Summertime and the Livin’ Is Easy
Week 1 is done. It sucked, but not because the children were out of school and daycare. I had help with them from
This past Saturday was one of the most lovely days of my whole year. I spent it on a boat on the river with some good friends, basking in the sun and letting the delta breezes blow through my hair. The music was fine. The champagne, bubbly. The people, beautiful. And there were no children. Temps were warm, not hot, which made swimming slightly more challenging than it would be during a typical California June.
We are not having a typical California June, however. The glorious days of 70-degree weather that we are presently enjoying are like a gift from the gods. Each day like this is a treasure.
My work continues. It shows not sign of stopping. This is fantastic in light of some bad news I heard last Monday. The scope creep on the medical terminology text is amusing, but it doesn’t matter. My only concern when the scope expands is whether everyone waiting on me for "deliverables" knows that the scope changed and, thus, my deadlines must move accordingly. My boss knows. Her boss knows. And they are the spring from whence my work flows. So, whatever. I say, "Are you sure? Really? OK. Change away."
Tomorrow evening, Lucas and I start a class we’re taking together for fun and quality time. Lucas—despite tiffs and torments of the moment—has displayed tremendous patience over the last two and a half years. Lucas’s needs often have taken a backseat to the baby’s needs, and I would really like to show him that we can still have fun together, just us. I’ve signed us up for a ceramics/pottery class that we’ll attend on Tuesday nights for the next five weeks. I hope it’s wonderful. I hope he likes it. This is something I’ve wanted to do for … many years. I hope it’s good for our relationship. We could use some good in our relationship.
Last Thursday I went back to the gym. A. Small. Start. One thing I hope the summertime will bring is an opportunity for me to work out more often. Like, more often than once in 8 months would be great. We went again today. I promised the kids time in the pool after my treadmill time, but the pool was closed. That was disappointing. A twisted part of my brain has a photo project in mind that is related to this subject, but no, it doesn’t involve pics of me in sports bra. (You’re welcome.)
I started a playgroup/babysitting co-op again for this summer with some of Lucas’s buddies from school. All boys. I’ve got seven families this time. Instead of meeting every week, we’re going to meet seven times this summer, basically every other week. Our kids are older now, and in a new age bracket that allows them to participate in so many more activities than they were able to do last summer. I figure they’ll be more "scheduled" this summer because of this. So each family hosts one time, and I got my turn out of the way by hosting first. That means I’m free to drop off Lucas with his friends six times this summer, or stay and chat and help out during playgroup, as I please!
I’m not exactly certain, but I think June 14 was the anniversary of our getting our keys and closing escrow on this house. That means we’ve been living here for ten years! I look around me every day and think, Wow! That improvement is there because we did it. That thing, Ian fixed it. That amenity wasn’t here before us. This yard is only beautifful because we made it so! Grandma May, who was our real estate agent in 1999 when we bought the place, didn’t think we should buy it. Too much work, she thought. Too unusual, she thought. I wish she were alive to see it now. I am proud of our quirky home. I am proud that we turned a weird little rental house on a barren lot full of weeds into a comfortable home for us and for our children. I have no intention of living anywhere else anytime soon.
So, summertime. Our mornings are more pleasant. I’m relaxing a little into our new schedule. It’s like putting on a jacket that I haven’t worn for many months. It’s familiar, but feels funny brushing against my legs. It smells a bit, too, which brings back memories, but the fact that I’m noticing it means it’s not quite comfortable. Not quite acclimated. No, the living isn’t easy, but it ain’t bad.
The garden … grows. And little boys grow, too. Little by little.
June 16, 2009 at 9:09 am
Sounds dreamy, I love hearing about how life goes. Mostly here it seems like you are through the main gauntlet of worry over how the summer might go, how it might feel, and are more in the motion of it.
It seems like you make use of every last second, too.
Love you!
June 16, 2009 at 9:12 am
Sounds like you’re managing life’s workload well. I’m jealous of your mild summer, and hope it continues for a while before the searing summer heat begins.
June 16, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I have plenty of moments of crazy, I assure you. Ups and downs happen throughout the day. But right now, overall, things are going pretty well.
Perhaps I should write more posts after drinking an evening cocktail; they tend to be more positive that way. 😉
June 16, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Really, Matimus. The temps are wacky-mild. You wouldn’t recognize the place. I’m truly enjoying in.
June 16, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I love your updates, thanks for posting ’em.
As an older brother of twins I read the line “Lucas’s needs often have taken a backseat to the baby’s needs” and my stomach dropped. The realization of that reality in my own life came to me late and on reflection I can see the effects taht had on my personality. (Not all bad, btw).
So it was really, really important to me that you were making time for Lucas to ameliorate that unavoidable phenomenon. I thank you for him. You’re a good mom.
June 16, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Thanks, Mars. I appreciate hearing your perspective, and value the compliment highly.
I’ve been looking for something Lucas and I could do together without the little one. Our class tonight was fun! He came away smiling and told Ian it was “great!” We played tag in the park afterward, too. I think one of these Tuesdays we’ll have a frozen yogurt or milkshake together. 🙂