We’re at the halfway point in the month and I’ve been getting texts and seeing posts all week from friends in different parts of the world writing about their kids going back to school.
Our little family still has another few weeks of summer left. As always, I’m conflicted.
I love the ease of summer. Sleeping in, casual meals we throw together at the last minute with whatever happens to be in the fridge, less rigid schedules. I also struggle with the lack of structure and the continual chaos in the house. Grass clippings get tracked in, there are always wet beach towels in some state of drying in various spots in the house, and we go to bed far too late.
It’s a season—literally and figuratively—and it’s fun and hard at the same time. Acknowledging that feels helpful and so I feel both happy to have a few more weeks of summer to enjoy and also immensely relieved I only have a few more weeks of summer to endure.
Let’s talk Happy Things. There are a lot this week!
PODCASTS
I recorded two guest spots for upcoming podcast episodes this week. It was such a fun experience and I can’t wait to see them go live (barring any issues, I should have an episode to share with you on Monday morning!).
I am decidedly not used to talking into a microphone and it’s a bit unnerving to realize just how often I do say “Um.”
SURGERY DATE
A family member has been waiting to receive a time-sensitive surgery date and it kept getting bumped later and later into the summer. Yesterday morning, a cancellation slot opened up… and the surgery is scheduled for this coming Monday morning. Praise the Lord!!!
GONE WITH THE WIND
I did it! I read Gone With the Wind. And I have so many thoughts. I also kind of want to take a university course dedicated to unravelling ALL the layers of this story.
I stayed up way too late multiple nights in a row, but I could not put this epic down.
I’ll talk about it at length in my monthly reading recap, but I can see why this book won the Pulitzer Prize, I can see why it’s been so widely banned (it is quite scandalous, and the racial side of the story is incredibly complicated), I can see why it was made into a famous movie (can’t you imagine this as an epic miniseries a la the BBC Pride and Prejudice??), and I can see why so many people love this book.
It was All the Things. It was frustrating. It was sad. It was confusing. It was beautiful. It was tragic. It was a 1,000-page masterclass in fiction. (Though, as per usual, I do think the book would have been better with 300 pages shaved off; the middle section dragged for me).
Also, did you know the author—Margaret Mitchell—was struck and killed by a car when she was 49?? It reminded me of the fact that Gaudi (of Sagrada Familia fame) was killed by a tram, though he was in his 70s. It feels like such a sad and abrupt way to go.
WATERFALL PICTURES
The actual event happened last week, but I promised some photo evidence of the fun. Unfortunately, the jumping pictures of me didn’t turn out because of the angle, but you get the idea. You can see me hitting the water in the middle photo.
BRIDGE JUMPING
On the theme of jumping from heights into water… on Sunday I ended up hosting one of Levi’s friends after church and we decided to go bridge jumping. On a whim, I asked if another friend wanted to join, and then another one asked if they could come too. In the end, I took four boys to the bridge.
I never know how long these adventures are going to last. Sometimes the water is too cold, or they get bored. It can be 20 minutes… or it can be 2 hours.
Well, the water was warm, there were all sorts of people jumping (which does add to the fun, in my opinion), and I all but had to drag the boys away after THREE HOURS.
TRAMPOLINE JUMPING
Apparently, summer involves a lot of jumping. And not always into water.
My friend Joy has a wonderful trampoline that Indy, in particular, absolutely loves using. I was over at her place this week and Indy tagged along… and enjoyed a very fun jumping session on their (springfree) trampoline!
CROSSING THINGS OFF (MY NEVER-ENDING LIST)
I feel like my to-do list is a bit like Mary Poppins’s carpetbag. It has no bottom.
But, despite the fact that as soon as I cross things off a dozen new things crop up, it DOES feel good to check things off the list:
- I did a pesky return
- I bought stamps (sorry penpals, I have fallen woefully behind in snail mail correspondence)
- I went to the library and returned books/picked up new holds
- I refilled a prescription and picked it up
- I scheduled a routine doctor’s appointment for one of the kids
- I dealt with a variety of time-sensitive banking logistics
- I deep-cleaned some lawn chairs
- I washed and changed the sheets/pillowcases on our bed
- I made and froze all sorts of food items for upcoming guests
TENNIS
Indy spent a lot of time at our local tennis court this summer which has been delightful. He’s there for about 3.5 hours a day and it’s a great environment full of people who love tennis and being active. It does mean a lot of driving to/from each day, but it’s worth it.
THRIFTED SNEAKERS
Speaking of Indy, he is growing like crazy and ALL his sneakers were getting too tight. We’ve been trying to find some good second-hand pairs since investing in new ones doesn’t seem to pay off at his age.
I wasn’t feeling too desperate until we realized he has FOUR pairs that are too small, and the one pair that did fit… he forgot out at a friend’s cottage.
He went to tennis one day in too-tight shoes, and I said we’d check out a local consignment store as soon as he finished up his volunteer gig. It’s actually a women’s consignment shop, but his current sneakers—plain black Nikes—were from there. I was not expecting to find anything in his size that was in a gender-neutral colour, but we walked in… and walked out with brand new sneakers on his feet less than 5 minutes later.
A great pair of Nike Versairs that were in like-new condition for $28. And what a fun colour for a tween boy.
At a shop in our little town! I was absolutely delighted, because I was resigned to trying multiple stores and paying full price for a pair at a sporting goods shop.
SPENDING LESS THAN EXPECTED ON SPENDY THINGS
On Monday, I had to get a complete brake job done on our SUV. They had never been replaced before, so it was time for this pricey form of regular maintenance to get done. But there were new rotors and sensors and all sorts of other things. And… it was half the price of what we expected!!!
Late last week, we also noticed the SUV had a sizeable crack in the windshield. Darn. A quick trip to a local glass place confirmed there was nothing that can be done to fix it, aside from a completely new windshield. But because we have some fancy sensors in the glass (heads-up display), the replacement windshield was likely to be very expensive AND only certain places are equipped to do the calibration necessary for the new windshield.
Not only did we get into the shop quickly, turns out they specialize in installing and calibrating this sort of windshield, and because of the insurance coverage we have, we had to pay a small deductible and the rest was billed directly to our car insurance AND because it’s no-fault, it won’t impact our premiums (sometimes it’s not wise to run this sort of thing through insurance because of the impact on future premiums) AND, we now have a brand-new windshield with a warranty for up to three chips (we’ve only had to get one chip repaired once in our marriage).
Finally, we had a little house upgrade project and it came in at HALF THE PRICE we had anticipated.
While I don’t believe in jinxing, surely we are now jinxed to everything breaking down at an alarming rate and for exorbitant replacement costs… but we’re basking in the delight of things costing less than anticipated this week.
One thing that DOES need to be fixed is an inconsistent, small leak under our kitchen sink. It has been truly baffling. A week or two will go by and then all of a sudden, there will be a puddle of water that drips out onto the floor. We have puzzled over it, trying to figure out the source. I finally found the issue. A plumber will need to be called, but for now it’s small and contained and once I knew where the water was leaking from, I could put a little bucket underneath it to collect the water. It’s a short-term solution, but it feels satisfying (and I was getting tired of bringing out a towel to sop up puddles of water).
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Blog reader Kate had a baby! Huge congrats to her whole family as they welcome baby George <3
- Blog reader Elinoora emailed me this link from The Guardian about a “couch-to-5K for books” for trying to boost people’s interest in reading. Fascinating!
- Our dishwasher.
- My new companion journal for The Bible Recap. I needed something to get my Bible reading habit back on track, so I added another book to the stack! There are three simple, repeated prompts each day, but it feels good to switch things up for a fresh read-through of the Bible.
- Worship music by Josiah Queen.
- Sparkling water.
- Air conditioning.
- A refreshing shower after a sweaty walk in the sun.
- A new hand towel in our en suite. It’s fluffy and pretty and a much better colour fit than our old one since we got the bathroom re-painted. $7.99 at Winners. (Alas, nothing in the clearance section captured my fancy.)
- Kids playing LEGO. I love hearing the rustle of hands through plastic blocks (literally hearing it right now as Indy plays with a friend in the basement).
- Clearing out the fridge. With company coming, our fridge will fill up quickly. We have been eating down ALL the leftovers and starting with a fresh slate feels good.
And that’s a wrap.
Next week will be… busy. The week after that will be… busy. And the week after that WILL INCLUDE THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL for the kids since MARCH 6th! Oh happy day.
Happy weekending, friends!
Your turn.
- Tell me the happiest thing that happened in your world this week.
- Have you ever read Gone with the Wind?
- What are you most looking forward to in September?
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
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