my Independence Day weekend was...

• a date with a very nice guy with whom I'm not sure I felt chemistry. I'm learning more and more about its importance. Where am I going to find it? Seriously, I'm asking.
  
• relaxing on our patio with chips, salsa, hummus, good friends, Scrabble, and cards. Ever since I found a deck of cards in a junk drawer the other day, I'm obsessed. Takes me back to summers with my grandparents. Wonderful memories infused with thunderstorms, small town charm, and night time locust sounds.
  
• taking said deck of cards to my Friday night job and playing solitaire on the floor while the babies slept, just to mix it up a bit.
  
• going to a friend of a friend of a friend's 4th of July BBQ. Eating hot dogs and hamburgers on the roof of a city apartment building really makes one feel like a summer in the city type o' gal.
  
• climbing up fire escapes to spy bits and pieces of several fireworks shows (Hudson River to the right, Jersey to the left, and Queens straight ahead!) among shrieks of delight, Mary Poppins moments, and a glorious 360 cityscape view. Beautiful!
• embracing my patriotism with good ol' American apple pie a la mode at my favorite down-the-street diner. Nothing beats sitting at the counter at 11:30pm laughing with your roommate and planning ways to take over the world.
  
• bright red night-time cough syrup for what I hope is just bronchial inflammation from too much BBQ fun (and smoke). I'm headed off on Thursday for business and I cannot get sick.
  
• spending Sunday laying low -- drowsiness kicking in. Sleep. Time.