Girls Night Out - It's Not What You Think

It's been a lovely, lazy Sunday.  Well, not terribly lazy - at least for the boys - as they mowed my sister's yard today after church.  She's touring Italy for five weeks - FIVE WEEKS! - and we're doing yard work. 

Awesome.

The boys have actually been making some money this summer and I can tell you right off that Tate is the only one who really knows how to save.  (A young man after my own heart :D )  The other two spent every penny they got until I laid down the law.  For every ten dollars they get, they need to give some as a tithe, half gets saved, and what's left is their spending money.  And the tithe?  I'm not pressuring them on an amount, but they're very agreeable to ten percent.  Sometimes more. 

But they had been forgetful, so Tate came up with a solution.  He decided they needed a jar in the kitchen so they could put their tithe money in the jar right away, because by the time Sunday rolls around it tends to slip their minds.  His brothers agreed.  He found a jar.  Problem solved.  Of course, their offering smells like dill pickles, but I don't think God minds.

My parents invited us up for lunch, which was absolutely lovely.  I'm not sure there's a better summer food than hamburgers, cooked on the grill.  And, for an added educational/entertainment bonus, the smoke from the barbecue spooked about thirty bats that were roosting under the eaves, and they all swooped away for a safer haven, right in broad daylight.

Now, before you get all EWWW about bats, let me tell you something we learned in science last week.  Those little brown bats are very clean - no kidding - and, even better, did you know they eat up to 600 insects per hour?  All night long?  I probably saw thirty, and I'm sure there are more.  Probably a LOT more, but let's just say there are 50 living in their roof.  Our nights are pretty short this time of year.  Let's say six hour of darkness?  They may feed longer than that, but I'll estimate low.  That means that every single (summer) night those bats eat up to 180,000 insects. 

Well.  I'll take bats over mosquitoes, hands down.

Meanwhile, something I am eternally grateful for is window screens.  Amen?  With our cold, wet spring, followed by a cool, damp summer we're having a bumper crop of mosquitoes.

And speaking of my mom (a moment ago)...  That is just like her, to invite us up for lunch, when she's the one in the middle of her radiation treatment and should be being pampered.  I haven't mentioned how she's doing lately, and she's doing great.  She says she's starting to "feel it" a bit.  Having a bit less energy.  But it's mighty hard to tell.  Still, I invited them to dinner this week, just because I want to. :D

Oh, by the way, summer finally came today.  Our thermometer actually hit eighty degrees.  EIGHTY.  Go ahead and laugh, all you southerners.  It was a heat wave, I tell ya.  Which necessitated the Girls Night Out.  My mom and I made that up.  That's when it's hot and uncomfortable and we remove certain foundational undergarments in the privacy of our own homes, and let 'the girls' out.  No margaritas are involved.

You're welcome.