T is on the couch, watching some creepy cartoon movie. S is on Webkins. Everyone else is still sleeping, J on the porch, M and N upstairs, Mell upstairs, too. I’ve been up since about 4AM digging the quiet house.

Yesterday was long but decent. J hurt his ankle on Friday night, playing with Ahab and the exercise ball, so he limped around most of the morning. We took S to baseball practice. Only five kids showed up (who schedules basketball practice on Memorial Day weekend?) so he got lots of coaching and hit pretty well. After that we watched baseball (both Cubs and Brewers lost) and I threw some fly balls to the boys. We ordered a pizza and started a half-hearted bonfire. Some of the neighbors and their kids wandered into the yard and the energy picked up. The kids had fun chasing each other with foam swords and climbing in the apple tree. I started drinking and caught a pretty good buzz. Not long after sundown the rain started falling and the thunder and lightning picked up in earnest. By nine or so we were in full-on storm mode under the gazebo. I had the western seat so I get soaked. I decided to pass on “Lars and the Real Girl” and stumbled upstairs, falling asleep with the skylights open and the storm echoing through the room. This morning I woke to the gazebo pieces on the back deck. Apparently the drunken trio decided to take it down in the middle of the night because of the storm. Somebody better put it back together today.

Work tomorrow. Warmer today. More later.