There Goes Summer

It never fails. As May flowers begin to bloom, and the PSSA’s are done, the kids and teachers alike begin twitching in theirs seats and counting the days until that magical time in June when the final ring of the school bell sounds. No more teachers, no more books.

The whole summer lies before us, full of plans for trips to the beach, amusement parks, camps, barbeques, ball games, and fireworks. We bask in the mere idea of a few months of freedom.

This summer, my family attended a few barbeques, trekked to the beach, attended a family wedding, sent the kids to day camps (cheering for Gingersnap, Math and Science for Distractoboy), enjoyed two amusement parks, and went to the Renaissance Faire.

Youth football/cheer season has begun, so we’ve been spending five evenings a week at the practice fields. Distractoboy opted out of football this year, so we’ll only have to sit through one game today. And our time at the practice fields will be reduced to two nights a week, as of this week. While we look forward to having most of our evenings back, it also heralds the beginning of the end of summer.

Where did all this time go? I think Shel Silverstein put it very well:

Here Comes
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Chirping robin, budding rose.
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Gentle showers, summer clothes
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer-
Whoosh-shiver-there it goes.

by Shel Silverstein

The Good Stuff

It’s nearing midnight on a Sunday night, and the house is quiet except for the snoring of Husband Fixture and Couch Hound. I’m surfing the web, and reflecting on our busy week.

The Prince of Distraction and his friend attended Math and Science camp at Husband Fixture’s employer. As hubby leaves for work at the ass crack of dawn, Prince of Distraction’s friend stayed with us for the week. This left me alone with Princess Gingersnap all week. I had hoped to do some fun things with her, but as she refused to keep her room clean, most of our days were spent with me yelling at her to do so or running errands. Oh, and let’s not forget the nights spent sitting at cheerleading practice. (The Prince opted out of youth football this year, much to our relief).

But I did enjoy some girl time this week. I went to my pole dancing class; got to visit with a girlfriend I hadn’t seen in eons; went to the nail salon (I was a week overdue for one of my few feminine indulgences); and hosted an impromptu girl’s night--sort of, on Friday. I say, “sort of,” because we had the kids with us while our menfolk were off playing poker. We ended up playing Progressive Gin while kicking kids out of the room like flippers on a pinball machine.

Husband Fixture and I also attended an adult novelty product party/birthday party last night. It was quite the entertaining event. ‘Nuff said.

And today, we invited yet another friend and her kids over. She was at her wit’s end because her husband is away at drill (he’s in the army reserves) and she’s had her hands more than full with their four kids. Our kids got to play with their friends, and she got to talk to grown ups.

I can’t help remembering the days when the Husband Fixture and I were first married. We were broke, worked opposing shifts at jobs we hated, and rarely saw each other. We had no friends and no lives outside of our little rented hovel. Now we are blessed with two beautiful, healthy children, jobs that fulfill us, an adorable puppy, and plenty of good friends.

Life is good.