it ever since. Then he sat me down and made me watch the episode, too (he had recorded it). "After you watch this, you'll want to do this right away!" he said. He was right.

So we've both been excited about this and laying plans to built this clay smoker contraption for our long weekend together around the Fourth.

The Fourth is on Tuesday this year, and I have paid holiday from my wonderful job where they actually respect workers; I also requested, months ago, to take Monday off as well.
   more »