Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Once again, Chase had a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and French fries for lunch on Wednesday. But he didn’t eat the French fries because he was too full. He had a workout in the afternoon between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. He was especially excited about this workout because his friend Tucker was going to be there. School with Chase hasn’t been going well this summer, and Nanaw is ready to stop doing school except for listening to books, either on CDs or from Alexa (Nanaw just realized she could also get a book for them to listen to from Audible) and doing the Python computer programming courses with ChatGPT. Nanaw briefly mentioned it this afternoon to Chase, and he seemed to be in favor of it. Then this evening she asked Mama’s opinion, and her opinion was that it might be better than trying to force him to do something he didn’t want to do. Chase has been complaining about school all the time and kept finding excuses for not having school. Nanaw is a little disappointed because she had fun with school but evidently Chase didn’t. Today, Uncle Mike came over to cut the grass, and then he helped Nanaw with the shelves down in the basement. Nanaw was very grateful for his help.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Chase spent most of the day on the phone and computer with Tucker and some of Tucker’s friends. They were playing Roblox, and Chase was laughing constantly. So Chase and Nanaw didn’t have school again today. Yesterday he only did the Python coding and the touch-typing. Nanaw promises herself that tomorrow, they will do their full hour of school, no matter what. They didn’t go to Walgreen’s either. Nanaw told Mama about the mood ring she bought and that they were going to get one for Chase, along with some special candy he likes. Mama said she wants a mood ring also so they’ll get one for her, too, whenever they go. Nanaw asked Chase if he wanted to bring his Chromebook over to her house, and she would put all the Steam games and other games that are on her laptop on the Chromebook. Chase said an emphatic no several times. Nanaw asked him why but he didn’t give her an answer. Later, Nanaw told Mama about that. Mama asked Chase why he didn’t want to put games on the Chromebook, especially after she went through so much to get the Chromebook disconnected from the ICS network. He finally told her it was because he didn’t want to have to ask her permission every time he wanted to get a new game. So Nanaw told Mama she would put her credit card on the Chromebook so Chase can buy games (although most of them are free) and then pay Nanaw for them. Mama liked that idea so she’s bringing the Chromebook over to Nanaw’s tomorrow. Also, Mama said Chase said the clothes Nanaw has at her house are too small so Nanaw got them out and spread them on the sofa. They don’t look too small but she’ll have Chase look at them tomorrow. There’s also a uniform shirt and pants that Mama can give to Elias.

Monday, July 6, 2026

For lunch, Chase had a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and really liked it. He also had some of the frozen crinkle fries he picked out at Schnuck’s a couple of weeks ago. He bought a computer game on Steam, using Nanaw’s credit card but he gave her the $7 it cost – it was so sweet. In the afternoon, Chase had a workout and said it went well. He sweated a lot, so Nanaw dried his shirt in the dryer. Dobb’s told Daddy that the transmission went out on his Chevrolet Colorado truck. It was expensive but Daddy got it fixed rather than buying a new truck yet. The Colorado is supposed to be for Chase in a year and a half when he’s driving. Daddy will buy a new truck for himself then. Daddy is driving Nanaw’s Escape to work tomorrow. Today, he and Mama carpooled. Mama sent the last picture of the cutie pie to Nanaw.

Sunday, July 5, 2026

On Sunday, Daddy and Chase went to a place in O’Fallon, Illinois named Play It Again. It’s a store that sells gently used sports equipment. Chase got a cool-looking blue metal bat. Daddy said he’ll be able to use it for years, even at college. Unfortunately, on the way home, Daddy’s truck stopped running, and he had to have it towed to Dobb’s. Mama went to pick them up and was so happy they were okay. In the evening, Daddy grilled chicken and Nanaw was invited. She had delicious wings and Suddenly Salad. Nanaw has given up her gluten-free diet; she decided she’s probably not gluten intolerant. Chase put on a fireworks demonstration in the backyard for Mama, Daddy, and Nanaw after dinner. He absolutely loves fireworks and loved do it. He had snakes, firecrackers, a dog that pooped, a poop emoji, (Mama selected those two, of course), sparklers and fountains that shot out sparks. He had a big paper bag filled with fireworks, and he saved some to take to Elias’s house at the end of the month.

Saturday, July 4, 2026 – Happy 250th Birthday, America!

On Saturday morning, Daddy and Chase went to his workout, while Mama went to the grocery store. Later in the day, Daddy and Chase went to 5 o’clock mass so they didn’t have to get up early on Sunday after being out late for fireworks on 4th of July. Nanaw went over to Chase’s house at 5:30 to ride with them to Aunt Becca’s house. Before dinner, Chase shot off a lot of the fireworks he and Daddy and Mama bought in Arnold on Thursday evening. Nanaw was impressed with how safe and careful he was with the fireworks. Nanaw had fun watching him do his fireworks and did some with him, like the things that go off like a firecracker when you throw them on concrete and sparklers. He had Roman candles and rockets things that shot off for a long time. One of the pictures shows Chase running away from one of the fireworks he lit. Dinner was delicious: hot dogs, pulled pork, brats, party potatoes, pasta salad, dip and chips, cookies, and a holiday cake Aunt Becca made that said “USA 250,” made with strawberries and blueberries. One of the pictures shows Uncle Stan’s side by side and trailer loaded with all the fireworks they’d set up. Uncle Stan and two friends spent three hours on Friday night getting the fireworks ready to shoot off. Then there are three pictures of the fireworks going off. It was a great evening, and everybody had a wonderful time.

Friday, July 3, 2026

Nanaw didn’t get to see Chase today because Daddy had the day off, and Mama was working at home for half a day. Nanaw had planned to go to the little house but it kept thundering, and the weather forecast was for storms so she stayed home. Mama said that Chase talked on the phone for 3 1/2 hours today with Tucker and some other boys. Nanaw is sure there was a lot of laughter because there always is when Chase talks to Tucker on the phone. Tucker is Chase’s friend from the Bears baseball team. He’ll go to Columbia High School this fall. Yesterday, Nanaw asked Chase if he would be interested in ham and Swiss sandwiches for lunch next week, and he said he would. So Nanaw put Sara Lee wheat bread, ham and sliced Swiss cheese on the grocery list she gave Mama. For dinner, Nanaw went to the Taco Bell drive-up and received a text from Mama, saying she was a couple of cars behind Nanaw. So Nanaw and the Southerlands had Taco Bell for dinner!

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Chase had his regular breakfast Thursday morning, but his lunch didn’t work out so well. He only ate part of the leftover cheese garlic bread he made yesterday. Then he decided that he didn’t like the 5 cheese Ziti frozen dinner and ate a Lunchable instead. Nanaw showed him the mood ring she bought at Walgreen’s yesterday, and he tried it on. It changed colors, and he liked that. Nanaw asked him if he wanted one, and he said yes. He said Walgreen’s also some candy that he liked and wanted to buy. They were going to go at 2 p.m. but Chase changed his mind, as usual, and said they’d go on Monday. They were late starting school, starting at 3:30 p.m. instead of 3 p.m.  Chase had trouble with the Python programming, and ChatGPT set up a different one for him. But something went wrong with that one too, so he quit and said he’d try again Monday. In the evening, Mama, Daddy, and Chase went to Arnold, MO to buy fireworks to take to Aunt Becca’s house on Saturday evening. Nanaw is going with them and is looking forward to seeing fireworks. It’s been two or three years since she’s seen live fireworks.