News and comments

(I must have been inspired by our visit to the news station. Or maybe not...this is all good news.)

Lead Story:
Bryan's been working late a lot recently, but he is finally home tonight and we are all having ice cream and watching one of my favorite kids' movies. School is officially out for the summer and our calendar is filling up with camping and sailing plans.

News Item 2:
Last Saturday, we had an open house out at Oakhill Organics, our vegetable farm. Despite the cold and rainy weather, we had a wonderful time, meeting other CSA members and playing with the new farm kittens.

Related News Item:
Speaking of kittens, a few weeks ago, we found three of them underneath one of the layers out at Kookoolan Farms, nestled in among the eggs. They didn't even have their eyes open yet and, with no Mama Cat in sight, we all had fun joking about looking for furry eggshells. We have seen them a couple of times since and they are so cute and growing so big. But I sure would have liked a camera that first day.

Awkward Segue to News Item 4 (and tease for next week's show):
Our church has been taking a fresh look at our worship practices recently, so I have been doing some of the same. I have some thoughts brewing, but I don't think they're fully steeped yet. I'm hoping to do some writing about it over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

In-Depth/Human-Interest News Item (with director's commentary):
I'm working to find a summer vacation routine for the girls and myself. This summer feels different than the past few for multiple reasons. Even two years ago, our routine was not much different during the summer as our schooling was quite a bit more relaxed than this year's. Last summer at this time, we were still trying to catch up from all my mom's knee surgeries when my brother fell on Mt. Hood. In fact, Sunday will be one year since the accident and we hope to have a much more normal (read "hospital-free") Father's Day.

I only spent a week or so helping with his hands-on care, but the stress of the whole experience took its toll and I spent much of the summer trying to recover my joie de vivre. I remember telling a friend that I was surprised to notice that my reflection in the mirror was hardly ever smiling. When my brother and I were younger, he would always say about a movie star or model, "She would be so pretty if she would just SMILE." I must have internalized the idea because I hardly ever look at myself the mirror without smiling, no matter what I look like that day (I also smile or nod back at the actors in a movie, though, so maybe I'm just strange). But that wasn't true for me last summer. It took a very patient husband, quite a few supportive friends (who cleaned my house, thwarted a impulse haircut, and listened) , and a couple of months of God's soothing grace to feel like myself again.

So this summer, with the girls old enough to create appropriately lazy occupations all on their own, and my joy and energy (if not my laundry room) intact, I am trying to take advantage of the relatively unstructured time. I hope to use some of it for music (I've been practicing more often and more diligently and am planning a brunch-and-music event with a cellist friend), writing (hopefully not just here on the blog), and house cleaning (well, you know what they say about 2 out of 3). But the new schedule is taking a bit of adjustment and will change week to week depending on our other plans. I just didn't expect the summer to feel so different from the school year, since the girls are home all the time anyway. What a nice surprise!

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So that's my latest news along with a few comments. How about leaving a comment of your own?