Summer Starts in 2 Days

Summer has always been my favorite season. As a kid I always looked forward to the long hot months of no school, and being able to read as much as I wanted. I started spending my summers in libraries at the age of ten, and didn't stop until my mom got me a work permit and found my first summer job for me when I was thirteen. After that I had to work every summer at a part-time job until I left home for the military (Mom was divorced by then and needed the money), but I usually got mornings and weekends to myself, and off I'd go to the library.

I know my liking summer confuses some people, but you have to see the year the way I do. For me spring has always been about taxes and cleaning, and trying to figure out the year ahead, all of which are exhausting at times. As a kid it was the return to school after the Christmas holidays I hated, and then dealing with all the crap of the remainder of the school year. Fall is when the worst hurricanes hit, so it's a scary season every year. Then there's that disgusting pumpkin spice trend that keeps coming back that I really hate (Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so that's the only bright spot.) Winter is cold and all about the Christmas holidays, both of which I do not like. After the Christmas from Hell last year I'm going to lobby for absolutely minimal festivities this year.

None of those things spoil summer for me. It's bright and hot and everything is green. There are lots of thunder storms, sometimes daily (I love the rain and thunder actually puts me to sleep.) It's also my birthday, the one day of the year I get to do what I want. The kids don't have to go to school so they're out riding bikes and having fun. People seem to be happier, too -- maybe like me they love going to the beach.

This summer I'm planning to have a lot of fun at home. I'll be winding up the last phase of my big work project so I'll be able to take some time off and focus on some projects I have planned. Maybe it's selfish to make this season all about me and what I love to do, but I generally devote the rest of the year to others. Summer is mine!

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T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...

Holiday Prep

For Thanksgiving this year we've invited some guests from Oliver's mom's side of the family, so I have to start prepping now to get the house in shape for the big day. The first major thing is having the carpets cleaned, which we've scheduled for next week. This weekend I'll be cleaning out four rooms to get them ready for that. I started with my front dining room, which I use as my sewing room. It was kind of a mess already, so it felt good to get everything cleared out. We'll be having ten people at dinner plus two babies, so this will give me a chance to figure out how to arrange two tables in this space. I think this will be my last time hosting a big Thanksgiving gathering. Mike has started his family with a lovely girl who has a huge, close-knit family of her own, while Katherine will likely be off at grad school out of state for the next several years. I'm also not getting any younger. My guy and I will always celebrate Thanksgiving, but ...

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.

Valerean

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