Summer festival season has begun and we couldn't be happier.  We almost didn't make this one due to tackling some home ownership issues. (I am tellin' you, folks, I'm still ambivalent about home ownership.)  In the end my husband shooed the girls and I out the door for a few hours for some distraction and fun.  The arts fest provided both.  

The first band we heard was a little trippy to be honest but when the next began to warm up we were so glad we hung around.  

Nitrogen ice cream!  Not sure if it is altogether much different from the regular variety but it definitely makes for some visual impact!  Bubblegum please, said the girls.  I remember choosing that myself when my Gram would take me to Baskin Robbins back in the day.  So good. 

We bought some art, we made some art, we listened to some art.  Summer is off to a very good start. 

Let me preface by saying we fully intended to honor our nation's fallen heroes at the cemetary memorial service this weekend.  Then….stuff….happened.  A couple unnamed children decided to camp out the night before.  At 3:30am I got a text from the neighbor explaining child one had an intestinal upset and was coming home.  At 4:15am child two bailed.  You can apparently be scared…..um… "witless" in a tent in the dark even if you are used to RV-ing all over.  So these tired parents stayed home Monday but made a great day of it. On to the update…..

Outside:  Sun, sun, sun.  We are into the upper 80's once more.  The yardwork has begun for the season. The first load of landscaping dirt has filled in the eroding bed in front of the house and more will follow.  Lots more.  So much dirt.  I have high hopes this dirt will net us both an updated tidier landscape and with any luck – ground something can grow in.  

In other outdoor news we have given the hand me down patio furniture a fresh coat of paint. New $5 and $8 (I swear, yes!) cushions from Walmart made me super happy.  There are so many fabulous colors to choose from today!  In the end I got primary colors since they go well with our dishes and inexpensive party supplies.  

Creating: Birdhouses.  It's been a slow project like many of our projects go BUT this one is nearly done.  Just waiting for sealing now.  The children picked up the Home Depot kits at the environmental field trip a few weeks ago.  I came home one evening to find them hammering away with their dad outside.  And Monday, we painted.  

Wearing: my reading glasses.  Truth be told I have had them for several years now.  Initially they mostly came in handy when in dimly lit scenarios, to read labels or thread a needle. This morning as I sat down to the computer I found them to be especially helpful.  There are wonderful tools for this natural consequence of aging.  We are lucky to have them.  Yet, moments such as these are unavoidable reminders of the relentless passing of time. 

In other 'wearing' news I've purged my closet once again.  The sewing machine is making a more regular appearance and hemming and altering is in full swing. Today's outfit – chambray tie top, black knit skirt, black sandals. 

Listening to: piano practice.  Abbie Rose is calling out "B! G! A!"  Tess has her first and possibly last piano competition under her belt now.  She is naturally fearless and was not the least bit nervous.  She also was not terribly driven to perfect a piece she didn't love and wasn't any more compelled to "beat" anyone else. The evaluation was helpful however, upon reading her marks and comments, she and we all remarked that there were no surprises there. She memorizes well, has her techniques down, needs more metronome work, and should strive to play more dramatically.  Her lack of passion for the piece and for the event was evident.  She absolutely adores playing the piano however.  This seems to be another in a long string of lessons for our family that our passions need not commercial nor competitive to be validated. Her momma is working on learning this one as well.   

From the kitchen: lots of fresh food and grilled entrees are saving me right now.  Chopped salads, roasted veggies, melons, and chicken or beef or sausages on the grill are staple dinners. 

From the learning room:  two finished their curriculum early, two running late, one is about on target. Even in a large family no two students are just exactly alike.  They are all on their own journey.  This was especially pressed on my heart this weekend talking to one of my adult children.  This child, who was not an avid pleasure reader growing up, came to me to express regret over years spent doing only light reading and requesting some titles to ease into more sustantial works.  It was one of the best gifts I've ever received.  You truly cannot predict how your kids are going to grow and change.  

Thinking about: Aaron Ames' article in Circe, because I am often thinking about articles from Circe. Much food for thought relating to the principle of delight and the principle of efficiency. Of utility versus community. (Comunity can and ought to also refer to the community we build in our family)

"For the adult, work is not play, but for the child, play and work might as well be the same thing. The child relishes the opportunity to work, even calling this play, but the adult relishes the opportunity to play, if only he can manage to take a break from work."

His thoughts echoed our own as we discussed what was lost by the adult child who could not see a way to marry academic and income earning productivity with literature and by the mother (me) who gets caught in assigning restorative and challenging creative opportunities to others while diving further into utilitarian tasks herself.  

"Milton counseled us generations ago that our ever-increasing lust for utilitarian productivity and self-sustaining independence would be our destruction."

Reading: I read Jane Eyre this month.  I have shuddered and wept and rejoiced.  I have mulled over the similarities and differences between Jane and Kristin Lavransdatter from last year's reading.  Similar themes in some ways –  desire, self government, morality.  Similarly meloncholic but devout and introspective women. Similarly intense male characters.  Both reflect on the will of God – how we honor it, where we go astray, and the very real consequences of both.  I am sure I will be thinking deeply about all of this for some time to come.  

Towards wellness: Talking T-Tapp with friends.  I wrote this off some twenty years ago but am revisiting after a host of biohacker and paleo folks have discovered these old school exercises. There is plenty of opportunity for cardio around here in summer.  For the next several weeks I am taking 15 minutes a day to strengthen and tone. The muscle isolation work hurts like heck fwiw.  

Plans for the week: Another road trip.  This time we are blessed to be heading to the meeting ground for east coast and west coast friends.  It is a beautiful thing when your long time 'virtual' friends become dear 'in person' friends.  

The past few months have been full of training for my husband's 2017 project – the triathalon.  A long time distance runner, he decided to stretch himself and try something different.  This weekend we are on the road doing his first competition, a 750m/20km/5km (swim/bike/run) triathalon sprint.

The day started early with a 630am arrival.

We got the bike checked in and he suited up.

Then it was time to dive in.  The water was a cool 60 degrees this morning.  

The swim portion proved to be a lot more challenging than expected. Consensus was that more opportunity to train in open water is needed before the next competition.  He was a lot happier when he got to the biking and running which was far more familiar territory.

He finished and has a lot of ideas now of what the specific challenges are and how to address those.  We were really impressed with the team of teens who competed today and inspired some of ours to consider some joint race efforts.  Them, not me lol. 

Someone asked last week how I felt about 50.  Midcentury, as it turns out, is proving to be full of possibilities and new horizons. So my answer would be encouraged.  We are encouraged and grateful going forward.  We aren't ready for the rockers yet. 

Another track season is on the books. As it turns out track is nearly ideal for this mom viewer.  Not too hot, not too cold.  And bleachers.  Lots of perks. Not the least of which was that what turned out to be a just ok first season last year became a really respectable second year of the sport. I'm glad his coach convinced him to sign up again. It's often hard to predict what you will excel at at the beginning. I hope that's one of the life lessons he takes away. 

Tess has been enjoying her pack of art cards from Christmas.  We randomly pulled the top card today to hang up and discuss. It was Munch's The Scream.  Not my fave but we remembered some perspective drawings saved on Pinterest and decided to do those instead of a strict copy.  I think they came out exceptionally well, though Tess' looks a little more angry than frightened.  

This project combines several different media and techniques so lots of bang for your lesson time buck.  Links here and here    Related projects here.

The pages of our virtual scrapbook here are filled with adventure.  Our family has been blessed with many opportunities I could never have imagined.  Never think for a minute though, that they come without sacrifices or compromises.  That can be difficult.  For every wonderful project I say yes to there are a dozen others that must be set aside.  Sometimes it can be difficult to know for sure if the right choices are being made.  If the tradeoffs are worthwhile.  Sometimes saying no is exceptionally difficult, especially when it is saying no to something more pleasant or with more accolades attached. Sometimes even after screening out any extra thing there is still list longer than hours in the day.  

But then again, often when I get stuck there is a timely reminder of just how to order things.  That happened this weekend.  My planner is at large (no, that irony is not lost on me either) so I have been writing notes to myself so I don't forget things I need to do. When I walked into my bathroom last night I saw one of those to do notes on the sink had been carefully cut into a mom love note.  I have the best kids in the world and even when one or more is driving me absolutely nuts – and they definitely do at times – they are also continually doing things like this which quickly ground me again. 

It did not escape me that my little artist used my to-do list.  Carved into my schedule of chores and commitments and opportunities passed over, is this reminder.  THIS is my priority.  Other plates may occasionally stop spinning.  (fall, crash, shatter…)

I have this awesome day job though.   I am ok.