I Hate Summer Break

   What do you think of when you think summer break? I think of warm, lazy days. Slipping in the cool water of the community pool to beat the heat. Reading a book on the porch swing in the shade of the tree while the kids play on the swing set. Camping by the river. Vacation with smiling family. A BBQ with family and

friends including dining under the stars. Spending a lazy afternoon at the park catching up with friends while the kids run around. Bike riding for an hour or two. Spending time with my daughter and my husband.

    Two weeks ago I was thinking "WoooHooo, no more struggling to come up with lunches. No more rising early to meet the bus. No more homework projects and school deadlines. No more weeks filled with concerts and school events. I was dreaming of all the things mentioned above. So what happened?

Reality happened. And it is not quite the picture of summer I envisioned.

   First of all, the weather has failed to cooperate. It has gone from steamy hot, back to down chilly, back to humid. I don't know if I should put on jeans and a coat, waders or shorts and a tank. Some days I have done all of the above. And the weather has created a few complications....

    School summer break starts while it is still spring. Spring means rain. While I like biking, pedaling in the rain is not gonna happen. So not much fun on the bike so far. Also has put a damper on going to the park. Or taking walks. And with the rain has come the mosquitoes! Sitting on the patio with a good book between showers can only be achieved with enough bug repellent to create a second skin.

    That is, when there is time to sit on the patio. With all the rain has come a lot of yard work. Seems like the lawn needs mowing every two or three days....between the drops.

   And did I mention that our garage doors have become an issue? First one broke down and needs new parts that I have yet to order, then the other started to mysteriously open itself every evening, several times an evening. My first defense was to pull all the batteries from the remote controls, which resolved the problem, however, meant getting wet every time we came home. After much searching, I finally found the correct batteries and we can now open the door from the comfort of our warm and dry vehicles.

   Then we received sudden incredible hot weather which meant turning on air conditioning. It had not been incredible hot yet this season and I had not yet needed to turn on the air. Therefore I did not find out that the air conditioner isn't going to quite cut it in our cooling needs till the day of the graduation party we hosted for our nephew. On a Sunday. Yeah, you are thinking what I was saying. Fortunately we have a great window unit up in our bedroom and was able to relocate it to the dining room to keep dining room, living room and kitchen comfortable for the duration of the party. Although it has since cooled again, I now am collecting quotes to have the unit serviced. First one to try and up-sell me a new unit will be kidnapped, tied to a post and handed a giant feather fan and forced to cool us the old fashioned way - just like in Cleopatra's day.

    And did I mention rain earlier? Perhaps rain is too light a word for the precipitation we have received. As a result of the recent deluge, all of the stuff from the family room is now relocated in the dining room, with the exception of the couch and two cabinets that now reside on milk crates.

Not quite the decorating scheme I had in mind. Our sump pump worked just fine, but there was no where for the water to go except the lake that was slowly creeping up on the house from the street. Most of our local area looked the same and all my neighbors reported similar indoor wading pools. Our pool did confine itself to the crawl space and was very small, but I am reluctant to move stuff back downstairs until the large boat loaded with pairs of animals pulls anchor from next door.

   Amidst all this fun, we did go camping. The rain managed to hold off during the days and we had a splendid time. Only new chore this added was that I have to take the camper in to have it serviced. Our slide seems to be having issues and I don't want it to get stuck on our big summer vacation later this season. I just want to spend that time having fun wit my husband and daughter. Not fussing with the camper.

   Speaking of husbands, if anyone sees him, please tell him I say hi. The first weekend of summer break he crewed the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer with his family (many of whom walked), then he immediately started change over for the next show at his work and I have not seen him since. Long hours will continue until the show Beach opens at Drury Lane Oakbrook. (If you are interested in seeing a show, I included the link. They do really great productions!). I am hoping to see opening of the show where I can reunite with my husband. In the meantime, I have a picture of him on my desk. 

Last sighting of husband (on left)

    As for my daughter, I could be chopped liver. She would much rather be with her best buddies than with mom. Go figure. I have a picture of her on my desk too. 

    As if I did not have enough to do, I have discovered that there seems to be a lot less time than I am used to having for the everyday things, like laundry, grocery shopping and keeping up with house and errands. And my writing and blogging? What is that? I suspect that has something to do with the loss of routine that I had during the school year. Guess there is something to be said about the school schedule. I still don't miss making lunches or homework, but I sure could use the time I had to pay the bills! Who knew?

   I know, things will get better as I get the hang of this summer thing and get past the recent issues that have cropped up. Perhaps I will have a good routine going by our vacation. Or perhaps I will get the hang of this break by September?

   In the meantime, I will continue to wade through.