This last week has gone by in a blur and suddenly today is the last day of vacation. Since I was a teenager, and possibly before, I’ve always been enamored of sleeping in. It’s a treat, a comfort, a blessed extra rest, but I’ve been able to take it too far, and even in college was able to turn my days over: sleeping in so late and staying up so late that eventually I exchanged night for day and vice versa.
Since I’ve had children, though, I’ve been less and less able to sleep in. Not at all when the children were really young, but a little more so as they’ve grown and become better able to amuse themselves in the mornings. They’ve learned to shut my bedroom door and leave me alone until I awake on my own, as I’ve proven to be no morning person; growling and snapping at anyone who disturbs me. Lately though, aging and habits have been working against me. Sleeping in seems to be becoming a thing of the past…to a certain extent. This past 3 weeks I went to bed at the same time I do during normal routines and got up no later than 9 every day (with only 2 exceptions), often earlier. I mourn the good old days when I could happily sleep until afternoon.
On Thursday the kids started school. Karin is continuing in the same room with the same teachers but a grade up (2nd)…and Martin has reached the “high elementary” level, entering 4th grade in a new wing, a new room, with a new teacher. He’s in school an hour later than last year as well, and all our schedules are adapting. This coming week brings the beginning of autumn and the return of our normal activities and schedules. Martin starts piano on Wednesday, Karin will start karate tomorrow, and they both begin English tutoring next week. I’m both looking forward to, and dreading, returning to work tomorrow.
My brother is still here for another week, which is great, though I wish I wasn’t having to work through it, and Anders will be leaving on Wednesday for Gotland and the annual Ducati Club meeting. We spent yesterday in the sun (mostly), out watching Karin race her mini motorcycle in the morning and then cheering on our local baseball team, the Lund Giants, in the early afternoon. We headed over to the Malmö Festival afterwards and I listened to Lloyd Cole for about half an hour before fetching up with the rest of the family under the big tent, in the front of the stage, to wait for Calaisa to start at 6 p.m. They came on and rocked the place for an hour, it was great fun and the kids loved it and so did I, though I could have done without the 2 pushy adolescents that were crowding Karin the entire time. It’s been a long time since I was at a concert and even longer that I was in the front row! 🙂
We found good and greasy things to eat at the food booths after the concert ended, though no one was brave enough to try the Moose Kebabs and finished up the evening letting the kids ride the carnival rides for an hour. I must be getting really old: I was so glad that they were old enough to ride all the rides themselves and that I could sit on a bench nearby and rest my aching back and hips! Standing at the concerts for nearly 2 hours really did me in.
Today has been a quiet day, with laundry and dishes and web work and reading and baking oatmeal cookies. I’m going for a walk in a little bit. Back to “real life” tomorrow!
Lund Giants up to bat (photo by Anders Ek)
Calaisa in Concert (photo by Anders Ek)
Carnival Ride at Malmö Festival (photo by Anders Ek)