Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3...Is This Thing Still On?

Well, I've been gone so long that I just had to make sure blogging was still a thing.  You know, that it's still being done.

I mean, technology and social media seem to be evolving at warp speed these days, so you never know what might have become obsolete overnight.  You could go to sleep and wake up in a Brave New World-ish place, feeling like you're trapped in an episode of "The Jetsons."  (Now that TV show reference doesn't date me at all, does it?  Just a few days ago, I celebrated my 58th birthday, and it shows.  Oh, does it ever show!)

But getting back to the idea that it's hard to keep up with the latest techno-trends: yesterday, I took some pictures of my nieces and their little ones on my iPhone, and I offered to make the girls up some flash drives or CD's of all the shots I got.  That gave everyone a good chuckle.  Why didn't I just go ahead and put them on a 90's-era floppy disc while I was at it?  (The photos got sent via text messages, so I didn't even have to make a trip to Best Buy to hunt down some storage paraphernalia from the Stone Age.  Easy peasy.)

Here are a few of the pictures I took, just to give you an idea of the sort of cuteness by which I found myself surrounded yesterday afternoon, lakeside.



My sister-in-law has four of her five kids staying with her this week, and all four of her grandchildren.  She lives next door to my husband's childhood home, where he and I are staying for the summer so that we keep an eye on nearby Oyster Haven and clean it in between rentals.  (Our fourth set of week-long renters are there as I write this!)  Spending time with her crew, and seeing how much they enjoy the lake, gets me so excited for next week--when all five of our boys, our four daughters-in-law, and all seven of our grandchildren will be with us at Oyster Haven for a big family reunion of our own.

In anticipation of feeding my little army, I have been baking goodies ahead and freezing them.  So far, I've got two coffee cakes made, and two pans of caramel brownies.

Oreo brownies are in the works this morning.  (Those are the roses my hubby sent for my birthday, which he spent flying some lucky folks to Rome.)
My daughter-in-law Preciosa is busy making special "team" shirts for the whole family to wear when we have professional pictures taken together during our vacation week.  The numbers on the backs, 1 through 18, have been assigned according to when each member officially joined the family, whether by marriage or by birth.  Here is my husband's, being held up by son #3.

Anyway, I'm hoping the blog hasn't gone the way of the floppy disc or the dinosaur, at least not yet.  After I finally got around to cracking open my laptop for the first time in ages, I realized that I MIGHT just have more to say, even though you wouldn't know that by the radio silence over here at String of Pearls this summer.

Speaking of the radio...I did recently do a radio interview with Allison Gingras, on her "A Seeking Heart" program (which is a sort of on-air Catholic book club).  Ten days ago I included a link to the program--wherein we discussed Finding Grace, Erin's Ring, and marrying our high school sweethearts, among other things--in a 7QT post; but if you missed that and are interested in listening, here's the archived link to the podcast.  Since I didn't get around to doing a Grace-filled Tuesdays post yesterday (because I've become a bit of a blogging slacker as of late!  I blame the heat and humidity, and the fact that my husband and I are busy managing our VRBO property), this should fill in nicely for my own online book club.

Well, I hope you're having a great summer, dear readers.  Mine has been spent visiting with lots of special relatives on both sides of our family tree and looking forward to having a whole glorious week with my own nuclear family.  And also, I must admit, it's been spent feeling a tad jealous of the renters who are staying at our beloved Oyster Haven!

But truly, my accommodations have been absolutely stellar.  Here's the view from the deck of the Pearl homestead, where I've been privileged to spend my summer.
There's nothing like getting up and having a relaxing cup of coffee, while enjoying a view like that!  (Another fun thing to do with your morning coffee might be to listen to Allison's radio show, if you're so inclined...)

Okay then, until next time...

8 comments:

  1. Glad to hear from you! I hope we can see some of your family pictures! (Blur out the little one's faces if need be!) I love those shirts. Happy belated birthday.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Madeline! I hope you're having a wonderful summer! And thanks for the birthday wishes.

      I don't think I'm going to be able to resist posting some photos from the reunion. If my firstborn and his wife are still averse to having their kids' faces on public social media, I will blur them out or only post ones where they're seen from behind.

      I do love the shirts! I'm so lucky that I have a daughter-in-law who has the capability of designing and making them herself. The possibilities are endless!

      Delete
  2. Laura
    Love hearing from you, sounds like you're having a wonderful time, enjoying the good life. You make me feel at peace about what my life will be one day, I hope. Love how all your family are coming together for a holiday :-) And what a neat idea of your d-i-l re the shirts, love it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Erin! Do be at peace. As hard as it is when they grow up and fly far from the nest, there is so much about this time of life that is absolutely fantastic. (And what we think we just might do is make a new nest, a little closer to some of our boys!!)

      This week at Oyster Haven will be the first time all five of our sons have been together since Christmas 2014. There have been a few occasions where most of them have been able to make it to an event, but one was missing. This is going to be such a special week. :)

      Delete
  3. Love the pictures of the kiddos! And I love the t-shirts ... I can't wait to see the pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These t-shirts are the best! And we'll just keep adding numbered shirts when new members join the team. When the little ones grow up, they'll need new, bigger shirts...but they'll always keep their same numbers. (Every number gets "retired" once it is used!)

      Delete
  4. You're technology comments made me smile. :) I love technology but it sometimes comes at us at a dizzying rate of speed. And it sounds like Oyster Haven is a success for you! That's wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yikes, sometimes I don't feel like I can keep up! But then again, I would never have the joy of blogging if not for the computer age, so I really should just be grateful for modern technology!!

      So far so good on the Oyster Haven house. This is the fourth week that we've had a group/family of renters staying there! For our first summer, it's been very successful.

      Delete