A post of absolutely no importance

I should be napping right now.  My kids are napping.  I should be napping too.  And I’m tired.  Yet here I sit…

And I wanted to say a few things that are of absolutely no importance whatsoever to anyone in particular.

First and foremost – I need a haircut and a dye job.  My roots are so grey and obnoxious, even my children are starting to wonder.  “Mommy ow?”  Yes, baby…mommy has a big owwww.  Over her entire head.  It’s called AGE. 

Second, since I’m wishing and wishing for Fall, I stubbornly took it upon myself to bake four loaves of banana nut bread.  And just to be cheeky, I made one of them chocolate chip/banana, one of them plain, and two with walnuts.  See?  Out of control.  And let’s just say, for instance, that using your oven on a 104-degree day is sort of not fun.  So there’s that.  Now where’s Fall? 

Third, I notice that LOTS of bloggers either host or participate in weekly/daily fan-followed blog challenges.  And you do/blog/post photos about those things.  And they have clever names, and cute buttons, like “Fabulous Foto Friday” - (and my humble apologies to anyone out there running this gig)  I’m still working on my buttons, but what do you think about the titles???  Say like…

“Maybe I’ll get out of bed, maybe I won’t Monday”

“Totally too tired to blog Tuesday”

“What laundry? Wednesday”


“Think this week will never end Thursday”

“Failed Spectacularly at parenting again Friday”

“So you think you can parent Saturday"

“So what if my hair is still grey Sunday”

I mean, just for starters or whatever.  I’m open to suggestions.  We could take the blogging world by storm with these.  Can you imagine the images we could conjur for the grab buttons alone?

And last but not least – are you one of those uber super duper organized people who has completed beautiful baby books for each of your children?  Scrapbooks or Lifebooks digital or otherwise that chronicle each year of their life?  Hours and hours of video of your children doing the most mundane of things, just because?  Thousands of pictures sitting in files on your computer? 

Anyway for the rest of you – I am not one of those people.  But I do have one little thing that I work on fairly regularly and it’s simple and easy and I’m already glad I have it. 

It’s a Word document that I started in 2008, when we brought Quint home.  I wanted to remember all his little mannerisms and changes and nuances…and I knew I would never be able to.  I’m not much of a journal gal…GASP GUFFAW NO!  And I know I’ll never be able to recall just what he said or did…or all the cute ways he made us laugh.  So I opened up this Word document one day, and just put the date and started listing some things he was doing, milestones, etc.  And then I saved it in a safe place on the computer.  A month later, I came back to it, typed the current date and added a bunch more stuff.  And so on and so on…and now I have several pages of all the little changes Quint has seen in the past two years with us. 

And I’m so glad I do.  I’ve backed the document up for safety, and continue to do that regularly. 

I’ve also started one for Keira.  And I made sure to write down that she has to sleep with her little pink Elephant Lovie…and she curls it into the crook of her arm and nuzzles the trunk with her nose.  Now I ask you…how can I possibly remember that precious detail 20 years from now?

So if you’re not a scrapbooker, journaler, writer, etc. and even if you are – this is a simple way to put those precious things down on “paper” and have them for later.  I read over Quint’s log from time to time and I’m amazed at what I have already forgotten.  It’s a simple gesture really, and doesn’t require much effort at all…

And now I’ll never forget that he said “flower” for the word "water".  Nope.  Never. 

Yes, well…this concludes our totally random post.  That I just had to share.  And NOW I’m taking that nap.  Have a great weekend!

And seriously…try not to do too much damage on “So you think you can parent Saturday"….just sayin’.  I myself can make no promises.

Paging September

Well if I’m honest, I just don’t really like August all that much.  It’s like a bunch of Mondays all shoved together into one really hot month.  Frantically trying to get everything in order, finishing up projects that didn’t quite make it higher on the list, taking care of misplaced apathy, lethargy, and my personal favorite; procrastination.

When you’re married to a teacher, August marks a call to return to work.  Back to school, taking on an entirely different meaning our house than the excitement it brings to students. 

It means that our “us” time, however little that was this summer, as AB plugged away at two other jobs, is officially wrapping up.  No more lazy mornings, no more late Sunday or Tuesday or Thursday nights.  Just because we could.

It means back to the theater.  Back to productions.  Back to rehearsals and set-building, and music cues for the next nine months.  Back to me cooking dinner for my children.  Woe.  Woe to them.

It also means trying to cram any little piece of fun we can manage into any day we possibly can and all the while saying “this is the last time we can do this for a while”. 

Bunch of Mondays…boo.

But there is something lurking on the horizon that brings me great joy and happiness.  No kidding. 

After I get through my obligatory yearly 31 days of August, I’m rewarded with September.  And do you know what that means?  That, my friends, means that 33 days from today I get to usher in the most wonderful time of my year. 

Autumn.  Fall.  Harvest.  Ah.  Like a breath of fresh air.  Because I love me some summer.  Don’t get me wrong.  But I HEART, DOUBLE HEART me some Fall.  Can I get an amen?  Amen.  (there, gave myself one…)

And for three glorious months I get to enjoy those amazing reds, oranges, browns and chocolate colors, cool evenings, pumpkins, dressing up, turkey, baking, spice candles burning, and warm banana nut bread fresh from the oven.  And soup.  Wonderful soup.  And leaves.  Oh, the colors...and walking outside and not melting into the ground.  Ahem.

So I’m gonna push my way right on through August.  Because I know I get that sweet, sweet favorite time of year when it’s over.  And the way months are flying off the page over here?  It’s right around another few Mondays…

September!  Paging September…please come to front of the calendar!!  You’re #1 Fan is missing you so…

More…

both of you…my amazing, wonderful, sweet babies…

you bless my life more than words that I speak or write can ever tell

more than all the flowers, all the raindrops, all the blades of grass in the world

more than all of that…

and I wasn’t sure I could do it…make it…wait for you…be “her” for you

I was wrong

I loved you more

I always will

Guess we’ll be on our way…

It’s time.  Two weeks passed so fast…like a blink.  I can’t believe they’re over already.  Yes, sadly we leave La Cabin tomorrow morning, and just to be defiant, we’re going to attempt to squeeze in a pontoon ride in the morning before setting off.  We’re stubborn like that.  Heading back to our busy reality is a bit sad for us…for many reasons.

I could write so much – but it’s late, and I’ve only got just enough time to show you…

how we swam and swam and played and played…

         

and certain little boys got their sea-legs firmly under them and then some

and how Frogmore Stew is the best summer meal on the planet – oh my, oh my…




how certain husbands spent quiet time fishing and caught some lovely bass…

how a certain little girl got to celebrate a belated 1st birthday with her new family - all there to sing and clap and love her and celebrate her wonderfulness

and watch her eat cake…

there’s so much I could tell you about our time in the mountains, but most important is that we got a much needed respite. 

And being here is certainly starting to take the shape of a standard summer tradition.

What a wonderful way to spend our time…thanks to Mom and Dad B for hosting us these past two weeks – we were such happy recipients of your sweet hospitality.