Hello friends! I can’t possibly fit the first two months of summer into one blog post, but I don’t want to drag it out into a multiple post thing. I kept thinking I’d write about my summer exploits, but well…it was summer. I was too busy, or too lazy. Maybe I can give you the big picture.
My well-laid summer plans for Getting Things Done fell through in a big way. Have I done anything on that lengthy list of things to do during the three months my kids were out of school? I don’t really think so. I sure never got around to any blogging or writing. I didn’t even read blogs.
But my garden has been fabulous. I didn’t know I was capable of growing anything, really – and yet I have tons of squash and green beans, and now cucumbers, okra (ok, just one okra), tomatoes, four kinds of peppers, and darling little baby watermelons and pumpkins that I hope to harvest eventually. My chickens are growing up, and they’re still cool. I’m in the habit of going out to check on them in the mornings and evenings, and I love the chicken noises they make. We were sad that two turned out to be roosters and ended up back at the feed store, but happy to bring home two more fuzzy chicks, who are currently in my dining room in the brooder.
Recently I also brought home two zebra finches, and they’re the cutest birds ever. Raja (the male) sings to Rani (the female) all the time, and he brings little things to put in their nest. If she doesn’t like that particular piece of hay, she throws it out. Even cuter than their housekeeping habits are the three tiny eggs Rani is sitting on, and how they trade places every evening for awhile; Raja sits on the eggs while Rani eats and stretches her wings for awhile.
We traveled to Port Aransas in my parents’ RV, and stayed almost right on the beach. We got our beach fix – it had been several years since our last ocean visit – and relaxed a lot. The pelicans were amazing. The next trip was taking our daughter – who will be a teenager in less than a month! – to camp in New Mexico. When we pick her up, we’ll stay in Santa Fe for several days – our last summer fling before it’s back to school. I’ve also enjoyed the annual family reunion, plus a trip to Six Flags and the Dallas Aquarium.
I haven’t written anything, in case you want to know. But when school starts again – in 18 more days – I’ll be back at it. Can’t wait. I’ve read some books (reviews to come!) and Ladies Coffee Night has continued, steady and true, always a high point of my week, although different friends have been in and out with summer travel.
Summer mishaps have included crushing my finger (it still hurts!) in a folding chair that broke, getting stuck in the mud in New Mexico (tow truck winched us out), and getting drenched by rain at Six Flags. Plans have changed: I didn’t Get Things Done because I spent a lot of time hanging out with my brother Jay. His group home isn’t the best situation, and he doesn’t deserve to be parked in front of a television all day – so we did stuff together. You’d have to know Jay to understand that when you’re hanging with him, you can’t really get anything else done. All in all, I think being with him was a better choice that cleaning my house or working on a website anyway.
What next? I don’t know if I can blog again before school starts. If not, I’ll be back in late August. And after that, big things are on the horizon. First, finishing my book. Yes, I mean the manuscript I was going to finish back in May before I got distracted by building a chicken coop. I’ll be the mother of a teenager for the first time and also a mother who has no little kids at home for the first time in thirteen years. My husband will turn 40. Autumn will be lovely, and we’ll go to India again in the winter.
And then, who knows? Every day, life awaits. Happy summer, friends.