Staying Up for Solstice (with Answer Me This)

Okay, so we didn't plan ahead to stay up late last night just because it was the shortest night of the year (sunset at 12:57 am, sunrise at 2-something), but it worked out nicely that way. "Nicely" here meaning "a really fun evening, followed by accidental sleeping in and a cranky toddler at Mass," but it was worth it! 

Yesterday afternoon, we bought a charcoal grill. We both love grilled food, and Matt has always wanted to be good at grilling on charcoal. Our first summer married we bought one of those tiny portable propane grills, the ones not much bigger than a sheet of printer paper, and it never really worked very well: it didn't get hot enough, it took forever to cook anything, food didn't taste "grilled" after being cooked on it... and since it was so small and low to the ground, grilling wasn't enjoyable and we couldn't have people over and grill dinner. We really didn't use it often at all. As a belated Father's Day present, we fixed the situation.

Little Bear was very helpful.

He was thrilled that Matt let him use his leatherman.

Matt really wanted something with quality cast iron grates, but nice grills can be so expensive! After looking around, we found this CharBroil grill on a good sale at Home Depot. Matt and Little Bear put it together when we got home while I formed moose-beef burgers—you have to combine ground beef or pork with the ground moose when you make burgers, because on its own moose is too lean and won't hold together. Our friend who is a master of grilling came over, and he and Matt got started. 

I wish I'd learned the secrets of grilling with charcoal too, but Little Bear, who'd had a very short nap, was losing it fast and I took him inside for a late nap while the men cooked. I'm sure I'll learn from Matt as the summer goes on; he enjoyed it, and the burgers and grilled zucchini were delicious! Little Bear's nap totally threw off bedtime, which was okay because we didn't sit down to eat supper and watch a movie, Stardust, until after 8pm. 

And by the time we went to bed at 11, Little Bear fell right asleep and didn't really wake up until it was time to run around like crazy to make it to Mass on time. He was somewhat unhappy during Mass, partly because his schedule was off and he hadn't had time to eat breakfast, but more so because the church was packed and hot and Matt couldn't sit with us and Little Bear caught sight of my family leaving from the previous Mass as we were coming in and so he was just sure that Grandma was close by and for some reason Mama wasn't letting him see her. As soon as we got home he went down for a nap, and I'm sure he'll be happier when he wakes up.

There's still a fair bit on our plate today: checking out an open house nearby, Skyping with Grandmom and Grandpop, and walking around the Midnight Sun Festival street fair. It's a beautiful, sunny day out, and we're looking forward to getting out! While Little Bear naps, though, let me see if I can make it through this week's Answer Me This:

1. When's the last time you got a new bathing suit?

I haven't been swimming or worn a bathing suit since summer 2010, but this spring I decided it's been long enough and I wanted to be able to say yes if someone invited us it go swimming somewhere, so I picked up a suit from Cabana Life when they were on sale at Sam's Club in March. I haven't worn it yet, but a friend just asked if Little Bear and I would like to go to the new artificial lake that's opened south of town with her and her kids, so I'll hopefully be pulling it out soon.

2. Who made the last incoming call on your phone?

Our landlady, asking if they could get into our apartment while we were grill shopping yesterday afternoon. Why is a story for another day, but let's just say that having a 5/16" hole in the washing machine drain pipe for years and years causes big problems.

3. If you receive Communion, do you receive in the hands or on the tongue?

On the tongue.

4. Do you have a tattoo?

Nope.

5. How many dinner plates do you have in your house?

Ten: four brown ceramic (a wedding gift), four navy-striped stoneware (which I claimed in middle or early high school when my mom got new plates), and two plates I found at an antique sale once and just couldn't resist:

Lest anyone be deluded into thinking I have a reasonably small number of plates in my house, though, I should note that we have many more smaller dessert- or salad-sized plates of various patterns that I've found at thrift stores and such over the years...

6. Do you have an accent?

My husband says, "Only when you sing..." Apparently my vowels can significantly overshadow my consonants when I sing, to the point that some words become fuzzy, which Matt attributes to my Gregorian chant background and tries to assure me is "not a bad thing, unless someday you decide to only communicate with me by singing; then it would be a problem."

Happy feast of Corpus Christi!