July 1 - It's Summer!

Remember those youthful days when you went to your summer job during the day, came home and napped, and then went out with friends until the wee hours? Well, that's the life of my kids this summer. This is J - going to work. He comes home and watches TV and naps and then gets up to party. The kids come home late and as my friend put it recently, "I'm having a hard time holding down a fulltime job with the kids' party schedule!" It's true. I pray that they are safe and making good choices. Before they leave the house I remind them to not drink, not smoke pot, and abstain from sex hoping that they might just take that extra moment to think before they act and make the smart choice.

Raspberries and Cupakes!

Yesterday I noticed the first raspberry of the season on the raspberry bush just outside my back door. Isn't it cool? I gave it to G, and he enjoyed it. Today I went to Cupcake with my friend K. I had a moo moo cupcake. It was chocolate with cream cheese frosting. Yum. So, it was cupcake day #3. Today was the first day of summer that I have not had to work so I felt the usual no-work anxiety creeping up. I did lots of laundry and hung it out to dry. I went for a long bike ride and took a short nap. I cleaned my daughter's room. But still, I feel anxious. What gives?

More Cake Please

Today was my nephew A's high school graduation party. Yesterday was my niece C's party. Three kids start college this fall. Two going to Wisconsin schools, one going to Minnesota. The best thing about these parties has been by far the cake. In the month of June I was inundated with cakes. There were retirement cakes, graduation cakes, end-of-year cakes, thank you cakes, I'm sorry cakes, we-have-some-left-over-cake cakes. It was cake everyday. So, I decided to start counting the number of cake days I could string out. I got to 12 and then there was a lull. Of all of the 12 days of cake, I think I only purchased my own cake once or twice. My favorite day was the day I ate four pieces of cake in one day and three of the cakes were different cakes. It was incredible. Now, I'm starting over. Today is cake day two (I had cake at C's party yesterday and A's party today) and tomorrow I'm having lunch at a place called, Cupcake, so it will be cake day three. So far all the cakes have been white or chocolate. That's perfect because any kind of weird cake would just put me over the edge. Just stick with the basics when it comes to cake and everyone will be happy.

She's A College Freshman!

So M and I went to her freshman orientation. In case you're not sure how it works, the day starts out predictably, with an hour long blah blah blah session on the importance of academics and maintaining school engagement and this is the best time of your life and work hard etc. Then after about an hour into it, they separate the students from the parents, forbidding each group to contact the others, i.e, no texting, phone calling, or other communication. Then they bring the students to an undisclosed location and continue the boredom with the parents. The best part of the day was seeing her dorm room - great view! And then seeing M at the end of the day all filled with excitement and anticipation. She got her ID (she looks darling) and her class schedule. On the car ride home she said, "I feel like a real college student now." She read out loud from a book she's reading for about the last hour of the trip then we chatted about her high school friends and how she managed through some difficult times with them. I am so proud of how she navigated through her relationships with her peers. She worked hard at being kind while pushing some of her friends to do better. She is going to be a great college student. As my friend L put it, "I can't wait to start missing her."

The Long Ride Home

Driving home from M's college orientation was an adventure. It gets boring but M is always up for a good time. We decided to pull up along side the truckers and give the peace sign and then take a photo of their reaction. Everyone was positive. We either got peace signs back or thumbs up like this guy. What's not to like about this world?

CLUTTER

Every few months I go through fits of disorganization and I think I come up with some magical new "system" to cure all my woes. Well, apparently it isn't working. I can't believe how much stuff I have! Even though I've been pretty good with The Compact (i.e., not buying new stuff) - things continue to accumulate. I have large piles like this in pretty much every room. There is not a room that is clean and clutter free. How does it happen? What's in the piles? What happened to the paperless society idea? I've read up on this clutter problem and here what I have discovered:
1) You don't need half the crap you have
2) It's okay to throw away magazines - even if they are professional journals
3) Everyone has clutter - some just hide it better
4) Moving stuff from one place to another doesn't solve anything
5) It's better to throw away too much than not enough

I have to get to it. My goal for today: Get rid of this pile!

TWO FORCES OF NATURE

Here she is - my sweet girl. M is 18 - a recent high school graduate. She is a force to be reckoned with - just like my garden. The summer before the daughter goes to college is proving to be filled with excitement, tension, frustration, memories, love, confusion, sadness, and laughter. I guess it is to be expected. She is annoyed with me. Today for example, I said, "Hey M, what are you going to do today?" Her response, "WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW EVERYTHING I DO AT EVERY MOMENT? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO ASK SO MANY QUESTIONS!" I smiled and shut her door and went on with my day. When I got home from work she was in the exact same position on her bed peering into her computer screen. I opened the door to her room and asked if she had moved at all today. I thought it was kind of funny - she didn't.

Tonight at dinner we went over our highs and lows for the day. J told a funny story about one of his young students who put an orange construction cone on his head and sad down in the yoga position. When J asked what he was doing the five-year-old responded, "I'm hesitating." I love that J is sharing his teacher stories. It is a gift of teaching to be a witness to these precious life stories. M was bored with highs and lows and came up with nothing.

I started my first ever vegetable garden this year. I planted my garden in May with hopes of an organic vegetarian life style for the summer. Well a few hours after I transplanted the carefully seed-grown heirloom tomato plants from indoors to out, a hail storm came through and crushed the poor tender plants. One survived. I planted the lettuce from seed and have enjoyed several salads. My dad had to give me two of his miracle grow - highly fertilized tomato plants to replace mine. I guess that's okay. Since I have one plant that survived and two that he has given me, I can compare and see what happens.

I have been meeting with S - a new work friend to do some teacher stuff this summer. She takes a picture a day. I love the idea. Writing feels easier when you have a purpose - a picture, a moment to remember.

What would your picture be for today?