June was a whirlwind, wasn’t it? I am still trying to wrap my mind around how it can possibly be July already. The past few days alone included: picking up my child from sleepaway camp, observing a belated Father’s Day with my husband, buying a new car, getting a new air conditioner installed, and celebrating my daughter’s birthday. For those of you who have been around since I was on the fence about having kids: THE KID IS NOW THIRTEEN.
I have been doing SO MUCH laundry, and there is stuff (camp stuff, gift detritus, air conditioner replacement debris) everywhere, and I cannot stay on top of the mess.
(Alert, alert: Lisa and Nicole, you may want to skip the next two paragraphs and the photo between them.)
The air conditioner replacement was a fun surprise. I scheduled a simple clean-and-check with my HVAC company, and the technician discovered that all the wiring had been devastated by mice. In fact, the only thing that was preventing the wires from being exposed completely was a giant mouse nest. I think you know how I feel about this, which is burn it all down.
We’d already spent a pretty penny to deal with previous mouse-related air conditioning carnage, back in April of 2024, and it was one of those deals where we could shell out a bunch of money to repair the old unit, which could of course die at any moment and has already proved much too welcoming to rodents… or shell out more money for a new, slightly-more-mouse-resistant unit. Considering this week is in the 90s (30s C), we went with the latter option.
The air conditioner is not doing a whole lot for the top floor yet. Carla slept with her camp fan clipped to her bedframe last night. It really does a great job of cooling. (We got it for camp because it is one of the few options that requires only batteries, and not some sort of USB charger to keep it powered on.) Several of the stores we’ve been to recently have been selling fans, which makes me feel like I need more fans. But Carla and I plan to spend as much time in or near the pool as possible, as a heat-beating measure. She has a new turtle pool float and I have pool hammocks to lounge in and copious amounts of sunscreen.
I have been exploring all the delicious options for hot-weather meals that involve no cooking whatsoever; we had chickpea salad sandwiches last night, on homemade sourdough bread that my husband’s colleague sent home with him. I am planning on making a cold noodle salad later this week, or a Mediterranean platter, or possibly another round of sandwiches, this time with this version of chickpea salad.
Carla and I spent the afternoon of her birthday shopping, which was delightful and exhausting. She wanted to go into every tchotchke / novelty items boutique within a ten mile radius. Our adventure included Five Below, Home Goods, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Target, and the Dollar Store. We also went to Pet Smart, to look at the kitties.
During our expedition, we passed a new international foods store and had to check it out. They had a variety of snacks and treats from different countries. I snagged a bag of coriander flavored Doritos which are my new favorite thing. They taste just like cilantro and are SO GOOD.
Carla was more interested to learn that this store sold squishies and fidgets that are currently all the rage. She persuaded her father to buy her a NeeDoh Fuzz Ball, but then when we got home, she noticed that it doesn’t have the NeeDoh logo on it. We got squishy scammed, y’all. My thought is that this store had no idea they were selling counterfeit NeeDohs, and so I am hoping we can go back and inform them about the problem, maybe get our money back, and definitely get some more coriander chips.
If you live in the U.S., are you celebrating Independence Day? I dislike this holiday because of the fireworks. They are loud and dangerous and it seems like a lot of people take the expansive view that the entire month of July is for setting off firecrackers in their yards at all hours of the day and night. I get very Grumpy Old Lady about the whole thing, and my husband and I typically prefer to spend the holiday holed up in our basement, grumbling about our neighbors (him) and fretting that a rogue firework will set our home ablaze (me). (Last year, we woke up on July 5 to find our driveway littered with spent firework shells.)
My in laws sent my whole family holiday apparel. This was a very kind gesture, and 250 years is a momentous anniversary. For all its flaws, I love my country. We have freedoms and opportunities here that I try not to take for granted. It is exciting and remarkable that we have reached this semiquincentennial milestone. And… I kind of feel that expressing any kind of patriotism gives an inaccurate impression of my beliefs and politics. I’ve driven past a lot of houses over the past month or so that have cheerful American flag bunting on their fences, or little American flags planted in their yards, or patriotic signs trumpeting their enthusiasm for the anniversary, and part of me feels a little lift of festive joy… and another part of me feels like I have an immediate – and quite possibly biased and wrong! – insight into what kind of people they might be and what kind of beliefs they may hold. UGH. By the way: I am not saying that people more conservative than I am are “bad;” I know many people across the political spectrum who are good, kind, loving people… who simply have different views on some topics than I do. I don’t know. It’s kind of unfair, is what I’m saying, that a symbol of unity should instead carry with it the weight of judgment. As usual, I am not the first or the most articulate person to note this; but it’s particularly noteworthy to me as we inch closer to the Fourth of July.
Let’s turn to a less controversial topic, which is my cat. Poor Lenny was shut away in my room for SIX HOURS while the new air conditioner was being installed, because the HVAC people kept going in and out of the house. He bore the injustice of his imprisonment with dignity. But he did develop a winky eye, which of course made me worry that he had something seriously wrong with him. Carla and I took multiple videos and photos of him, and examined his winky eye in various lights from various angles. I envisioned eye drop prescriptions and Rachel Green-style interactions and surgical intervention and loss of the eye. I called the vet and asked their opinion; their opinion is always “bring him in.” I scheduled the first available appointment, forgetting that there were five (5) strangers meandering in and out of my house for the foreseeable future. I called the vet back and got a later appointment. I fretted as the appointment approached because the HVAC people were STILL THERE. Finally, with about forty minutes to spare, the HVAC people left. I released the cat from my room so he could use the litter box. When he reappeared, his winky eye had resolved completely.
I had texted my husband earlier in the day to alert him to the cat’s almost certain blindness. His response was “Maybe an eggshell.” This requires some backstory, which is that my husband’s colleague sent him home with some fresh eggs the other day, from her chickens. She’d packaged the eggs in a little clear egg carton and had included some instructions with them that said they should be stored on the counter. Well. Lenny was obsessed with the eggs. He must have been able to smell chicken on them? He didn’t bother them until there were only two left. At which point, I came home from Carla’s birthday shopping extravaganza to find the carton overturned on the floor, one egg completely unharmed, and the other broken. I cleaned everything up, returned the surviving egg to the carton, and put a package of insect repellent refills on top of it to make it more difficult to bat off the counter. Not difficult enough, it turns out. The next morning, we came into the kitchen to find the eggshell I’d rinsed and left on the counter to dry once again on the floor, the makeshift carton weight on the counter, and the egg carton on the floor. The remaining egg was still intact. Hence my husband’s assumption that eggshell was the source of Lenny’s winky eye.
I made crème brûlée for Carla’s birthday dessert, per her request. The recipe called for five egg yolks, and I saved the shells because I read that they can deter slugs. Which I think are destroying both my coleus plants and one of my hydrangea trees. I love how pretty the eggshells are, or were before I baked them and crushed them. I hope they help my coleus plants! This is the third year I’ve planted coleus in the same location, and the first time that I’ve had an issue.
What’s up with you this Wednesday? How hot is it where you are? What are you making to eat when you don’t want to turn on the oven?
Beer also helps with slugs! Not that I know this from personal experience as it is way too dry here to have slugs. Although…I think they just drown in it, which feels kind of gross and cruel. Eggshells to the rescue!
I did not heed your advice and I read the HVAC woes and although I am tempted to hop on a plane and burn your house down myself, I will not. We had HVAC woes because the people who installed our heat pump did it incorrectly and it was a constant problem and we had to GET A NEW ONE EVEN THOUGH OUR OLD ONE WAS ONLY 3 YEARS OLD HELLO LET’S JUST BURN $25K ALONG WITH SUZANNE’S HOUSE.
Very frustrating!
Creme brulee, ooh la la, what a lovely dessert! Happy birthday and YES I was there in the olden days pre-Carla!
Lol egg salad has always disgusted me, and tuna salad as well. I do love that chickpea salad! WHY DO PEOPLE EAT HARDBOILED EGGS THEY SMELL LIKE FARTS. (I’m sorry, I should not yuck someone’s yum, maybe I should delete this whole thing) (not deleting but amending, I’m happy for all those egg salad lovers out there, my aversion is your advantage, more for you)
Coriander Doritos WHAAAAT THAT IS AMAZING!
I appreciate your willingness to travel just to help me commit arson, Nicole. That’s a real friend. <3
You and I have the exact same feelings about eggs. NO THANK YOU. I can do tuna salad, but only occasionally, and if I ever make it myself I have to put all the ingredients in a bowl, then avert my eyes while I dump the tuna in, and mix everything together without looking directly at the tuna. This is probably an indication I should stop eating tuna salad.
I do not want slugs near my plants but I also don’t want to drown them. Apparently my sympathy ends with mice though. I know they are just being mice, but I HATE THEM.
Oh yay – how did Carla’s party go?! Still shaking my head over the fact that she is thirteen! And that we have somehow arrived at July already; wasn’t it just March like a week ago?
Our HVAC will surely die any day now and I’m NOT looking forward to fighting with the warranty people about replacing it.
Currently, it is 96 degrees here (feels like 103) and the humidity is through the roof.
Yes, it is July and my kid is thirteen, nothing makes sense.
It has crept up to 94, feels like 100. My car thermometer was trying to tell me it was 99 a few hours ago, but it tends toward the melodramatic. Either way, I do not like it. Nor do I like the humidity! All our windows were steamed up this morning because of how humid it is. YUCK.
Carla has great taste in desserts! My cat also likes eggs–as well as butter, cheese and cottage cheese and is relentless about getting it if it’s left out any time. Once she knocked the covered leftover Xmas sugar cookies off the counter and licked the frosting off on several, so we had to toss them. I was SO mad at her! It’s cloudy and 60s here, just the way I like it. You’re keeping cool though with the pool and the new A/C. How in the world do mice get in everywhere? My older daughter had a mouse try to sneak into the basement where it met a gory demise because of their Maine Coon who often hangs out down there. What a mess to clean up though.
Why can’t cats be neater murderers, Margaret???
I am laughing at your cat’s eclectic taste, although I would have been furious about the cookie incident, too!
I generally like this time of year, but the heat and Doggo’s fear of things that go boom are putting a damper on things.
I’ve been there with having to get an HVAC service call because mice chewed on the wiring. We had to do it twice and then for some reason the mice went away. Eek!
Happy Birthday Carla! It’s nice when “on the fence” things work out;-)
Your poor Doggo!!! What a terrible combination of awfulness.
I’m sorry that you are familiar with the mice/HVAC overlap. And I’m also curious what happened to lure the mice away from your home!
I agree with you that it’s sad how patriotic symbols have become so fraught. I love a cute little flag, bunting, and other festive red, white, and blue decorations. But I dread the fireworks. They’re so loud and can do so much damage in a variety of ways. We usually stay home and hunker down. But this year, we have to go pick up our friend at the airport at 8:00 p.m. so we’ll be out and about.
Ugh, mice! They are so annoying! Oooh, now I have an idea of what I could blog about! I’m glad Lenny’s eye is better. The egg incident is too funny!
I hope being out and about in the evening means you can enjoy some colorful fireworks from afar! And hooray, a friend visiting!
I appreciate the mouse content warning! Gah. Mice! When I freak about them, I try to think of them as a bunch of Ratatouilles from the Pixar movie. But it doesn’t help sadly. But I do love cartoon mice.
Happy Birthday to Carla!!
Patriotism is complicated. I appreciate the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. The World Cup has been helpful. It’s not political and it shows that we can get along when it’s person to person and the a-hole president is not involved. I have enjoyed seeing outside views of America, like that Freddy account and his experience at like Buc-ee’s. We have some unique things and there are great people in our country. I think those who have traveled here have had positive experiences. We are more than the chief executive clown in charge. But we do not fly a flag and we don’t wear patriotic apparel… not even my kids.
We don’t fly a flag, either… but I think it’s more because we’re not “flag people” than anything??? If that makes sense? Like, we don’t have sports team flags or holiday flags either? I think the most I ever put in my yard is some ghosts for Halloween. Clearly that’s where my priorities lie, lol.
We are not flag people either!! But if we flew a flag, it would be the redesigned Mn flag which is deeply unpopular with republicans in the state… which makes me love it even more (is this immature? Probably! Do I care? No).
I’m stuck back on the Doritos. We LOVE cilantro/coriander but it always makes me laugh how some people taste it as soapy. I will keep my eyes open at some local specialty shops.
Mice. EEKS. A few weeks ago when I was in Wales, a mouse ran over my friend’s foot while we were on a patio with drinks. How can something so small cause so much panic. Oh wait, MICE CARRY HORRIBLE DISEASES.
We got a new AC ad it is MARVELOUS– good decision. And! We are exclusively eating sandwiches and rostisserie chicken salads. IT IS TOO HOT.
Happy birthday to Carla! Welcome to the teen years.
We are entering a 2-3 stretch of 100+ degree days and where we live, it’s not a dry heat. Nonetheless, I am making almond flour pancakes tonight. I have three kinds of berries from the farmers’ market and chocolate chips and I’m going to whip cream and we’re going to have a pancake bar.
I don’t want to cede the symbols of our country to the right. We don’t have a big flag, or bunting, but we have a couple little American flags (the kind you get at a parade or a march) stuck in the planters in front of our house, next to the Pride flags. The American flag now reminds me of the scene in the Handmaid’s Tale when June escapes to Alaska (which is still part of the U.S.) and she sees all the American flags and it was such moving imagery…
I have heard that crushed eggshells deter slugs because of the sharp edges and that they don’t. I still use them, mainly with vulnerable seedlings. But something is eating my basil, so maybe I’ll throw some in the pot.
Oh, and it goes without saying that we are not going anywhere near the “State Fair” on the National Mall this year. We always go to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and I’m sad it’s not there this year. There’s a parade in our town that’s always fun. We’ll go to that and eat picnic food for dinner, outside, if I can get Noah to go out into the heat twice in one day. I do like fireworks, but there are none in our town and Beth’s still with her mom in WV and I don’t want the hassle of traveling to another suburb on public transportation, so we’re skipping that.
Carla is officially a teenager. Oh gosh, that makes me feel very sentimental. I can’t imagine how you feel (though I think I can guess a little).
And she and I are so alike—creme brulee is my favorite dessert. I wish my mom would make it for me. Maybe I will ask. 💜
Thank you so much for saying what you did about July 4. Every word you said came from my own heart, from the fireworks to all the patriotic hoo-ha people have. It’s not that I’m against patriotic hoo-ha; it’s just that it has been so co-opted by the right that I want to time-machine back to when it was OK to fly the flag and no one thought you were ready to deport immigrants or supported gaudy, self-aggrandizing monuments. Well, my post tomorrow will go into that in more detail (probably more detail than I should; wonder how many followers I’ll lose with that one!). So, ‘nuf of that. Except big thank you. (And Lizzie of the fireworks hideout in the linen closet sends her regards to Lenny.)
Speaking of Lenny, I’m glad your boy is all right. That egg thing is bizarre. Who would have thought. But he’s diligent, I’ll say!
Meanwhile, belated birthday wishes to Carla. Time goes by so quickly.
The winky eye may have been a ploy to get you to pay attention to his poor neglected self … or he got something in it while exploring during his alone time. Cats … they’re something else 🙂
Love the idea of the chickpea salad sandwich! May have to try that, because we’ve just started our first of tooooo many HOT days ((triple digit forecast, whyyyyyyyy???)) … although I’m almost out of homemade bread … ugh … Heat and ovens …
As someone who thinks cilantro tastes like soap, the idea of Doritos that taste like that is absolutely revolting.
The town next to mine did a drone show in place of a fireworks show and it was a big hit! The drones did patriotic images (flag, George Washington, stars, an outline of the US) and images of importance to the locals (like a goat and a pretzel, which would only make sense if you knew the town I was talking about). At the end, the drones were able to spell out the names of the corporate sponsors. So much less noise than the fireworks! If drone shows become all the rage in the next ten years, maybe you’ll be converted to love the holiday!
Coriander Doritos? WHAT? I don’t love doritos, but I’m tempted.
We did lots and lots of bunting and flags for this Fourth! It made my heart happy to see so much Red White And Blue. My kids aren’t perfect, but I celebrate them every year. My marriage isn’t perfect, but we celebrate it every year. I can’t judge people who love our country, even thought it’s not perfect, because I’ll always be grateful to live here.
Happy belated birthday to Carla. I love that she spent her day shopping for whatever….lol! She’s a gem!
Girl, only you and your cat could have the eggshell thing happening—the winky eye is too cute, but hopefully he has no permanent damage. I can’t even imagine!