Life and Randomness – Page 5

looking forward, looking back

June 25, 2015July 12, 2015 Katie1 Comment

We’ve been busy this week. It’s Thursday somehow – though I feel like the week just started. Life is happening so fast, it seems. In light of many changes for me this year, it is especially unsettling if I think about it too much. If I close my eyes for a minute and think back to being 29 years old as a stay-at-home-mom with a toddler and a house (two houses ago now) and a husband and what I assumed to be a predictable life plan stretched out in front of me, it makes me dizzy to even think about the speed at which life has changed for me. It catches me off guard sometimes, to look around at what I’m encountering every day and know this is my life. Right now. It’s happening now.

Norah is going to a little “ballet camp” this week at my hometown dance studio. It’s a 30 minute drive to get her there, and it’s not a practical solution for a busy school year schedule if she chooses to dance in the future, but for a summer camp, it’s worth the extra trouble to see her learn from my old instructor and interact in that same environment where I spent years growing. I was helping her get ready in a tiny pink leotard and twisting her wispy hair into a bun on Monday morning when I realized that this is it. Life is happening – not at all the way I planned it, but that almost doesn’t seem to matter anymore. It’s still my life, my one shot. And it’s happening now. The day I found out I was having a girl, about a dozen moments filled my head, and this was one of them.

Who knows what the future holds and if she will choose to dance long term as I did, but it was one of those out-of-body moments I’ve discussed before when it makes you catch your breath a bit. This is real. This is life. I’m gong to remember this. Happiness catches you off guard when you aren’t looking. How am I thirty-four years old and dressing a tiny ballerina for her first lessons? I don’t know. Where the past decade of my life has gone is a mystery to me. So fast.

I’ve thought a little this week about nostalgia and that lens we tend to use when we examine the past. I can’t believe it was almost exactly a year ago that I wrote this post. Looking back now, I remember that night and all its details (only because I wrote them down here), and it feels like a thousand lifetimes ago. I feel so much older and a little wiser but mostly just weathered and broken in.

I can’t help but wonder what lens I will see this summer through – as I look back years from now. I know what stings now might not be most memorable in the future. The scrounging food from the freezer to make cheap meals as I’m still paying off attorney bills. The cluttered garage and late-night painting projects. The almost audible, heavy silence I can hear when kids are gone and I’m still not quite used to it. The itchy newness of all of it. I’m wondering if I will look back and see those details, or maybe only remember the sweetness of a new chapter and the exciting newness of being alone and the thrill of possibility.

I don’t know what I will see as I look back, but I do know this is pivotal. This is meaningful. This is life happening as quick as it ever has, and it feels long now as I look ahead and can’t imagine my way forward and what that reality will look like. But I think in the grand scheme of things, so to speak, this is a moment in time, only a little one. And though it is really, really hard not to wish this time away, I am trying to feel it all. To see it all.

As Norah was at ballet today, Jude and I spent some time at a local spot we’ve grown to love. It was fun to play with only him for a while. One of those moments when you look at them and they seem all grown and fearless; it’s amazing really. I’ve blinked and we are here. There is only one summer I will ever have when they are 3 and 5, and I am in this moment in my own life. I don’t want to miss it. Today is all I have right now. Every day is new, and I don’t know how long this period will last for me. Something tells me, like every other season of my life, the things I will miss the very most are the things I don’t even notice or cherish right now.

I’m exploring and observing new terrain everyday. I have no idea where it will lead, but it has to be somewhere good, right? (I’m asking mostly for reassurance as I look at unfamiliar waters.) I bought my mom Glennon Melton’s book for Mother’s Day, and I was flipping through it before I wrapped it up. There’s a chapter when she describes her sister’s divorce and the transition period before her sister moved on, and she explains, “Now we know that in order for love to be real and true and good, you need to have had your heart shattered. We know now that a broken heart is not the end of the world, but a beginning.” I’m not always sure where I am on that timeline, and maybe it’s a fluid thing. But I think I’m moving a bit from shattered pieces to new starts, and I will look back at this summer as the beginning.

dancing shoes

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015 Katie1 Comment

The kids arrive home this afternoon, and I am so incredibly ready to see them. It’s felt like a long week for sure. I think my introverted self has been a little too extended on the social outings and distractions, but that aside, it’s feeling a little easier to settle into a comfortable pace around here alone. Silence and stillness at the end of the week did not feel as strange as they did in the beginning.

I lucked out that a reunion celebration coincided with my kid-free time this weekend, and it brought so much happy. I’m grateful for the timing. This keeps happening to me (Thanks, God) that these glittering moments and experiences shine through any darkness that starts to creep in. Sometimes these little things happen alone – when I’m driving and the scenery is sunny and pretty and the perfect song is on the radio, when I settle in on the couch and my dog curls at my feet to snore a bit. And sometimes they happen in the presence of others I know and love so well. However they unfold for me, I’m so grateful for these little moments of happy.

So last night brought an anniversary celebration for the ballet studio where I trained and grew up. I’m not sure that I’ve written much about my life as a dancer and my love of ballet before. But as any dancer knows, once that gets in your blood, so to speak, it’s impossible to shake it out.

Dance was such an enormous part of my life growing up, and I think I spent more time at the studio than I did at home by the time I was in high school. I eventually quit – after dabbling a little in a few classes in college but realizing my calling was certainly elsewhere – but the lessons ballet teaches you stick with you forever. Grace under pressure, determination, calm focus, and perseverance. And most importantly, a notion that you are competing with yourself, not those around you. As a tiny child of only three years old, I was placed in a dance class by my mom who enrolled me in ballet simply because I was so incredibly quiet and shy that she wanted me to maybe open up a little and have a new experience. As I look back at ballet pictures and memories, I see that tiny shy girl slowly evolve to something more self-assured, and it’s largely because of my dance training.

So many people don’t quite understand the focus and practice that goes into a ballet class or a dance performance. Whether it’s remembering choreography on the spot or trying just that much harder when you thought you’d already exceeded your abilities, it gives you skills and perspective that stay with you forever. In the midst of high school stresses and usual dramas and adolescent uncertainty, the dance studio was always the one place I could go to leave it all behind.

But the very best part of dancing all those years is the friendships I made. I was lucky to fall into a group of girls in my studio who can always make me laugh and shed some new light on the world. We were mostly from different area high schools which was enormously helpful in getting out of your own little bubble that seems to exist in high school. When I walked in the studio after a day at school, I remember knowing that these girls knew me for who I was and could put a smile on my face, no matter what. My greatest memories are not in the spotlight onstage but backstage and in dressing rooms and in a sweaty studio.

So when I got the chance this weekend to honor our Director and catch up with old dance friends, it felt like such a treat. And these girls? We have known each other more than 20 years, and so much life has happened since then. Happy things like career accomplishments and graduations and marriage and babies. But also hard things – parents lost too soon, medical trials and surgeries, divorces, heartbreak, and even the loss of one of our dancing sisters to Ovarian Cancer before she reached thirty. There were laughs and tears last night. And laughing through tears which I am convinced adds years to your life on the rare occasion that it occurs. Life, man. It’s crazy how fast it’s happening, no? But it just keeps getting better, and friendships just get richer once you weather a storm or two. It takes some heartbreak to know joy, I think. And I’m starting to feel grateful for that perspective.

These women. I’m thankful for everything they are and realizing that sometimes it takes someone who’s known you a really, really long time to understand you in the way the rest of the world just never will.

And my abs got the best workout imaginable last night because I laughed until I hurt. And I mean that. My voice was raspy this morning, and my tummy is tight and sore from the laughter. How can old friends and old memories do that to us in the very best way?

It makes me see the possibility in everything else, too. I feel so old and so new, all at the same time. So much behind me and so much in front of me. And at 34, I still find myself laughing and dancing in a parking lot with my oldest friends, and I hope it will always be this way.

I drove home thinking of all I know now that I didn’t know then, the many ways my life has become better and richer since I was 18 with a world in front of me. And the very best part is that I will have those same thoughts twenty years from now as well. It’s getting better and better, y’all. It feels so good to look ahead and see nothing but possibilities on the horizon.

remembering

May 4, 2015May 5, 2015 KatieLeave a comment

Our custody agreement allows for one-on-one time with kids a few times a year. While I don’t particularly like separating them all that often right now as they lean on each other and find comfort in one another, it was a treat to have a little while to focus on each of them individually this month.

A couple weeks ago, I had Norah and we kept it pretty laid-back – playing a bit outside and satisfying her request for cheese quesadillas. But our big night out was a stop at the American Girl Bistro. She has a newer American Girl she got for Christmas last year from my mom, but she prefers my old one. I can remember setting up tea parties for Molly myself, reading the books, changing her clothes, taking her everywhere I went. It’s such a sweet moment to see my own daughter playing with a doll twenty years older than she is, a doll I adored so much when I was a kid and had no idea what real motherhood would look like for me one day.

I love making new memories with my kids that are intertwined with my own experiences I have filed in the back of my mind. It’s most noticeable on bigger experiences or notable moments like this one, but it sometimes washes over me in little moments, too. The other night, Norah fell asleep quickly, but Jude came down the stairs wide awake with a smirk asking if he could stay up with me as I was writing. I obliged, and I couldn’t help but remember my own similar late night hallway wanderings as a kid. Such a common memory and a common feeling, but it hits you in the face sometimes – the notion that I’m creating the memories my kids will harbor, creating the realities of their childhoods as well.

Jude and I got our turn this past weekend, and he requested a few dollars at the Lego store and some mall pizza, so I agreed. I let him choose the agenda for every step of our weekend, and I was again reminded about how easy he is to please. How joyful he is and how easy he is to be with. After our mall trip, I got another huge dose of nostalgia with a skating rink birthday party for one of his classmates. It was hilarious, first of all, to watch all these preschoolers on skates for the first time. (I mean, who roller skates anymore!?) But they were also playing old Michael Jackson and ABBA, and I think I heard some Journey and a couple 80’s ballads as well.

The lights and the carpet and the neon and the music – it all had me straight back to elementary school and skating rinks with orange cheese on stale nachos and the simple happiness of being with friends in that atmosphere. Watching him interact with his little friends is becoming more and more fun to watch as he grows. Even though they are young, it is real friendship, and I can see in my own mind’s eye the little faces and details of my own elementary school buddies.

The next morning, his request was a stop at our favorite donut spot (of course!) and a hike at the nature preserve a short drive from our house. It was perfect. It’s so rare to enjoy stillness and no demanding plans – especially in this current season of my life. And to enjoy this with only my oldest was even more special. He was so happy and so appreciative just to be dictating the day and to have my full attention without anyone else around. Truth be told, I was happy for it, too.

My pace is slowing down at work now that the semester is over, so today the kids and I spent some time at my grandparents. Their place is always where my nostalgia hits hardest through the lens of my kids. I can remember running the same property with my cousins when I was young, and now I watch my kids do the same thing. They are so happy when they play there – climbing trees, picking flowers. Coming inside is a terrible chore that I have to beg them to do. I can remember spending hours and hours outside with my sister and cousins when I was little, only coming in to eat or find the bathroom every now and then.

When we were there, my grandmother got the phone call that my great-aunt in Texas passed away this morning. It’s been something like three or four years since I’ve seen her, but when she was healthier, she’d make annual visits here each summer, bringing her crowd from Dallas with her. My already large family would multiply, and we’d have a potluck and tables of food spanning half the length of the yard. I see the phases of growing up in my memories of those summer meals – first as a kid running with my other cousins to find some entertainment, then as I grew and began to listen to a few adult conversations here and there, and finally to an age when I wanted to listen to stories and ideas from my older relatives.

She outlived her husband by eighteen years, and it warms me to think of their reunion on the other side. But I can also remember her laugh so well. Her raspy voice and her no-nonsense streak of humor. Her southern speech patterns that were just the tiniest bit different from most of the ones I grew up hearing. Her hilarious stories of raising four children who inherited her humor and mischief. I’ll miss just knowing she’s here – on this planet with the rest of us.

But who she is and what she was for me resides forever in the back of my mind, and I’m grateful for that. For my own stories that evolved from these characters and moments in my life. I hope, above all, that my kids feel the same sense of place one day – that they remember these details and feel the familiar comfort of nostalgia, too.

on being happy

January 23, 2015 Katie3 Comments

I usually make long, elaborate lists of goals or resolutions with the dawn of a new year. This year, I have only one.

It’s so easy – in the roles of wife or mother or teacher or whatever your title is – to become consumed with what others want for you, what others ask of you, what makes them happy. Sometimes I neglect to think about what makes me happy, what motivates me to reach for bigger and brighter things. That is my simple one-statement resolution for 2015. Find what makes my heart sing, and do more of it.

On January first, I began a happiness jar, which I already mentioned on Instagram a few weeks ago if you follow me there. The idea is to reflect on your day for a few minutes before bed and decide what the happiest moment of your day was. Then you just write that down and place it in the jar. It’s a daily gratitude practice that serves two purposes for me. It makes me see the good in life, no matter how messy it gets. But it also makes me pause to think of what really makes me happy, what drives me.

So far, the notes I’m scribbling in this exercise really surprise me. Some I knew I loved – cuddles with my kids, a good dinner with old friends. And others are things I forgot I loved so much – a sweaty mile or two at the gym, a new music discovery (like this one or this one I am loving lately), and connected moments in the classroom with engaged students and eager ears.

So that’s it. That’s my resolution. To see what makes me happy, and to do more of it. If it stirs my heart, I’m going to say yes in 2015. If it doesn’t I will say no.

It’s a selfish notion, but self-care can be a radical idea during some seasons of our lives. I can’t wait to listen a little more closely to my own soul, as Anne Sexton says. To fill it up and wash it clean.

catching up and settling in

November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 KatieLeave a comment

It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted, so Halloween feels like old news now. But considering I use this as a journal of sorts… a few pictures of my Minnie Mouse and Luke Skywalker trick-or-treating around campus on Halloween morning.

And then we did it all over again on Halloween night and invited a few cousins to join us. It was unseasonably cold and eventually started drizzling a bit, so I was glad we headed out to the neighborhood earlier rather than later.

Life is settling down, and fall is settling in. The colors are perfect right now, and I finally got around to putting out the last of my pansies yesterday afternoon in the backyard. I had a couple helpers using their own little fingers to get flowers in the dirt.

I walked inside to fill the watering can, and when I returned to the back again, Jude was singing something I didn’t recognize. I asked him what it was and he said a “lullaby for the plants, mama.” It is never still with these two lately, but I do hope I can remember some of their little quirks and sweet comments. This journal helps me to stop and take notice. Jude has a favorite tree, he says. And he loves to study leaves this year.

The kids have been learning all about autumn and the details of the season lately at school, and everyday I drive home with turkey crafts or pumpkins or pilgrim hats. Early sunsets and chilly mornings feel inspiring instead of tiresome right now. Soup is on the menu at least twice a week. I love November.

fall fun

October 27, 2014July 12, 2015 KatieLeave a comment

This time of year is always busy, but this year is crazier than ever. On the one hand, I really want to take advantage of all the fun stuff going on around us, but at the same time, I resent it when life gets so busy you can’t catch your breath. Weekends are flying by faster than weekdays lately. Work is busy among piles of midterm grading, but it almost feels like the few hours I have at my quiet work desk are the only times I can focus and breathe a bit.

Jude started playing soccer this year, so that accounts for some of this. He LOVES it, and the fields are less than two miles from our house, so I obliged. It is cute to watch, and I love seeing him get the hang of a real team sport and cheer on his teammates. But this whole be at practice an hour a week and a game every weekend stage of parenthood is very new for us. It’s like the second you stop potty training and dressing them and waking up at night, you reach a new kind of busy. It’s not easier – or harder. Just different.

In addition to early morning soccer games, we’ve had fall fairs and pumpkin patches to enjoy.

Finally, our craziness is coming to a slower pace after this weekend closed with a preschool fall carnival and a neighborhood festival as well. The amount of face paint, cotton candy, bounce houses, and plastic prizes over the past few weeks might have lost its luster for me, but not for these two.

I’m looking forward the the revelry of Halloween, of course. But I’m most looking forward to the slower pace of November. The season is settling in, and even Georgia weather will resign itself to soup and sweaters in the next few weeks. My favorite vegetables are in season and the calendar is fast approaching Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. I’m hoping I can work on a little more mindfulness in the weeks ahead.

Happy week to you and yours. Fall is in full swing.

day by day

September 12, 2014 KatieLeave a comment

I can’t believe it has almost been a month since I last posted. August was crazy and not that fun, to be honest. The bumps and changes of back-to-school combined with some heavy travel for Scott. And then my sweet grandmother fell and broke a hip. Again. It was major surgery for her and scary for all of us, and I’m glad the surgery was uneventful she is on the mend now, but she’s got a long road of therapy and healing ahead.

Old age is not for sissies – I’ve heard it said before. I read a memoir this summer that gave me perspective on life’s changes and how hard it is to age and watch those around you grow older. Maybe it’s because I’m getting a little older, or maybe it’s that I see family and friends around me who are aging. Whatever the reason, it’s been taking up a lot of my time and thoughts lately. It is such a hard truth that we grow wiser as our bodies grow older and weaker. I also received news this week about a high school friend of mine who lost her mother to ovarian cancer coupled with news of someone I admire professionally who was diagnosed with an aggressive liver cancer as well.

I’m glad that we live in an age of information and that I have the curiosity to read and learn. But sometimes I have to back off a little. It’s almost too much for one human heart to consider, I think. I’m trying to focus on what I can do to avoid physical trials and stay healthy – eat thoughtfully, make good choices, take notice of things I put on my body and in my home. But just as important, I think, is to use my healthy body while I have it and focus on how I can truly use my time to better my family, my children, and others around me, too. Day by day, we can make little choices and accomplish so many small things that make us feel like our time is worth something.

Life sends rude wake-up calls sometimes. It’s a finite thing we are doing here on Earth. I don’t want to take it for granted. In the meantime, these two are bringing lots of distractions and bright spots in my days.

Because it has been six months since I posted my birthday list and because I am writing a bit about how to really do something with my time, I thought I’d check in on my 33 goals to hold myself accountable a bit. I am already seeing some things that will not be done my next March. But I’ve made some progress, too.

Goals from the list that I’ve accomplished or made at least a little progress on….

Get an actual physical. (I got this out of the way in July.)
Establish somewhat regular exercise. (We joined the Y this summer, and my frequency has dropped since heading back to work in August, but I’ve made it in a few times. Hoping to get better at this, but it’s a start!)
Travel somewhere I’ve never been before. (Our trip to Mexico in June filled that requirement.)
Start using my camera again – not just my iPhone. (Baby steps. I used it last weekend for Jude’s first soccer game and when we head out somewhere special, I’m trying to remember to bring it.)
Discover a new musician or two. (Loving Walk the Moon these days)
See three movies in the theater. ( Only one so far, but I loved Begin Again.)
Go on a few real dates. (Twice in recent months. None for the insane month of August.)
Blog more often, at least 24 more entries before I turn 34. (Last month, I failed big time on this one. But on the whole I’ve increased my frequency around here.)
Have some fun new experiences with the kids. (We went to Tellus this summer, a few new parks, and I’m gearing up for fall festivals.)
Get to know our new farmer’s market this summer. (We went often in June and July. It was great!)
Create more time for reading and finish more books. (I was good about this during the summer, and I just began Traveling Mercies. I love Anne Lamott so much, and it is just what I need right now.)
Establish some flowers and vegetables in our back yard. (I was sad to see that a fungus ate my squash in July, but I was excited to have lots of fresh herbs and tomatoes! I’m hoping for some fall lettuces and greens soon. Grow Boxes are making it pretty easy.)
Create a reading nook in our master bedroom. (We moved around a few book shelves and inherited some leather chairs from friends who downsized and moved recently. I hope to add some comfy throw pillows and an ottoman, but it is shaping up.)
Get a better understanding of retirement savings and save more in general. (We’ve finally begun college savings plans for the kids and started using Mint recently. We made big strides in this area this summer. I feel good about it!)
Go strawberry picking with the kids and enjoy the apple orchards again as we did last year. (Strawberry picking was so fun, and apple season is around the corner!)
Make use of our screened porch and outside space. (We did this a bit this summer, and I hope to do more as the weather cools down soon. Fall is my favorite time for outside play in Georgia.)

So I’ve made progress on 16 goals which is pretty good. It’s been a fun project and I might repeat it next year….and have to move a few things to next year’s list if they don’t happen soon.)

Thanks for reading, friends. I hope September is treating you well as a new season is around the corner.

First Day of School

August 13, 2014 Katie2 Comments

We were out the door bright and early on Monday morning, but I managed to take a couple extra minutes to snap some photos of the kids. Norah wanted to tell us she is “TWO!”

Jude was unbelievably excited about his new backpack (Star Wars!) but also pretty nervous about school, I think. He was a mess of tears the night before about little things completely unrelated to school. Then as we pulled in the parking lot on Monday, he said, “Mama, why does my tummy hurt?” Apparently he is old enough to get nervous and unlucky enough to inherit mom’s intense brain-tummy connection. It’s enough to make your heart sting when you hear fear in their little voices.

But the second we walked in the class, he ran to play side-by-side at the blocks table with a friend he’s been missing this summer. And as I picked them up on Monday, he said it was a “super fun day, Mom!”

It always feels good to see your kids do scary things or hard tasks and come out feeling proud of their work and ready for the next day. Here’s to a great school year and the thrill of new experiences!

summer discoveries

August 7, 2014 KatieLeave a comment

We’re enjoying our last few days of summer here, but I always feel a little guilty about the things that didn’t get done. As a teacher, I tend to make a big long list of goals and projects when I see those weeks stretched before me and it seems like we have so much time off. But then the days fly by, and though I’ve managed to get a lot done, there are inevitably things that didn’t happen.

I’m focusing on what my friend calls the “ta-da list” instead of the to-do list though. In hindsight, I managed to accomplish a lot – especially with two little kids underfoot. I did some fun things with the family — we picked strawberries, spent a day at the science museum, explored the farmer’s market a few times, and of course ventured to Mexico for a little trip. I read a good bit – for my current season of life at least. An unlikely favorite was this non-fiction work I read. I also loved Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Signature of All Things as a stand-out read of the summer. I had a great anniversary date with Scott and a few just-because dates. I hung out with girlfriends and nurtured friendships with a few outings and dinner clubs.

I’ve also been reading a lot about health and nutrition a lot these days as a new interest of mine. I always hated science in school, biology included. But sometimes I wish I could go back and see those classes with a different perspective now that I’ve gained an interest in childbirth and pediatrics and nutrition and food. I heard a fascinating interview on NPR last weekend that made me want to buy the book and read more about the value of particular foods, so I downloaded it on my Kindle last night and have just begun reading it. It’s interesting for me to consider how my eating habits have changed over the last few years and how it all happens in little steps. But now that we are past the purge of processed food and such, I am reading and exploring about the more specific aspects of nutrition and especially those foods that fight cancer, inflammation, and chronic diseases.

On that note, I’ve been learning a lot more about gut health and it’s role in our immune systems, and at the encouragement of a friend, I started brewing my own water kefir which is not nearly as gross or complicated as it probably sounds. One shot-sized portion is equal to something like 30 probiotic pills, and my kids are starting to request it by name. Anything I can do to combat the germs of the school year is a must for me. We spent so much time last winter sick, and I am really hoping for better results this year as it’s their second year in full-time school and I’ve added a few immune-boosting routines for us.

My other big discovery this summer has been playing around with essential oils. I ordered a kit and became addicted to a lavender-cedarwood mix at night to enhance sleep. There are also some pretty convincing studies out there connecting Thieves oil with immunity, so I’m willing to give that one a try during this school year as well. It’s been a fun endeavor to experiment with different scents and combinations.

We head back to school on Monday, and I’m feeling rested and ready. It’s been such a good summer, and like every other occasion lately, it slipped through my fingers so quickly. I’m working hard to savor the months ahead in the fall and remember that even the bumpy transition of August can have its fun excitement. I’m hoping to get in an evening swim, a donut date, and some back porch sippin’ this weekend as we count down to a new year. Cheers, summer 2014. You were a good one.

wrapping it all up

July 30, 2014 Katie1 Comment

It’s been about two weeks since I last posted here. We have eleven days of summer break left. (But who’s counting?) Next week will be a combination of trying to squeeze out the last little bits of it and tackling a few tasks and appointments that meandered their way on my schedule without asking me first.

I have very mixed feelings about waving goodbye to summer. As I type this, I just got Norah down for a nap, Jude is happily stringing beads I got for $7 at Wal-Mart recently which predictably scattered all over my hardwood floors, and my house is embarrassingly cluttered and messy in every single corner. Working outside the home has its challenges, and I will miss leisurely mornings and lazy time with my kids. But I also see them (especially Jude as the older one) craving social time and focused activity, and I am ready for our schedule again.

You know summer has run its course when you somewhat look forward to packed lunches again. (In two months I won’t believe I ever said that!) I’m consuming far too much coffee because it’s here for the taking, and staring blankly at the fridge at lunch time seems like a luxury at first, but it never results in something good when you have two kids underfoot and 90 seconds to put something together. Planning and routine and consistency and all of that practical stuff does hold a little comfort. And as much as I hate the shock of August, I love the months to come. September’s change of seasons is always welcome.

We’ve had so much fun this summer though. A few memories I’m sharing here from the month of July so that I don’t forget them…..

Making mud pies and lots of backyard play time.

An infected bug bite that landed us in the ER because apparently cellulitis can escalate quickly! A ridiculously strong antibiotic for ten days, and all is fine now. It made for an memorable, if exhausting, evening for Jude and me.