Summer View

This is my view of Summer 2010. Perfection. My family, sun, water, and great books.

So many people don't know how to respond when they ask me what I'm doing with all my free time this summer and I answer, "As much nothing with my family as possible!"

I think they expect a list of big projects. "Remodeling my kitchen!"

"Building my own compost pile and complete garden!"

"Learning to speak fluent Mandarin!"

That all sounds great, but how could it compete with spending an entire day lounging around with Cal in his room while we procrastinate cleaning it? Or strolling all over town with Kayla looking for someone to teach her how to knit my cousin's baby a blanket by August 3, and the perfect frame for the pictures she wants to give her best friend on July 13 (Best Friend's Day)? Or spending hours playing with puppies at Operation Kindness because there's nothing we have to watch the clock to rush home to get ready for, and being there when our friends decide to adopt the extra special one we've fallen completely in love with? Or spending an entire day with all four of us on the couch watching movie after movie after movie?

Unscheduled time is the best thing about summer for me. I spend enough of the school year telling the kids, "No, we just don't have time for that this week, now hurry up - we gotta go." And telling James, "That's a great idea! Just find an empty spot on the calendar and we'll do it. How does 2042 work for you?"

It's like one of my favorite quotes says:

When the mind is not crowded


By imaginary things,


It is the best season of your life.

Summer is definitely the best season!