Venus

Our move brought us to a home that is nestled against a hill.  The bonus of this is that there are no homes behind us - only hill and sky.  The sky makes for enlightening entertainment on summer nights, especially since my son recently acquired the Star Gazer App on his phone, making it possible for us to identify stars and constellations.

The star that is most easily identified each night is Venus.  It's always there - always bright - no matter the weather, no matter the night.  (Hey - that rhymed!).  So as we sat gazing last night I offered a bit of motherly advice to my children.  I advised them to be like Venus, which is to say: reliable, radiating light.  And seeing as advice is defined as "a recommendation offered as a guide to action," it's my hope that seeing Venus in the sky will always be a call to action - a call to love.  Venus is, after all, named after the Goddess of Love.

Finally

Summer FINALLY arrived at my house last Wednesday.  It came with a 7 AM morning temperature of 74 degrees - but because summer had arrived I didn't meet it until I woke up at 9 AM at which time the temperature had risen to 79.

Summer's arrival was official because the day was wide open.  No plans, appointments or ballgames.  A leisurely morning turned into an hour of toastiness pool side.  Lunch in town, an Orchard Salad, followed by downtown window shopping.

My favorite part of the day was dinner.  Pandora boasted Michael Buble and the likes (Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Norah Jones) while we cooked and danced around the table.  Chicken Supreme was our main dish with crusty french bread and fresh peaches.

After dinner we made a quick run to the nearest gas station for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and licorice to snack on while watching America's Got Talent.   And when the sun had FINALLY gone down, we sat on the back porch and star gazed into the beauty of a sky untouched by city lights. 

Welcome summer.  Feel free to stay a while.   

Free Candy

So there we were, the Detroit airport, making our way from one gate to the next for our connecting flight home.  I was in "hurry up" mode and had gotten quite a ways ahead of my husband and son.  Because of the distance I'd gained I could not hear my husband calling my name.  After several attempts of trying to alert me that I was losing them, he hollered "FREE CANDY" and stopped me dead in my tracks. 

My first thought was, "I hope it's chocolate" as I turned to see who was giving out free candy.  Then came the realization that there was no free candy as I saw my husband and son laughing at knowing me all too well.  I moved to the "stand" side of the moving walkway and waited for them to catch up.  We made our way to the gate and because we made it in plenty of time I rewarded myself with a Mrs. Fields cookie, or three, I forget.   

Sidetracked

My family had a laugh last night at my expense.  It seems I had gone to get a band-aid for my husband's blistered feet (football camp) and never came back.  On my way to the cupboard for band-aids, I stopped to put in a load of laundry, then wipe down the kitchen counters and soon his poor feet were the last thing on my mind.  He accused me of having a Homer Simpson moment - like the time Homer knew the guy his sister-in-law was about to marry was a fake but instead of objecting, this is what happened. 

In fact, it's funny because as I put the laundry in (instead of getting band-aids mind you) I remembered that my son had asked me for a book earlier.  Two days earlier. But I got sidetracked.  You might wonder why my husband didn't get his own band-aid, and my son his own book.  Afraid the blame lies with me.  You see we've recently moved and as I'm unpacking I'm easily, well, shall we say, sidetracked.  So the band-aids and books and other things are in random locations that only I know.

So the order of the day will be organization!  I'll put everything in the place it should go, right after I check my email, pay some bills, fold some laundry, do the dishes. . .

Basal Cell Carcinoma

Wear your sunscreen.  They've been warning us for years.  I never listened.  I'm a quick tanner, inherited it from my dad.  He used to get so dark in the summer that he told me he was an Indian.  I believed him until I was old enough to figure it out (last year).  So imagine how silly I felt holding my husband's hand in the dermatologist's office while they cut off a piece of his face containing basal cell carcinoma.  Me with a golden brown tan, and a doctor with several assistants looking at me thinking "you'd like to be next would ya?"

So I'm turning over a new leaf.  Sunscreen has become part of the morning routine.  Carnation Instant Breakfast, allergy meds, sunscreen.  It's taken some getting used to.  I have to admit I love the way I feel/look with a good tan.  But I'd like the next 40 years of my life to be as cancer-free, not to mention wrinkle-free, as possible.  I figure one of the best ways to negotiate life is to eliminate as many negative variables as possible.  Sunburns are one negative variable I can actually do something about.  Now if only there was a way to eliminate dirty dishes.  

Post Script:
After writing this post I ran into town.  I ran into a friend of mine who has been battling cancer for years now.  Not the cancer that gets cut off, but the cancer that grows from the inside out.  My heart sank as she revealed the cancer is not going away.  I bought her a soda and we drank to tomorrow.  It's my hope/prayer that she'll have many more tomorrows.  It's my hope/prayer that I'll always have the gratitude in my heart that I felt tonight.  Gratitude for good friends and gratitude for the opportunity to negotiate life. 

Absence of Schedules

So lately just living my life requires negotiation.  I haven't spent a solid day in my house since we moved in June 1st and summer began.  We've been living our life out of suitcases, mostly due to baseball related travel.  I was starting to get a little irritated, thinking I haven't even had my swimsuit on yet and it's going to be the 4th of July next week.  In fact, I'm still not completely un-boxed and don't even know if I could find my swimsuit if I tried. 

Then it hit me, summer is the absence of schedules.  I'm gonna stop looking for the lazy days of summer and start enjoying the fact that we run like the wind all day and fall into bed at night when PM is turning into AM.  I should be glad that I haven't had a regular trip to WalMart for groceries since June 5th.  Soon enough I'll be buying chips and drinks for school lunches and once again we'll be living our scheduled life like clockwork. 

I'll enjoy my days spent soaking up sun at the ballpark and eating snack shack hot dogs for lunch.  Bring on the days scheduled according to game time - not work time.  And here's to you Mr. Portable Toilet Cleaner Outer  - since summer is the absence of regularity - we appreciate your service - even though we throw back ice-cold ROOT-beer with our dogs.

Its A Small World, After All

Here is a list of cities I was in this past Friday:

Cooperstown, New York
Palmyra, New York
Syracuse, New York
Detroit, Michigan
Salt Lake City, Utah
Provo, Utah
Saint George, Utah

Here is a list of people I ran into in those cities:

Cooperstown:  A high school friend I haven't seen in 20 years.
Palmyra:  Former next-door neighbors.
Syracuse:  Baseball teammates
Detroit:  A former co-worker
Salt Lake City:  Former next-door neighbors parents.
Provo:  In-laws.
Saint George:  Three children who missed their parents for eight days.