Dispatch from Summer

We are having a summer that is a little different this year. Max and I are both doing more than usual, so we have fewer of those long event-less days to string together. We're spending more time in the car and we are both actively trying to step a little bit outside our comfort zones.

Walking him into Summer Writer's Camp this morning I thought - less than two weeks until vacation,( after which we are adopting our very first dog) then my retreat and then we board the rollercoaster downslide to the beginning of the school year. When we signed up for writer's camp, July 18 seemed so far away and yet, here we are.

I haven't had enough time just the two of us this summer. Not enough long lazy mornings bumping into each other as we wander from computer to bookshelves to kitchen table, not nearly enough picnic parties on the living room floor watching bad cartoons, not enough bargaining about how much is too much Lego Universe, not enough people watching, not nearly enough afternoon art projects.

I know we still have time to do a lot of these things and I know we will. I just wish summer would slow down a little bit.

Things from Today

Please notice how close Max is to being as tall as me.

• Being here to applaud Max's video game accomplishment.
• My sister's birthday.
• A huge swath of reading time this afternoon.
• Getting closer to finishing this sock.
• Planning my end of summer retreat.
• Brainstorming summer salad ideas.

Random Thoughts

*We are easing into our summer schedule over here. 

*During the summer, Monday night is movie night. Last night we watched Holes and it was really very good.

*When the weather gets really hot I have no desire to cook at all.

*On a related note, I am so ready for a haircut.

*I finished Atonement this weekend and it totally wrecked me.

Summertime

Max has two more days of school. I'm trying to get my mind around the idea that two days from now I will be the parent of a fifth grader and I'm thinking about summer.

Last year I abandoned the lure of setting up summer writing projects and decided to play it free and loose for the summer months. Last year's non-plan worked so well, I'm doing it again.

I have writing I can pick up and put down when I want to. I'm planning my second annual end of summer retreat. There is work at hand if I have the time and inclination to do it.

 Max & I have challenged each other to fill up a moleskine by summer's end. There will trips to the museum and people watching. We will haunt the library. There will also be long mornings of video games and Pokemon trivia. There will be lunches on the porch and walks around the block. We will watch movies and run together at the Y. Most importantly there will be time to hang out together and play, to get creative outside of the confines of the school-day schedule.

I can hardly wait.