Hope your 4th of July weekend was full of family, friends, fun, food, and fireworks. Here we are setting out to watch the display on Sylvan Lake, courtesy of Rick, Cathy, Kevin, and Tina. Their two boats were tied together and sported thirty fireworks watchers and one Turner Cup, which weighs as much as a small person. Cathy took this picture of the four of us and I pilfered it off Facebook. Thanks, Cathy. You're the best.

My Disturbing Walmart Story.

Yesterday I went to Walmart and I was trying to get to the broccoli, but this family had the produce aisle blocked. The mother was feeding a bottle to a baby in the cart and talking really nasty-mean to the "father-person" in the group. Apparently he wasn't doing something right. I circled around and came at the broccoli from the other direction and encountered more family members - blonde twin girls, about three years old. They were both taking bites out of the broccoli crowns and then putting them back. And they were biting that broccoli with a vengeance! Well, I just stood there, slack-jawed and flabbergasted because, well, first of all - three-year-old's eating raw broccoli like little rabbits in a garden is odd in itself. There was no raw broccoli being consumed by children in the Pillers' home, not-nobody, not-no-how. I was also staring because the mother and "father-person" were allowing this produce-molestation to happen . And to make matters worse, the "father-person" notices me staring with astonishment, so he whacks both little girls in the head!

I opt to go with the cellophane-wrapped broccoli and hurry away. I try to report the crime, but could not find any floor workers, so when I paid, I told the checkout lady, who summoned a manager, and I'm telling them both about the family, and the dirty-deed, and the whopping, and the manager says "Oh, I bet that's them right there." They're in the next lane behind me, checking out.

Since my job was done there, I scurried to the parking lot (avoiding eye contact) where I immediately called Lindsey and told her my disturbing story. She told me to just stay out of Walmart.

I needed that broccoli so I could make pasta salad. There's nothing like cold pasta salad on a hot summer evening. I made two kinds, the creamy shell pasta salad (recipe in the 2009 archives) and a sweet pasta salad, which I had never tried before. I really like it and Bob liked it too, so here's the recipe for you to try, if you want.

Sweet Pasta Salad

1 lb tri-color rotini

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tablespoons parsley

1 medium purple onion

1 diced cucumber

1/2 cup diced green pepper

1 cup chopped celery

Boil pasta. Drain. Dissolve in separate saucepan: oil, vinegar, water, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder and parsley. Combine all and chill for several hours.