I have been unintentionally neglectful of this blog this week. I was completely and totally consumed with my first editing deadline on my soon to be published romantic intrigue. My editor says the ebook is set to be released at the end of November. I have had to nearly pinch myself on several occasions to make sure that all of this is actually real. I have worked so many years to achieve what is just a mere four months away.
In the interim it has, of course, been summer vacation around here. Swimming lessons, trips to see friends and family, dinners out, barbeque at the neighbors and of course tax free shopping weekend have kept this family hopping. In a great way.
One of the things I like best about summer is the freedom I have to be a mom and a wife without worrying about all the other roles I play. We eat better, the house gets cleaned up more frequently and I have time to think about all the little details that constantly escape me during the school year. I would love nothing more than to be able to stay home and write my books for a living so that I can make the great homemade meals and keep the laundry at a manageable level. I wait for the day when I no longer have to set an alarm clock for some un-Godly hour.
Do you realize that I have only "done" my hair a handful of times this summer? Buns and braids...love the summer beach look, accomplished in part by my constantly open windows and sunroof in my car. I wore a long braid to the pool this week and one of the little girls we know told me I looked like Elsa... I can live with looking like the world's most loved princess!
With the advent of tax-free weekend (the three glorious days when the state lifts all taxes on clothes and school supplies) comes the final countdown to the end of summer. I feel the race to get in as much fun as possible. We live thirty minutes from a beautiful ocean beach and we have yet to see it this summer. Not that we haven't been to any beaches, we have....there is just not enough days in the summer months to see and do everything I want.
We have managed many great things in the month of July. Like visit my sister in law and her family at their beautiful vacation home in North Carolina. Then there was the trip to NY to see my baby brother finally marry. Add in a couple of local minor league ball games with great hot dogs, fries and cotton candy and getting to know new neighbors moving to our block from a far away country and things have been pretty exciting. Let's not forget the night we decided to drive forty five minutes over the river and through the woods to enjoy all you can eat chicken wings at a favorite restaurant- after a pit stop at a delightful donut shop when that "Hot Donuts Now" sign came on as we drove be. Why not? It's called making memories, folks.
Four years ago, my father passed away in the month of July. It was a tough, emotional roller coaster of a summer that lead into an exhausting school year. Just when I started to recover some, my mother in law passed away the next summer, coincidentally on the same day at exactly the same time that little sister was getting married. I remember standing on the beach as she and her husband said their vows thinking I needed to call my husband who was at his mother's bedside. As soon as the ceremony was over I called him and found out that she had indeed passed at the very time my sister was marrying. That was another tough summer followed by an exhausting school year. It has taken us since then to finally regain our carefree, suck the juice out of summer watermelon approach to life.
It is because of that reason, I am reluctant to see this summer come to an end. Where I was once counting the holiday in terms of weeks, I am down to counting it by days. I am happy, relaxed and sporting a killer tan that perfectly accentuates my princess braid.
Of course, with the end of summer comes fall baseball and I absolutely love watching my boys play ball. My oldest son once had a coach who opened the season who told us he sincerely believed world peace could be achieved on a baseball field. I couldn't agree more. Teamwork, dedication, self control and maintaining a positive attitude are all a part of the recipe for success. Success on the ball field may translate to success in school and later on in college and their future. So, as much as I love the carefree summer months, I think we all crave a little stability and routine by the time September rolls around.
I'm not throwing in the towel just yet though. We have more swimming lessons, plenty of days at the pool with the cousins and a lot of restaurants to try out. I have books full of recipes I still want to try and the warm southern sunshine beckons me to the beach. In between edits and loads of laundry and making memories I will work hard to check back in and see how you all are doing.
Go forth and make summer memories!
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