a few weeks ago...

It was a quick trip, one day up, college visits {yes. for real} and then home. The "boys" were leaving that next morning for camp and there was still laundry to be done, bags to be packed.  But that quick trip left me so refreshed that I felt like we had been gone days...

Sometimes, and for me it is usually, last minute plans work out best.
I texted her before we headed north to see if maybe she was free for lunch.  The timing was perfect.  Lynda & I had met while our husbands were deployed together in the USCG after 9/11. We shared so many prayers and phone calls, laughter & tears... and it was good to catch up. She is definitely hoping Cam chooses one of the St. Pete schools for college!

We decided that as long as we were staying overnight, we may as well choose something close to the beach... mix a little pleasure in with the business at hand!  It seemed an endless walk across the beach, but when the gulf was finally in sight, it was beautiful. For two hours I rested in the sunshine, catching the ocean breeze. I could hear thunder rolling in the distance, but the radar told me keep resting.  I needed those hours. I needed to let go and exhale... to make room for summer.

I did not want to leave the beach, even though thoughts of dinner were starting a rumbling in my stomach. I tried to work out the timing of when to eat and how long it might take... so that we'd make it back in time for sunset. We debated a great gluten-free menu and casual beach fare, and I am sure it is only his love for me that landed us at a table with a view...

Live music, a gusty beach breeze and a beautiful view were only a few perks of the evening. Mostly it was the laughter at the half-round table for three, and a really great waitress who made it easy for Eric to eat.  I can hardly recall the conversations, but I know they were lively and funny and insightful. College visits speaks his age, but to sit across the table and listen to him is to realize how much he knows and where his interest lie. It is one of my favorite things about being a mom of a teenager.

Just as we were finishing up, the thunder clouds moved in and the rain came down, spoiling the dinners of many picnickers. But we were dry... and the laughter began again as we plotted how to save our table until sunset. Dessert. Another drink. And then maybe one more, since sunset was still a few minutes off...

This was an evening that was so full of life... one that will set the bar for lovely nights. I will try to recreate the magic of it, but sometimes you wonder if you can really return. But what I know for sure is this... St. Pete just got at least two more college votes.

away from the everyday...

The sun beats down hot, but the breeze coming across the gulf is cool.  I could sit here all day.

I can hear their voices being carried in by the wind.  I don't know what they are saying, but it really doesn't matter, it makes me smile.  It is not the content of the conversation that makes the communication between father and son meaningful. It is the fact that they are sharing. One passing along some tidbit of interesting, the other commenting on it.  Once in a while I notice a description involving wide arm movements.

I cherish this scene and the laughter that makes its way across the waves. Sometimes the best conversations happen when you are away from the tv, the radio, the buzz of everyday life.  Even if it is not a real vacation, but a day stolen from midweek...

a bookend-ed day...

I was surprised it only took 23 minutes, from my drive way to the parking lot. On a weekday it would have taken at least ten minutes longer, but the world must have been sleeping in on Saturday...

The boardwalk was quiet.  No rumble of golf carts. No chatter of walkers passing by.  I dodged a couple of spider webs along the way, all worth it, because this path through the mangroves gives way to beautiful.

It never fails to take my breath away.
At the same time, though, it opens up my soul, creating breathing room.  Chatter of the birds, waves lapping up the shore line, and sea foam splashing up as I walk along.  Words come and go though my head, but mostly I am just in the moment, laughing at this snowy egret stalking the fishermen casting out their nets...

: :

Somewhere between loads of laundry and unloading the dishwasher I decided there was no better way to celebrate the first day of summer than to start and end my day with my toes in the sand. I decided on a different spot, one of my other favorites. Lot #3. Chipotle to-go only added to its charm.

I'm planning on making the most of the summer...

in bloom!

It starts off as hushed as red-orange can be...

I see them here and there as I make my way through town... admiring the blooms surrounded by feathery green brush....

And before long, the buds have exploded and the trees are afire. Everywhere. Dancing and swaying in the wind, showing off their red finery.  I can't help but smile... and let the laughter come along, too.

Earth laughs in flowers.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

feels like a monday on tuesday...

It wasn't easy pulling myself out from under the warm blankets, the comfortable sleeping in of summer. School is finally out, my boy is officially a senior, and I am back on my summer work schedule... flip-flopping the balance of work days from four to three.  Perfection.  

But Monday still came... this week on a Tuesday.  Four people needing to be in four places at four different times, which might not be a problem unless you are down to two cars.  And someone heading out to drive his cousins to camp, forgetting that his truck tank was hovering just above empty.  Oh yes... and having to pull myself from beautiful, cozy sleep to wide awake and workout clothes.  Hours later I feel like we are all still just adjusting.

The actual Monday of our week? 
Morning errands, a college meetings and job applications... lunch for four {thank you Jason's Deli for making it easy for Eric to grab a quick sandwich!} We came home to a storm rolling in, which was the perfect excuse to curl up with a book and laze the afternoon away.  And since both kids wanted to accompany Eric to the grocery store, my afternoon stretched on into evening...

I live for summer like I live for the weekends.  And a Tuesday-Monday during summer hardly has a sting when it is only followed by two more work days!

time not wasted

This has been sitting in my drafts for quite a while... and after spending most of the weekend in our pajamas (so thankful for time to rest!), I thought to scroll through and find it.  We are sorta no longer four, at least not within four walls... but maybe, just maybe, our girl was sitting her pajamas on a lazy Saturday morning, too...

The clock ticked past one... in the afternoon. Only one of us had made it from pajamas to actual clothes. The sun was shining for the first time in days, and there we were, stretched out in front of the TV.
But we were... together.
The four of us, within four walls.
And there was nothing else that seemed remotely important.
All we needed.
Right here, where we were.
And it was a good feeling.
A right feeling.
So, hello sunshine... keep on shining.

one summer plan

In my Friday letters last week I let San Antonio I was getting excited... and Suz accused me of secret keeping!  Well, I would never keep a secret from her, I just hadn't gotten around to the telling!  And so, yes, we are going to San Antonio for six days this summer... and bringing four teens along for the ride. 

Camden was just four when we took our first youth group to a National Youth Gathering... and as we stood and worshipped in the SuperDome, I hoped and prayed that I would have the opportunity to stand beside my own children when it was their turn to come.  Three years ago we were honored and blessed to bring our Laura back to the same city for her NYG.  It felt very full-circle-ish... and yet I knew that there was one more life-changing gathering that my heart was desperate to attend...the next one, Camden's turn.  When the destination for the 2013 NYG was revealed, this fiesta-loving girl was beyond thrilled to hear San Antonio, TX!  

The details are just about set... plane tickets purchased and hotel reservations made.  On July 1st six of us will head west... to Texas, and towards Jesus.  I am already thanking God for the wonderful time we are going to have... there is just nothing like being in the midst of 30,000 worshipping teens.  And this fiesta-loving-Jesus-praising girl is going to be standing right along side them... guiding and teaching and soaking it all in.  And the very best part... will be watching my son fall in love with his Savior all over again.

click here for a "remember when" post!

the simple of summer

I said it three times yesterday... I'm ready for summer. 
With less that two weeks of school under the belt of this new year, I am weary of finding a routine and figuring it out.  Reality tells me there is no hope to paddle my way back to lazy days and nights when bed time forgets that morning comes early... there is work to do. 

I seek the sun, and let it shine on my face... eyes closed, remembering the simple of summer. 

In summer, the song sings itself.

-William Carlos Williams

linking up to Dayle's Simple Pleasures...

{virtual coffee} 17

Today it doesn't matter what is in my cup.

I am gulping it down, urging the sweet and the heat to wake me, to pull the weight from my eyelids. 

Where did this weary come from?

I'm sure that I could carve out time to meet for coffee today... summer is here {hooray!} and the schedule is more flexible.  There is not so much rushrushrush in the morning.  And the afternoons are whatever we make them.  The sun stretches out into evening and the longer it dances in the trees, the wider my smile becomes.  Oh, I love that speckled light! 

So if we were really meeting for coffee, I might spill my driving woes on you... well, not my driving- my daughter's.  She is perhaps the only teenager who despises driving!  But she took driver's ed two summers ago, and she passed the driving test- but still no desire to actually go and get her license!  But we have decided, it is time.  We have three weeks to review in crash-course (eek!) style, so it has been the goal for her to drive everyday.  She is actually doing well, and I think she has no reason to actually despise it.  So why now?  I keep thinking how wonderful it will be if, come fall, she can be the one to drive she & her brother the mile and a half to and from school and band practice.  

And why the three weeks?

This is feeling like the one stress of my summer- that the time with my kiddos will be too short!

Camden (and Eric) leave for Boy Scout camp on June 25th.  Laura will leave the following Friday, with Eric's parents, to pick up Camden and head out for their summer adventure with Gran & Grandad.  I'm pretty certain they will be gone at least a full month, and when they return, there will be one week of summer before band camp begins.   I have to keep reminding myself that Eric & I are flying out {for one week} to join the adventure in mid-July...

So in the mean time, we will squeeze out as much summer fun as we can stand, working it in around my work, Eric's work and Laura's work/volunteering at the equestrian challenge center. 

backwards

As excited as I am to move towards this next school year, the milestone of the last day of school has me pedalling backwards.  Back to the first day of school, back to when they were little and school was a place I was looking forward to sending them to.  Oh a million years have passed since then... and each has been a learning experience.  In the moment, and in hindsight.  The lessons learned are not just for the students... this Mama has learned her own fair share.  Most importantly... how to let them make their own mistakes, so that their successes really belong to them, and... sigh... how to let go.  Looking back and recalling the struggles and the overcoming and the successes helps me to step out again in faith.  Thankfulness abounds... because here we go again. This next level of letting go is going to be a doozy.

and summer begins...

If only every weekend was four days…
I crafted, I played with my kids, I finished two books, I stretched out on the couch and relaxed. I ran errands, caught up on my laundry and cleaned my room. Sunday afternoon began to fade, and I was feeling refreshed… even ready to tackle the work week.

Sweeping the sleep away from my eyes this morning… I readied myself for the new summer routine… three day work weeks, no homework, carefree afternoons and perhaps a few more four day weekends. And heading off for work today seems... just a bit sweeter with my heart full of warm memories and summer dreams.

finally...

At long last... it has arrived. The last day of school!

And we celebrate... the end of a great year, moving upwards and onwards to 11th & 8th grades... and summer. 
Oh, sweet, beautiful summer.  Welcome!