If Wishes Were Fishes

Last night my friend Steph called to see if I wanted to watch the meteor shower with her.

What time? 

About 11.

I've told her before that I turn into a pumpkin at 9, so I would have to text her back around 10 to let her know if I could stave off my pumpkiness for a few hours.

I skipped the Back-to-School night at the high school because Bill couldn't go, and we have two kids at the school, so someone would get neglected in some way because I couldn't attend all the classes of both girls, and I have two zits on my chin, and just couldn't bear the thought of spending two hours traipsing from one class to another among throngs of parents, smiling pleasantly while inwardly thinking about how I should have made dinner for my family, and how I need to get school supplies, only to get brief descriptions of classes and email addresses of teachers that are all already available online, all the while living my reoccurring nightmare of being back in high school, unable to remember my schedule or locker combination, and being two chapters behind in math class.
That's a good enough excuse, isn't it?  (Still feeling guilty.)

Instead, I cooked dinner for my family, we ate together, then did the dishes together.  We compiled a list of necessary school supplies, then Shilo and I headed to the store to acquire them while Lexee worked on homework and Mauri watched a few episodes of her favorite shows (which, unfortunately, I couldn't even name for you).  Bill attended his meeting, then we all met back together around 10 to read scriptures and have family prayer.  Since Mauri had a day off of school the next day, and since my pumpkiness seemed to be in check, I sent Steph a text.

Are you still planning on going tonight?

(And no, I don't abbreviate anything when I text.  I'm not sure why.)

She called back and said she would be by to pick Mauri and me up around 11.

Bill said he was jealous.  He wanted to go.  But he needed to get to bed.  No day off tomorrow for him.

We had a great time.  We found a spot in the middle of the high school football field, where we laid out our blankets and huddled together for warmth.  (So yes, I've been in a huddle on a football field.)

(See the astro-turf?  At least we didn't have to worry about the sprinklers coming on.)

Madalyn snapped some pictures of Mar and me, which is when we discovered that those parking lot lights in the background can do cool things...

...like make fish.

So the girls tried a few other picture-taking techniques.

Then they settled down to watch for shooting stars to wish upon.

We watched for almost two hours, with good success, then headed home.  The best part of the meteor show was supposed to be around 3am.  I thought how I would love to see it.  Then I climbed into bed.
It was a good night.  Literally.  Good Night.