Saturday, August 23, 2008

Life in Gratiot County...

We are learning about life living back home. This week has been interesting. My parents were out of town for the week visiting my aunt and uncle. Consequently, I learned about the responsibilities of living back home this week.

First of all, I got the 'Grandpa' duty. Mom asked me to at least pop out on him once this week. He's 90, but in very good health...but he lives by himself, so Mom likes to check in on him at least weekly. So, we pop over on Wednesday after dinner. Ring the doorbell, but no one answers. We do it again to no avail. Well, Grandpa's hearing isn't the best. So, we head to the front door and knock real loud a couple of times. No answer. So, Jut goes and peeks in the window. Sure enough, there's Grandpa watching the tv. So, Jut flags him down and we visit with him for awhile. That was fun responsibility.

Second, we got the 'corn' job. My parents plant more sweet corn than our entire extended family could eat for the year, I think. Well, a batch was ripe this week while they were gone. Since I am home, it fell to me to pick it, shuck it, blanch it and freeze it.

So on Friday, we went to pick it. I wish I would have had the camera. E went with Jut and I. Number 1, she loves the dirt. Playing is dirt is great and a garden is full of dirt...so she was having fun from the get-go. Then, she found my grocery bag full of shucked corn. She pulled out one ear, ate a few bites. Pulled out another and ate almost an entire row...pulled out another and ate a for awhile...you get the picture. She never eats cooked corn, but I guess she likes it raw because she at least one full ear. Anyway, the corn made her just a sticky mess...and you combine that with the already dirtyness of playing in the garden. She was a site to behold. When I got her home and threw her in the tub, I even found a corn worm in her hair. GROSS! But, she had a good time and so did Jut and I.

We took the corn home and froze 27 pints. Not a ton, but it was a good first effort. I've done it numerous times with Mom, but never on my own. So, I put my first notch on my belt as a 'real' grown up. I wouldn't say that doing up the corn is fun, but it wasn't too bad either.

The nicest thing about being home happened this evening. Mom and Dad needed to go grocery shopping and so they dropped by this evening on their way to the grocery store. We were able to chat about their trip and they played with E. We ordered pizza and had dinner. It was really, really nice. I'm glad to be home.

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