Good Monday morning, my friends! We are halfway through July, and the weeks keep flying, don't they? I often gauge my summer by television events, sad but true, and this summer is keeping me on my toes! Shark Week was unusually early this year. It wrapped up this past weekend. My summer guilty pleasure staple, Big Brother, starts this week. Big Brother has been a part of my summer since it first aired in the summer of 2000. I remember Peyton was a newborn, and I was looking for things to watch while I snuggled her, and I tried it. Still watching, twenty-four years later! The Republican National Convention begins tonight, and, of course, the Olympics shortly after. So, there's that.
Before I go any further, I want to comment briefly on the horrible assassination attempt on former President Trump on Saturday evening. I refrain from discussing politics here in this space and will continue to do so. However, I could not let this pass without mentioning it. The horrific attempt on President Trump's life is a moment that will be remembered forever in the history books. I remember being in the sixth grade when His Holiness Pope John Paul ll was shot. Our teacher ran in and took us to the auditorium to watch on television. Years later, I was a junior in high school standing in the lunch line with my friends when we heard of the Challenger explosion. And now, I will remember sitting on my couch, reading a book, and getting a text from my son in our family group text asking, "Trump just got shot???
Again, I do not discuss politics here because I believe we can make educated decisions about which political party we favor and which policies are best for us. That is a personal choice based on several factors that are individual to each of us. Saturday's events go way beyond this. Whether Republican, Democrat, Independent or anything else, we are all human beings. As such, we should be able to come together and agree that any attempt on a human's life, as well as the senseless taking of another human life, is a horrific act of violence that must not be tolerated. I pray we can come together as people, as Americans, and set the hate aside. And that is all I am going to say about that.
Happy news: I visited my momma yesterday! She was doing well and was so glad to see me. I know she knows I am important to her and a piece of her life. Sometimes I am me, BJ, she says, and other times I am her best friend, whom she grew up with. I am also her mother. None of that matters to me because she knows I love her and is happy when we visit! I cherish every moment we share, and while I am optimistic here in this space, I am also aware that this crappy disease is slowly taking her further away from me every day. And that sucks. What helps my sister Margie and I are the moments we share with her when our Mom breaks through and we see the beautiful woman who gave us the most wonderful and happy childhood.
My bestie Heather and her husband Dave came over Saturday night for an impromptu fire. The weather was perfect—not too hot and not too chilly. We had pizza mountain pies, fruit mountain pies, and, of course, S'mores! Steve caught his first fish of the year and saw some beautiful bucks on his walk. While he was doing that, I was working in the kitchen and thinking about how excellent my homemaker skills were when I found this.
Is that even possible? This means I would have moved this little plastic jar of red pepper two times! And then, I never noticed it was that old? It's one of life's unanswered questions, I suppose.
On that note, I'm off to get some breakfast. Or another cup of coffee. Or both. Have a lovely Monday, my friends. Thanks for visiting!
Billie Jo
