So, we're almost back to some semblence of life. The downspout got fixed, and carpet's mostly dried out. The cleaners did come out yesterday. To be honest they did a half-assed job of it, but who cares. My parents are pissed that we didn't make a federal case for getting the carpet replaced, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen and living here is not worth the hassle of going to court or moving.
The earwigs that have served as the plauge of Nathan's life the past week and a half are now mostly gone. Since the only purpose earwigs seem to serve was to make the people of the middle ages fear for what little brains they had, I let him squash the little monsters.
The 4th of July started two nights ago when the first of the fireworks began. Assumedly they'll peter out again by the tenth. Up here in the northern part of the state, Wisconsin runs firework ads on our local channels. Fireworks of any real calibre have been illegal in this state since we burnt down a whole town at the turn of the last century. We are, however, luckier than Ohio in that we are allowed sparklers and spinners as well as snakes. (Snakes are what happens when a charcoal briqette is compressed and lit- it expands into an ashy little turdy thing. No flame, no sparks, nothing.)
Granted, it was my family's tradition to go to one of my mother's people's family reunions. There wasn't much reason to go, except that it was in Missouri and it always fell just before the 4th of July. Two large bags of illegal fireworks later, we'd go to my grandparents house on the outskirts of town and shoot off fountains and ladyfingers, joining the hosts of other people who shot off illegal fireworks all over the city.
In recent years its gotten a little wild. People have those amateur morters- little versions of the professional fireworks, which they set off in the driveways of their townhouses and trailer parks. It's only a matter of time before they set up border patrols at the beginning of the summer to watch for people carrying 180 lbs of coloured gunpowder in their trunks.
We're slowly killing an Umberella Tree plant. In spite of regular watering, but not overwatering, the leaves are all turning brown and falling off at a great rate. I've no idea where we've gone wrong. The only thing I can think would be that with the fans running in here that it may be getting too cold for the little tropics dweller. Tempermental houseplants I've no use for. My personal favourite is the philodendron that you can treat pretty much however you like and it continues to shoot out long vines of leaves.
Saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding last night. I'm glad we only rented it because while it was a decent movie, and funny, it wasn't exactly gripping stuff. The only truly admirable thing was that the family in question was not really all that bizarre. They didn't follow in the National Lampoon tradition of being blown entirely out of proportion for the point of the joke- they were crazy like everyone's family is crazy, not cartoon characters. I thought it was entirely appropriate.
The other good thing about it, unlike most of the wedding movies I've seen, it doesn't make me not want to have a wedding. Though I have a feeling if the whole story were told from Ian's point of view, it probably would.