Standing on the Edge of Summer

I am home for the summer.  I love it here.  I love being near my family -- not just mom & dad and Nick and Maria, who live here, but also Rolly, Brian, and Tasha and their families, who are now "within range" instead of 3+ hours away.  I don’t know how I manage, being be so far away for 2/3 of the year.

Today my dad took my mom and my grandmom out to lunch (plus me, Nick, and Maria... heh), at the Coventry Tea Room.  This is a quaint dining room that’s used mainly for formal occasions; for example, Brian and Heidi had their wedding rehearsal dinner there.  Anyway they cook some amazing meat... at the rehearsal dinner, I had a filet, and today I had prime rib, and man... was it ever delicious.  And when we asked for it medium-rare, they cooked it that way, to perfection I might add, which most nearly every restaurant manages to get completely wrong.  Even my dad, who is the least tolerant of us all when it comes to meat cooked to order, agreed it was good.

I’ve been getting along with my parents amazingly well for the past couple years.  It’s been that way pretty much forever with my mom, but my dad just seemed to have trouble connecting to us or talking to us at all when we were teenagers.  He’s pretty tough on the outside, unapproachable to some extent, and at least in the past, was a lot more grumpy than not.  But more and more I’m starting to believe that’s just a thin candy shell, and he’s all gooey chocolate on the inside.  No, seriously, I guess since all of his kids (well except Maria) are adults now, it’s just easier to get along with and talk to him.  He’s always been hilarious in a really dry, sarcastic kind of way (which I’m sure is where I get my sarcasm...), and he’s still the always-right, my way or the highway type... but lately he’s been getting more and more friendly it seems.

So anyway... I’m really really glad to be home, away from school, starting work tomorrow, and standing on the edge of summer.

Oh, and in unrelated news, this messageboard now has spell-check.  Enjoy.  Oh wait, that would require ACTUALLY POSTING messages.  Honestly people, if it weren’t for my mom, Rolly, Steev, and Joseph, I’d swear I’m talking to myself sometimes.... not that there’s anything wrong with that, right?  Right.  But still.