Pho-nomenal flavors that will leave you craving for more

I was enjoying my morning coffee in the swing when it dawned on me what day it was. 
The days have been blurring together lately.

Cowboy is off work tomorrow unless he’s called in, but I figured he may decide to go fishing instead of grocery shopping.

So we all piled in the truck and headed to town.

I’m sure I forgot something, but I have the essentials at least.

I also picked up some real genuine moo cow so that Badger can have onion burgers tomorrow.

Black bean burgers just don't do it for her.

And we got genuine cow steaks for Sunday because it's mine and Cowboy’s 29th anniversary.

We also had to buy Badger a new phone. 

She was folding the truck seat down, and somehow her phone got caught in the crack.

The seat wouldn’t fold back up, so instead of stopping, taking a breath, and seeing why it was stuck, she kept slamming the seat.

At some point she realized something was caught in it, so she finally stopped, and oops, there was her phone, shattered beyond recognition. 

The blooming thing was folded in two.

Uh-huh.

I told her she’d have to wait to get a new phone. 

Daddy said, “No! Loony needs her phone.”

Loony’s nose is never out of that phone. 

She has her games, and she has her books.

The books are the only reason I agreed to get her a new one. 

Far be it from me to deny her reading.

I told her from now on, when she gets in the truck, that phone better be in a pants pocket or she’d be out of luck until she bought her own.

(By the way, if you want a prepaid smartphone that can take a lot of abuse, buy an LG Rebel. That thing survived a drop into ranch dressing, a drop into Murphy’s Oil, being dropped into water, and it’s been thrown at cats, and it survived. It just couldn’t survive being slammed by a car seat.)

We came home, and while Cowboy was on the phone trying to figure out why his retirement check hasn’t come yet, Peacock cooked dinner.

Peacock made pho with, I believe, slices of steak, kimchi to put on top if you wanted it, and fried squash.

OK, I’m an uncultured heathen. 

I was not fond of his pho. 
It was just too gingery, I believe that was the problem. 
I also refused to try kimchi. 

But oh my goodness, that squash was amazing!

You take yellow summer squash and cut it into rounds. 
In a mixing bowl, mix Italian bread crumbs, olive oil, crumbled Parmesan cheese, and, I think he said, garlic and onion powder, all to taste, no measurements. 
Roll the squash in the mixture until covered. 
Place it on a parchment-paper-covered cookie sheet, drizzle with more olive oil, and stick it in the oven at 425 degrees until tender, maybe 15 minutes. 

That was the best squash ever.

As Cowboy was going out the door to work, I asked him if the air was off again. 

The house was getting hotter and hotter.

We went outside and checked the unit, and it was covered in ice, so we turned it off and opened a window. 
Just the living room window this time.

Peacock was off work today, so we just headed to McKay’s. 

At least they had air conditioning.

We left fans on for the hamster, guinea pig, cat, and dog. 

I need to buy at least two more fans if this thing keeps breaking down again.

We’re getting close to the hottest three months of the year here in Tennessee. 

July, August, and September get downright miserable.

I almost regret selling my two window air conditioners.

Cowboy keeps saying he’ll call the guys that installed it, but I know how that goes. 

Usually he’s at work when it breaks down and he’s not the one sitting here in the heat, so it keeps slipping his mind.

That’s not to say Cowboy isn’t dealing with heat. 

His factory isn’t air-conditioned, they wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants uniforms, and they’ve got cookers and boilers going all the time. 

So my little 85 degrees is really nothing when he’s working in 100 to 110 degrees every single night.

McKay’s free bin was stuffed to the top tonight. 

Badger and I found a lot of good books.

I even found some Laura Ingalls Wilder books I never knew she published.

 I need to look them over more carefully and make sure they’re actually hers and not a knock off.

The bin was so full you really couldn’t see what was in it, but we gave it a good try anyway.

I also found these two little singing monks sitting on the edge of the bin. 

They’re made in Mexico, and I have no idea what they are.

I really don’t know why they were in a bin of free books either, but they looked like they deserved a new home.

By the time we came home, the ice had melted, so I turned the air conditioning back on.

As of 10 pm, the house is still hot as Hades and not really cooling off. 

There’s no ice on the unit, so I don’t know what’s going on.

At this point, I’m about ready to throw my hands up and say I give up.

Peacock went in the backyard, so Badger and I ate a quick supper, cooled down as much as we could, and then hit the road again. 

We took a very short walk around the block.

By the time we got home, Peacock was already in bed. 

He works tomorrow.

We tried to keep quiet so he could get to sleep.

It’s starting to thunder and lightning, and the weather radio is going off, so I guess I need to get off here and go get those cats from outside.

They’re setting off fireworks, and they need to be inside anyway.