over the river and through the woods

I woke this morning in Connecticut and for a second had to convince myself that I am really here. Our new house is a couple hours away but it is not quite ready for us so we have planted the children at their Grandmother’s house.  They will splash and play and walk to the drawbridge and eat ice cream cones.  They are tired of being in the cars.  And so am I!  All together this month we have collectively brought four cars and two moving trucks to the Northeast.  It is strange not being in the Texas heat, the heat is so encompassing…like a blanket that never comes off.  I forgot what it feels like not to be sweaty all day.

Today will consist of mostly laundry, then a sweet reward of eating outside at Auntie M’s with the ocean waves and sand covered children.  It is a nice reprieve from my worries of closing on our house and unloading an enormous amount of household goods… to include a large amount of fabric crates.  My husband who never says a word about how I love stuff was inspired to note that I sure have a lot of fabric.  He said this while loading the truck when it was 111 degrees outside.  He said it with a smile, it might have been sarcastic but it was a smile nonetheless.

So while my blog is sitting still and quiet I have been doing the opposite.  I haven’t forgotten you, and can’t wait to sit and read what summer is bringing to each of you.

Here are some wishes I will wish for you:

sun, sand, water

red, white & blue pinwheels

grilled fish

grape (or cherry) slushies

laughter

soft little sunkissed feet

fireflies and marshmallows

A little spot of shade

It’s true I’m a little bit tired.  But I don’t really want that to sound like a complaint as I am so very excited for this move. 

This drought and heat has made me appreciate so many things.  Often I think of those who settled here first and how they dealt with all these extremes.  How did they do it?  Having to grow enough food for their families and animals…working under this intense sun. 

I was feeling sorry for myself as I hung my laundry (our dryer has been broken and no one in this town has the right part. By the way that IS a complaint.) and started laughing at myself and my pettiness.  I took some pictures of our brown yard that crunches under your feet.

I will never forget these weeks, now months of dry weather. 

I came in the house to download the pictures and realized I had some of our new place I had yet to download.

The green grass made me get choked up.

I feel so emotional lately, maybe moving closer to home is chipping away my protective emotional wall.  I just want to lay on that lush grass and do nothing.  Maybe look at the clouds floating by, but nothing else.  Okay if Ken is with me maybe we could kiss.  But that’s all, looking at clouds and making out.

Tomorrow is Saturday and this makes me happy. I shall wake up, make my family breakfast, and use up the last of the maple syrup. Yum.

 

mute hands

Life in this house is being boxed up and stacked in the front rooms.  And though it’s really not much fun to put things in boxes and constantly be tired and sweaty there is a steady hum of excitement.  Our new life is around the corner.  We are all together in Texas again and though we are trying to enjoy the little time we have left here it is really quite busy.  And it’s ridiculously hot.  Have I mentioned Texas is hot? 

Thoughts of writing often fill my mind, it’s the finding time part I struggle with.  Everything is a priority at this point and I can’t help but dream of quieter times when I can find the calming beauty of the everyday. 

Happily we found a house.  I can’t stop thinking about it and am anxiously counting the days until we have key in hand and the kids can run up the stairs and find their rooms.  It will be a happy day for my heart.  The house is old and rambling and makes me think of this book…

Until I can sit under a parasol in the lush green grass reciting dramatic poetry to my new neighbors, I shall keep on with the packing and sorting. 

My children are anxious to help, here is a story…

This morning my son Sam was struggling to get the vacuum up the stairs to his room.  At first I felt proud of my boy.  What a loving child to vacuum his room without being told.  But then I realized it was early and some of his sisters were still asleep upstairs.  So I hopped up the stairs and asked him if he could wait a bit.  He had this weird look on his face that wasn’t quite the whoa-my-mom-is-gonna-be-mad-face.   But it was close.  In the midst of my confusion Henry was pointing on the carpet saying EWWWEWW.  As if on cue Molly came in and asked Sam if he vacuumed up all his dead skin yet.  What? He had peeled all his sunburned skin off his back and left it on the rug two days earlier.  It was like a magnificent science experiment for them.

The moral of this story is not about telling those who are taking care of your kids to make sure to enforce sunscreen when you are out of town.  It is about how you should never buy a used vacuum as it’s probably got some gross stuff in the HEPA filter.

And that, friends, is all I got.