He's Back!

Will arrived home today after spending the past week on his annual fishing pilgrimage on the Rogue River with his friend Dave Dean. It has been an unspeakably dull and dreary week around here without him. Nothing to blog about since Nick's bleach incident. (The black dye did very little for the sweatshirt by the way.) I can't stand for him to go out in public in it, so I bought a new sweatshirt for him. There's a lot of yardwork that he can help with this time of year.

To celebrate Will's homecoming, I prepared a pot roast in the oven with all the accompaniments. Nothing is too good for the returning dominant male of this household. We spent dinner time catching up on all the important events. Here is the condensed version:

Nick: Got a new cell phone due to his dying and me giving him my upgrade, much to my relief because I didn't want to learn to use a new phone. ("Mom, I'm so glad you don't like technology!") Nick also was pleased to announce to his father that he had successfully configured the household laptops to wirelessly print from our printer.

Eric: Got a haircut and sideburn trim to be presentable for his senior portrait sitting which occurred yesterday. He was told that when he smiles his eyes go shut, but when he tried to keep them open while smiling, he was told not to look surprised. (Can you think of any Troyers with that problem?!) Can't wait to see them! We had to raid his father's closet because his clothing options are quite limited. A tie dyed shirt with jeans might be fine for a picture with his guitar, but we needed a little dressier look as well.

Me: I went to my boss's wedding in Salem on Friday night with three of my co-workers. While at a stoplight, one of my companions pointed out the gentleman in the car next to us, who had an index finger up each nostril. After flicking the results of that exploration away, he inserted his pinkie and tried again, completely oblivious to the four women hysterically laughing at him in the vehicle to his left. But the wedding was lovely. How often are you going to get a perfect warm evening for an outdoor wedding on September 29?

Will: Enjoyed a quiet week with his only friend whose hearing is worse than his own. (Oops, not his only friend.) Spotted a bobcat in camp several times, woke up from a nap in the trailer to see a ground squirrel on the countertop helping himself to cookies (lucky the bobcat didn't come in the open door for a snack as well!), and viewed a bear up the river.

The highlight of our dinner, which I was quite excited about, was dessert. I picked the strawberries in my raised bed today, and was quite pleased with the yield. I made them admire the bowl of berries for a bit. I was also quite pleased with the bouquet of hydrangeas and roses which I cut today.
I have never had strawberry shortcake on October 1 from fresh strawberries in my back yard. I have had these everbearing strawberries for three years, and I wish I knew what variety they are so I could recommend them to you. They yield a nice sized bowl of berries about once a week from July through September.

It was delicious and enjoyed by all! No leftovers! Yes, Tom, that is iced tea in the glasses! Molly and I are drinking mint, the rest of the family likes it plain.