Me Do This Summer

I start back to teaching this week, so I thought I'd glance back LIKE LOT'S WIFE OHHH NOOOO and take stock of how well I managed to complete my summer bucket list.

From June 7, 2012: A list of summer must-dos in no particular order: 1. Organize clips + build professional website Here it be! 2. Complete sabbath school lesson project (Um, 1 out of 4 ain't bad?) 3. Publish an essay or two (Oh, haha. About that...) 4. Hunter Museum (It'll still be there next month, right?) 5. Salted Caramel ice cream from Mitchell's in Cleveland, OH 6. Fit back into all of my summer shorts 7. Read at least 4 books for pleasure (2 out of 4 ain't bad?) 8. Complete Photoshop professional growth course 9. Take a hike in Asheville 10. Learn to make some new summer salads

Love, laugh, floss, bike, smooch, read, friend, mom, wife, summer like it's an action verb.

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There is a point to all of this

Primpin After the sweet scene that played out in our bathroom in-home beauty parlor this morning, we hit a sour note. And by that I mean I told you that the faux tribal makeup was going to scare the babies at the gym daycare and that you had to take it off.

Or I would.

No, staying home by yourself while the rest of us watch HGTV run our guts out on the treadmills is not an option.

Okay, so I see your choice is for me to take off the makeup.

I always know that choice is never going to end well.

Flutterby wings

Oh look, Baby Girl is in a whole different outfit. Surely this must be a different day altogether.

Or! This is the same day when you insisted that the only way you were going to the playground was as Butterfly Girl. You are clearly railing against the minimalist dress code of Montessori that you know you are marching into in a day or two. So I indulge.

You were wholly satisfied with the pink mesh ribbon I festooned into "wings," attached to your sundress with a scrunchie and a Mary Kay Cosmetics pin. Everyone came out a winner. Until later when you wanted me to reattach them to your pajamas. Something about sharp pins and sleep and ribbon was not adding up in my mind as GOOD IDEA.

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I was on bed detail tonight and I felt like Ms. Pacman working my way through all of these paths, snapping up my pellet points to bedtime victory, and you and your brother kept floating out from every warp tunnel like the Ghosts of Namco. The!

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As I was rocking your unwieldy overtired brother, you told me something that was important enough for me to write it down, which believe it or not is the point of this whole post. You said, "Mama? We love Daddy to the moon and past Heaven and into a field of flowers. But we love you to the moon and to the Milky Way and to Jupiter and past Mars and all the way to North Carolina. Yeah."

Know what, Baby Girl? I love you more.

Then, there. Carnations.

This past week, the emotional pendulum swung far and fast in both directions. I'm still feeling the whiplash. I spent time with my dear, dear Boston mama friend, which was adrenaline-pumping and giggle-festing and then she was gone. Then, back to a sink full of dishes and wearing my crankypants when there is never a towel in the bathroom when I need one.

Wednesday morning was possibly one of the worst mornings of my whole life. I believe I am mercifully recovered from Wednesday morning now. Perhaps the awesome face-collapsing funny e-mails I traded with my best friend the next two days are responsible.

All throughout the week, my heart kept swelling with huge love for my husband. And then I'd find his Freeze Pop wrappers all over the floor. Pendulum. Swing.

This morning, I tried to go to the gym and there was a diminutive diva (who did not want to wear clothes today) standing in my way. There were tears. There were prayers. There were more tears. There were 45 minutes of childcare at the gym when we finally arrived. I rowed my guts out for 45 minutes and felt high on life at the finish line.

While I was making dinner, I glanced at this image on my screen and it spoke to me like a wink from the Heavens. These carnations are so simply assembled, and so naturally vibrant. They don't need to be gilded.

carnations

I am slouching toward sabbath now and somewhere across the pond, there are Olympians racing and swimming and balance beaming to golden glory.

But after this week of extremes, I am so grateful for a day of simple rest. Like a jar filled with pink carnations. Perfection.