It’s only after a week plus of vacation that I can feel how much my body needed this: leisure time. Time to spend doing things around the house that I never get to, time to finish projects and go shopping in the middle of the day. Time to read new books and re-read old favorites without having to put them down and turn off the light because the alarm will be going off before I know it.
Even though I have been busy, it’s been at my own pace, with no schedule, no real plans and the wonder of not worrying about trying to fit it all in to the miserly 24 hours in a day, when suddenly I have all 24 at my disposal. Don’t get me wrong: I miss work, but it’s a sort of quiet rumble of longing beneath the peacefulness of each day. I don’t miss the stress of trying to juggle a full-time job with a house, a family, and several heavy-duty extracurricular commitments. I’m enjoying my vacation very much, thank you.
It seems as though summer has finally arrived. We’ve had sunny skies and warm temperatures and the forecast claims it will continue. This is the perfect kind of weather that I love: not too hot during the day, cool with a breeze at night. Today I cleaned out the linen bureau and the fridge and then Martin and I walked with the wagon up to the nursery and bought several large plants to put in the new rock garden in the front yard. We bought a butterfly bush as well to replace the ailing lilac by the big rock. I’ll get another lilac later, and try again in a different spot.
That’s been the tempo of my days this week: wakening leisurely but not too late, working on projects and cleaning, sitting down to read, going for a walk in the afternoon, taking the kids for sushi. Yesterday, the kids and I went to IKEA and found the perfect coffee table to go with the new sofas. Martin and I put it together and I was delighted to discover that the big brass fish fit on its shelf. It’s like having a whole new house with all these new additions!
My brother arrives on Tuesday and suddenly ahead of me the calendar is filling up; the rest of August is back to normal, despite not being at work…we’ve got something planned nearly every day, but they are all fun things.
Martin is at a birthday sleepover tonight, camping with a bunch of his girlfriends. Anders and Karin just went for a bike ride, and they are planning to put up the tent in the backyard tonight and sleep out there. I’ll make popcorn when they return, maybe we’ll watch a movie, or sit out on the deck if the bugs aren’t too bad.
And good news from my first family! My sister and her long-time sambo Tom are taking the plunge and getting married! The only bummer is that the date is set for October, when our kids are in school and Anders has no vacation left, plus I’m not sure that I will have enough time left myself, added to the expense of flying…we shall see, but I’m hoping it will be possible for me to go.
Confetti Colored Frosting Flipped Belated Birthday Wishes to into_the_blue!