The 4th In All It's Glory

Independence Day always comes as a mixed bag, for me. Love the flying flags, the red-white-&-blue, the barbeques, and the over-abundance of food. But the fire works? Meh. Kinda' loud, kinda' scary ... kinda' just freaks me out.

Of course, finding myself in a close network of family and friends who make homemade "boomers" out of black powder and non-dairy creamer (That would be Pops. Bizarre, right?) and beloved Grandpas that light the children's two-footed sparklers with an actual blow-torch could be where some of my issues stem.

Needless to say, I was so preoccupied, I took virtually no photos. And when Peter took a picture of Pops and myself, apparently I still managed to be distracted about the potential hazards Jane might be encountering during this fool-hardy moment of portraiture.

Or. It could be I was just so blinded by the fantastical fashion statement Pops was making. He wore this to church. Seriously, he did. (But tucked in, with a belt so it was more "dressy") A person sitting behind us mentioned they could barely concentrate on singing the hymn during the "stand-up" portion of the worship because she couldn't stop looking a his ensemble, and one man stopped us in the parking lot to tell Pops that, quote, "Those shorts are awesome, man. Really. It takes a real man to wear that. You're my hero."

Anyhow. Back to the more soothing elements of the celebration. Dessert. I baked a batch of Sweet Nest Brownies, but in a parchment lined jelly roll pan for 20 minutes, frosted with real chocolate frosting (Melt two squares unsweetened chocolate, cool and combine with 1/3 c. soft butter. Beat in 2 cups powdered sugar, 1.5 t. vanilla and 2 T milk or 'til creamy), sprinkled with turbinado sugar and topped with berries. Yum.

Now to get back into the swing of things this week. Anybody else in a post-holiday lazy slump like me?