Happy Independence Day!

Today, as we celebrate our freedom and our amazing country, I'm cooped up in a tiny little hospital room.  No, I'm not the patient - just part of the support group for a family member who just had surgery.  But it gives me some time to sit and think.  Quiet thinking is such a lovely treat for me.  It doesn't happen very often at my house.

In years past, we've celebrated the Fourth of July with family barbecues, going to an early-morning hot air balloon launch, watching the parade, and taking mid-day naps to steel us up for the later-night fireworks displays.

This year, Trent has to work.  Ben has to work.  Alec had a bike race.  I'm in the hospital.  We have local wildfires burning out of control, so no fireworks for the kids.  So the other kids are at home, watching the parade on tv.  It's an awful lot cooler that way.  Sometimes, we have to change our plans.  We'll just make different plans.  And tonight, maybe we'll throw a party with star-spangled waffles.  Unconventional, I know, but it does kind of sound like fun.  And fun doesn't have to be regularly scripted.