Remiss

July 27, 2008

I have been so remiss in writing this even though I think about it all the time.

I kept wanting to write about "Cinderella Wore Combat Boots". Liz directed this wonderful little play in the beginning of the month. They had one production and it was outside and it was free. It was just a delight. A great execution of a great idea. There was a great turnout on a very, very hot afternoon and everyone seemed to love everything about it. Immediately there was talk about making this an annual event-sort of an adjunct to the usual production schedule. The backdrop was two sheets, one on top of the other, pinned to a clothesline and the narrator simply flipped back and forth as the scenes changed. Perhaps "The Clothesline Players" has been born. Bravo, Liz!

On July 14 Nick and I went to the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. What an amazing night. We watched Josh Hamilton hit 28 HRs in the first round of the derby. It is hard to understand how these guys' arms can have such power. Those balls were flying through the air. No ball has ever been hit out of Yankee Stadium but we watched a lot of them come as close as any probably ever have.

Before the HR Derby they held All Star warmup on the field for a couple of hours. It was a lot of fun to see the all stars out there tossing the ball around, batting. A number of them had their kids with them hanging around on the field. Then when the derby started, the kids plus kids from The Boys and Girls Clubs of America all chased the balls in the outfield. It was a great night and one that I am really happy we attended.

I have been to two movies this week, "Mamma Mia" and "X Files". MM was definitely the ultimate "feel good" movie but I will go see any movie with Meryl Streep in it. It was pretty much a celebration of the mature woman and woman friendships. I don't think I have heard Meryl Streep sing before but she certainly sang through this whole movie. I enjoyed if but do know that it is not one of the great movies of all time. I enjoyed the company so it was a good time.

This morning Nick and Liz and I went to see "X Files-I Want to Believe". I actually thought it was pretty good. Also another movie that will not be one of the great movies of all time but I enjoyed it anyway. It was like a good extended TV episode when they weren't all weird. Again it was great company so it was another good time.

It is doldrum time in the garden. I have to find some good midsummer flowers. There are a lot of blooms on the dahlias now so that will have to hold me until the mums in the fall. The bottlebrushes were really pretty but they're gone and the hostas were also pretty but they are done now also. The five tomato plants are dead. They never got really strong and hardy looking although they have tomatoes. When I finally looked closely the leaves are yellow spotted. I am guessing some kind of fungus.

The baby blanket has been on hold for a while but I decided last week to whip up these fingerless mittens for Susan who was celebrating her 30th birthday this weekend. The problem was that Susan just showed up at the house on Friday when I really needed to get them finished so I could bring them to her party on Saturday. They did get finished and they are pink and she is happy with them. They're actually kind of pretty but it was very easy to make mistakes.