Other (Random) Things + Summer Reflections

There were events in August that did not involve a trip to Portugal and, for posterity, I want to bullet-point them on the blog.

• Nate Bargatze. Our favourite comedian! Back in January – when we saw he was performing at an outdoor comedy festival in Halifax this summer – we snapped up tickets and opted to pay $20 extra to enter the grounds early for optimal seating. The earlier the better…right? A few days out the weather didn’t look great, but day-of the forecast – or so John assured me – was only to be “some showers”. What we endured was nothing short of a torrent. Five hours in said torrent, to be exact (the tail-end of a hurricane). We were sitting waiting for the comedy show to start for THREE HOURS. IN TORRENTIAL RAIN. Even with raincoats and umbrellas I was rapidly getting soaked. We had carpooled with friends and one brought giant garbage bags in case it rained; at one point I hopped into a bag and sat back down in my seat feeling quite good about the situation. About fifteen minutes later I noticed: Hmmm, my bottom is feeling…very damp. And I realized with horror that unbeknownst to me water had been pouring down the back of the bag, pooling, so I was now sitting in a giant garbage bag that was full of rain water. Not my finest moment. Thankfully, Nate Bargatze was hilarious (as was one of the other guests – Derrick Stroup) and the things that go wrong often make the best memories. It certainly was a very, very memorable night.

• I crazy-glued my fingers and wedding rings together. True story. A bought a little wax candle cactus in Portugal and it promptly broke which was pretty devastating. When we got home I tried crazy glue, hot glue, and melting/reforming the wax. Alas, it was all too small and delicate for me to make any headway, but at one point I cut open a tube of what appeared to be dry crazy glue and a few seconds later realized the fingers on my left hand were glued together. Like, completely and utterly welded together. And my wedding rings were glued to not only my hand, but each other. Thankfully I remembered that nail polish remover can dissolve crazy glue…and it did. But what a gong show.

• A magical evening with friends. Right before leaving for Portugal we joined friends visiting from Germany for an impromptu supper at the cottage they were renting. The weather was glorious. L went swimming (impromptu), befriended a local fisherman and caught a fish (also impromptu), and we laughed so hard we cried while playing rounds of The Game of Things (impromptu yet again; so fun, highly recommend).

• Deep-sea fishing. L is obsessed with fishing. Like obsessed. (See fishing with a stranger above.) For years he has been asking to go deep sea fishing and John found a nearish charter that was relatively inexpensive. John, L, and another dad and his two sons all went last weekend. Success!

• Postcards. Who doesn’t love snail mail (Birchie does and now has a Postcard Club!) – so what better thing to find upon returning home than a note from Jenny! She mailed it during her trip to Texas and let’s stop and marvel at how perfectly she knows me. Not just Anne of Green Gables. FALL-THEMED ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. Perfection.

This week mostly involves transitioning “back to normal.” Today was consumed with seeing friends; various playdates (both at our house and away) for the kids, a walk and chat with Joy for me, and a revolving door at our house well into the evening. Tomorrow there is an orthodontist appointment for A – her first in over two months which is not ideal, but there was literally NO OTHER TIME that worked with their office vacation and her limited time at home this summer.

School starts Thursday.

John will soon start back to regular work travel after nearly two months straight at home!

Which all makes me think that a little summer reflection is in order.

This was a great summer. There were some unexpected bumps in the road (including two stints of pneumonia), but mostly things went to plan (why yes, I do appreciate when that happens!), and it felt like a realistic glimpse of what lies ahead for future summers. The kids were older and more independent. A spent four weeks at sleepaway camp, three of them involving a volunteer leadership gig. L did his first week of sleepaway camp, plus three weeks of a sports-themed day camp. We spent two weeks at the lake with my parents. Five whole nights home solo with John were, without a doubt, my favourite stretch of days so far in 2024. And then we had a two week trip to Portugal as a family.

There was plenty of down time at home, but not too much. Just right as Goldilocks would say.

It feels bizarre that we’ve already reached September. Just this morning I realized it feels so odd because for the first time since becoming a parent to elementary-school aged children, I’m not reaching the end of the summer burned out. Tired? Always. But burned out? No. And that feels amazing. Getting to the first day of school has always (always) felt like I’m dragging my half-dead body across a marathon finish line. This year it feels like I’m breaking the tape on a 5K with just a skiff of sweat on my brow.

Could everything implode? Yes. Grade 8 has the potential to be rough. Some complicated interpersonal dynamics still exist. But I’m starting September on two feet instead of prostrate, which feels like a major win!

Your turn. What’s new? Who else loves fall as much as I do? Anyone have any crazy…Crazy Glue stories to share? What was the last piece of fun personal snail mail (not a bill, not a promotional flyer!) you received?

Header photo by David Pennington on Unsplash