rain, friends, and a big tantrum

We got RAIN today!  As in, actual drops of water falling from the sky!!  In truth, the rain lasted about 5 minutes, and was really only enough to dampen the ground, but it was nice for a change, at least.  As Mosey and I were driving home from speech, we saw some thunderstorms happening in the distance, actually not far from our house, so some people must have gotten a lot more rain than we had.  It got really windy and blustery and I thought for sure we'd get a big downpour, but no such luck.  It would have been nice to get a freebie yard watering in the middle of the week!  (We're only allowed to water the yard on Sunday morning.)
My friend Caroline from Rice is in town for a couple of days on business and came over for dinner tonight.  So good seeing her, and so unbelievable realizing it is 17 years ago that I matriculated at Rice.  I was 17 when I matriculated.  It was officially half my life ago.  That is not possible!!!!
We got to google chat with her husband back at home, who was also a good friend of mine at Rice (and roommate!  Yes, the scandal!  I had 2 boys as roommates!  Well, and one girl, too.  :-)), and I got to see their two cute kids.  I wish I could arrange reunions with all my friends from my past.  I would love that.
When I left to go to speech with Mosey at 3:45, I was not ready at all with my dinner preparations.  So I left Joseph and Brigham with a big list of things to do, and they did it all!  They were so awesome.  Here's what they did:
Peeled 2 lbs of shrimp, mixed in marinade.
Cut up potatoes into bite sized pieces, and boiled for 5 minutes.
Cut up 2 zuchinis and 2 yellow squash .
Washed and cut up a carton of mushrooms.
Mixed all of those up with the marinade and put in the refrigerator.
And then they cleaned off the tables, picked up the playroom, and vacuumed!  What good boys. 
Brigham was very willing and helpful and made up for the humongous, gigantic tantrum he threw this morning when he couldn't do his morning chore (vacuuming) because the battery wasn't charged.  He was trying to vacuum on almost no charge, and was wildly sweeping it across the floor.  I made him stop and wait until the battery charged back up.  I *thought* it would take 45 minutes.  I was wrong.  He tried vacuuming again, and I made him stop again.  That's when he really threw a fit-- "You can't make me vacuum THREE TIMES!!  It was YOUR fault mom, because you LIED!  It's like you're a bank and you took my money and you were supposed to pay it back and then you DIDN'T!"  (So hard to know if I should laugh or be stern, or what-- we definitely have to have some lessons on analogies and false analogies sometime soon.)  "I DEMAND that you pay me extra when I vacuum because you LIED!"  This was so out of character for Brigham, I didn't know what to do.  My inclination was to simply ignore him and leave the room until he could be rational again.  But then, I know how frustrating it is to have someone refuse to engage when you're angry.  I tried to be calm and speak rationally, but after a while, I just had to leave.  He slammed the door 3 times.  And Brigham knows how to slam doors.  My eardrums about ruptured from the force of it.  I felt bad, because I know that Brigham really, honestly felt that he was being wronged, and that's a rotten way to feel. 
Anyway, it was nice to get my kind, willing, helpful Brigham back for the afternoon.  :-)
I'll make sure the battery is charged tonight, though, that's for sure.