House clearing, head clearing?

Fall is my favorite time of year. New beginnings. Fresh starts. I eagerly rush forward to meet them...

We are perched between those last golden days of summer vacation and we CAN'T STAND EACH OTHER FOR ANOTHER MINUTE. OY...with the whining... *sigh*

This last week is filled with play dates and picking up those items on the school list. Uniforms. Lunch boxes. Shoes...

GIRL has another loose tooth. She loves Silly Bandz. And is getting very excited about Kindergarten.

BOY decided he wanted to go off the diving board at the local community pool, so he asked the life guard if he could take the swimming test. BOY swam across the pool doing a freestyle I didn't know he was capable of. He passed and spent two afternoons jumping off the spring board with the big kids.

I have already attacked a couple of boxes. Our unbearable heat left and we have been treated to crisp mornings and lovely afternoons. Toss, sort & shred. Toss, sort & shred. My hope is that the clearing of the house will help clear a space for the writing again. Every time I look up another week has passed, and I have written...nothing.

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Photo courtesy of sillybandz.com

Dealing with the random boxes of stuff...

School starts in two weeks. My current fantasy of what I'm going to do with that larger block of time with both children in school? Attack the random boxes of stuff! Those boxes tucked away in closets, in the garage, in corners... I grow giddy imagining myself having the uninterrupted time to sort, heave, toss, and put away. And, yes... I am tingly with excitement about it. Tingly? Tingly. It's a sad state of affairs. But, Honey? Whatever flips your skirt...

Our home zone...

Good-bye Beach!

Early dawns...

Sandy toys...

Stories read by Ma'Mai...

Sea exploration...

Spectacular skies...

Life at a slower ...

....pace...



And so we are home...Our summer sojourn has been full. Now we must find our rhythm again. Our home zone. It is good to return to things treasured - some remembered, some not. As we continue to find sand stashed in shoes, clothes, and ...ears, it enables us to slowly reenter our regular life.

Three weeks left before school starts. GIRL enters Kindergarten. BOY, the 1st Grade. A new opportunity for me to reevaluate. Prioritize. Figure out. My thoughts are sticky, fleeting into these last hot days....

forgotten coast

The days unfold much the same here at the beach. The kids are having a great summer. Lots of quality - time with cousins and Grandparents. It has been a relief that the oil did not come to our beautiful place in the Gulf of Mexico, where the turquoise waters glisten under bright sun, and the glare of the sugar sand makes your eyes squint. A little slice of paradise...this forgotten coast.

Somehow I envisioned writing more frequently, reading novels, and enjoying that quiet space. It hasn't happened quite like that, but it has been lovely all the same. We are blessed to have this place to come to, and it is heaven for children.

We are now in St. Augustine. And then home...

Sunhippie

How to recognize that you've become a beach bum...

1) You find sand in places that seem...unlikely.

2) Your summer tan is beginning to look like a shrimper's.

3) You are starting to forget what it's like to shower indoors.

4) You wonder why you packed all that stuff?

5) You feel perfectly at home in a bikini...why not?

6) Is there tea that ain't sweet?

7) Your children look like little brown beans...

8) It's hard to form sentences on your blog.

9) Your beach hat is getting floppy, and you're hairbrush is where???

10) You're actually beginning to feel a bit...homesick.