Everything about today was extremely satisfying. It started with waking up with my love an having some great QT with him before his boys got home. We laid in bed longer than if it was a work day of course and then started some 4th of July prep before sitting down to a nice late breakfast. That’s when his kids arrived.

One of the boys sat and chatted with us while we ate and then proceeded to run in and out of the house lighting firecrackers. Not part of my normal routine, but I guess it’s cool if you are a teenager to blow stuff up. I was actually kind of amused.

Later we went to Jim’s parents house for a visit and that lasted for about a half an hour. Fascinating listening to stories and Jim and the boys have probably heard all of it before, but since I’m new, it’s all new to me. I’ve learned a thing or two about listening to stories in my day, and the value in it. I could have sat there for longer, but we had other things that needed to get done, on a certain schedule so we made our exit.

Jim has a yearly tradition to take his boys camping over the holiday and so they had supplies to get and pack for that. They were going to check in this afternoon and then come back to my house to do some fireworks in the evening since the campsite doesn’t allow that. I’m not sure what time I arrived home, but I had plenty of time to run errands and take a nap. (more on the whole napping thing sometime soon). I had so much time, in fact, that I kind of ended up laying in bed wondering what to do until 8PM when they were arriving.

It wasn’t a long enough time to do any serious bike riding, and actually that thought did not cross my mind until I got a random text from Matt wishing me “Happy 4th”, “Enjoy the ride (if I was doing it)”. He remembered. In that moment, I really kind of wanted to get on my bike and go. I mean, what was stopping me? There are no rules, and just because my whole day wasn’t dedicated to that ride didn’t mean I couldn’t just go anyway. So I did. (In truth, I also kind of wanted to reply to him that I was in fact on my traditional bike ride, so that’s something).

I had my chee-toes and filled my water bottle with the Mikes Hard Lemonade, put air in my tires, and off I went. Not to the river, of course, because “aint nobody got time for that”. I only got as far as Halleck park. That’s where I stopped, sat for a minute snacking and sipping, and then was on my way back. Going through Papillion, I stopped at a fireworks stand and dropped 20 bucks (it’s too easy) on a few items for when Jim and the boys were over. Then I made it home, sweaty, buzzed, and ready to sit and relax and have some dinner which is exactly what I did.

After that I did a quick check around the house to make sure it was “guest” worthy. One of the things I checked was the front porch, and found my MFA residency workshop packet waiting for me. What an excellent surprise! I promptly opened it and took the plastic bound pages out to my back patio for a first read. Quite enjoyable. I like reading what my school peers have written, but also got some pleasure in seeing my poems in the packet as well. Mine were last which likely means I’ll be doing my workshop later in the session.

It wasn’t long after beginning to read that I was inspired to write something and so I grabbed my laptop and got to work. Then, Jim and his kids arrived breaking that flow and we were onto the next thing. It was a quick tour of the house and then even quicker setup in the driveway out front with chairs and fireworks. I don’t mind them really, I just never want to spend a ton of money on something so ridiculous as that. I’m totally OK with other people doing what they please.

We made quick work of the pile and it was a good thing, because toward the end the wind really started to blow and the radar showed a storm rolling in. We were just picking up all the firework garbage when it started to pour down rain. They needed to make it back to their camp sight (sounds like a terrible idea in a storm), and I was satisfied just to come in my own house and settle in for the night.

In fact, I was pretty well satisfied with just about every part of my day today. I even wrote a really great poem. It doesn’t get better than this! (oh but I have a feeling it will).

Happy 4th of July Ya’ll.
Peace and Love,
~Miss SugarCookie