Monday, August 22, 2016

#MicroBlog Monday - CountDown

Time once again for #MicroBlog Monday!  To see other posts for this, please click here!

I used to be a Fall person, just like my Grammie.  Fall and its smells, its crunchy leaves, the coolness and the sweaters and snuggles.  I loved it!  And here I go and move to New England--the CENTER of Fall!  It is awesome here in Autumn!

And yet...well, I guess as time has gone on, as I have children who are school age, as I have experienced more and more fun in Summer...I have this bittersweet Love/Hate relationship with the Count-Down between late Summer and Fall.  Not always, but a few times of the years, I have actually end up Missing Summer rather than Looking Forward to Fall.  Don't get me wrong--once Autumn is definitely here, I embrace it like an old friend and I remember why I love it so...but...Summer...it is fleeting in my eyes, and I wish it could linger a bit more.

The Count-Down for school is upon us.  The school supplies have been bought.  The schedules are starting to form...but Summer is still here---and I am getting ready to make the most of it soon---as the Count Down to vacation begins this week.  Saturday, we will be leaving for a week on Cape Cod, where many days of beach and sun and fun await...







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Thursday, August 04, 2016

Forward and Back, Back and Forward - Update

I look at the photo, brought up through social media...smiling child...was it that long ago?  I look at him and barely see the small, smiling child...but, every so often, more and more....I am able to see past the disgruntled teenager...I am starting to see someone new/old emerging. Hints of his humor and smiles when he is not guarded.  Slowly, I see that this boy/teenager is starting to become the young man that he will be.  It is a work in progress, slowed by obstacles...but it is there.  He is there.  I don't need (but am encouraged by) the weekly progress reports from school that show the change, the progress.  So much work ahead--but the future is starting to form and take shape.  And I am proud of him.

From weekly progress report:

"Michael did a very good job this week and was very successful in the community.  His sense of humor is really starting to come out more to more people and it's wonderful to see positive interactions with peers and staff."
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The house is a bit of shambles right now...finally it has become time to remodel part of the kitchen...out with the old, in with the new--cabinets and counter-top are being replaced.  This seems a bit familiar too...a few years after we moved in, we had a new floor put in...and the mess, multiple days of dissembled household...I remember Michael walking on boards around the kitchen floor while the tiles set.  This week, we have all the stuff from the cabinets in plastic tubs in the living room hallway...the kitchen table (not always free of clutter) is FULL of stuff.  Last night--no sink, no counter-top--we had take-out fish platters from the seafood restaurant near Chewy's work...and this morning--McDonald's Breakfast...


On the only surface we had this morning...

Last night, cats inspecting the work in progress...

Oh, look...new cabinets!

Counter-top installed this morning...

White caulk will dry clear...

UPDATE: Cabinets and counter-top finished (and evil smiling Michael!):





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She is having a much smoother time at summer camp this year--and she has learned to swim very well--so well that she has passed the tests to be able to go in the deep end!  She has a few more weeks of swim lessons--I will see if she wants to do more--but, she is her mother's daughter--a fish in water! We have had a couple weekends where she and I have been in pools more than on dry land!  (We still haven't gone to a beach this summer...soon!)




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Time is moving, moving..forward we keep going...summer is still here, but almost at an end.  Schools supplies, some have been bought, some are still awaiting our time and energy.  Still in our future is time on Cape Cod and beaches and fun...and Third Grade and Senior Year of High School and Driving lessons and singing lessons and...oh, so much more....





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Much Needed Self Care...

For my Birthday this year, I got a weekend away from everyone at a nice hotel with a spa.  This was the weekend.  And much needed it was! Af...