The Storm Before the Calm

You know how it is when you go on a short-haul flight and it seems like the captain comes on announcing the descent mere seconds after you've drained the cup of Coke and the attendants are all scurrying around with those garbage bags trying to clean up before the seatbelt sign goes on?

Pretty much someone just announced the descent of summer, even though we barely got started.

The kids had a FABulous time at camp. Apparently The Boy's less-than-excited look in the picture was because he didn't want to be in a picture, not because he didn't want to be at camp. Phew. All told we lost one pair of flip-flops and gained two mild rashes from the lake. But we also gained loving up Jesus and counselors and new friends and hilarious Bible verse songs for impromptu concerts, so it was definitely a win.

And now we're turning our sights towards August. And, of course, as soon as you say August, you might as well say back-to-school-do-the-jeans-still-fit-football-equipment-costs-HOW-much?!.


We've all been on many separate adventures this summer, but so far La Famille PM has yet to adventure all four of us. But huzzah, next Friday we embark on a week-long trek to the Upper Peninsula (Michigan, I think? The Husband is the official planner and knower-of-what's-going-on).

But before that, I have to get through the next six days. And they're gonna be a doozy.

First off, it's home improvement week. We're busily getting our basement bedroom and bathroom ready, in part because we've got family coming to town, but also because we're going to have a long-term visitor starting end of August. We're getting an intern - our kids' schools import student teachers from France to help in the classrooms and work with the munchkins' pronunciation, and the interns are hosted by school families. Ours is coming from September through January and we're super excited.

The Husband's been busy ripping down shelves and patching walls while I took a trip to my favourite place around tonight - the paint aisle. We pretty much have to get everything done before we leave since as soon as we get back Hotel PM starts to hit pretty high occupancy, so there's a definite deadline.

However, it'll be a solo deadline - The Husband travels next week. Which means I'm on duty for pick-up/drop-off at tennis camp, ferrying to the orthodontist, completing aforementioned home improvements, and keeping the house clean/kids fed while getting the laundry ready for packing up to go.

Oh, and madly try to finish up my temporary project at work since I'm going back to my regularly-scheduled duties after my holiday.

Oh, and also be here when the plumber comes since what was supposed to be a "can you unclog the shower drain cuz The Girl and I have long hair?" call turned into a "oh man, I've never seen anything this bad and I need to replace it and there's no panel and we'll have to cut the floor and maybe we'll need to cut into the wall."

(Apparently it is standard to have an access panel to reach one's tub drain from the back and 99% of houses have one. Apparently we are the 1%.)

[Guess that's what happens when you live in an old house with over 100 years of DIY and "code? we don't need no stinking code" under its belt.]

So I'll be driving and cooking and laundering and writing design documents and painting and hanging out with Steve the plumber and packing and all around wearing that well-worn Super PM cape for the next week.

But no worries - vacation's coming, woot!

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Weekend Update

Oh my. So much fun in so little time. I LIVE for weekends like this one.

On Saturday, a family hike. Our upcoming summer vacation has outdoorsy things like "kayak" and "hike" penciled in, and we decided it would be prudent to go on a trial run. Took the kids to a local nature reserve and spent a couple of hours hiking and saw where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers merge.

The Boy got to look for clams and dead fish.

Have to say it wasn't the cleanest riverwalk I've ever been on.

Some kind of...bird. Clearly I wasn't listening carefully at the Raptor Demonstration we went to right before our hike.

Enjoying a little sitz.

By the halfway point, The Boy was done. He tried to message for help.

We were pretty impressed. We got about half an hour in before the complaining started, so this bodes well for longer treks. One thing we realized was that if left to their own devices, Team Kid actually has a pretty good time, chatting about computer games and movies. It's only when they get into our hearing distance that they feel the need to start whining. Witness:

But the happiest part of my day was seeing this on the way home:

Recognize this? Zoom in on the plaque:

That there is the OFFICIAL Uncle Rico's van used in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Oh I was laughing so hard, almost too hard to yell, "Slow down, I need to take a picture!!"

Then yesterday was the awesomeness that is church picnic. It was super heat wave central, but honestly, once you embrace the sweat, it's all good. We had all the best stuff:

Children's story by the lake.

Relaxing with Mama and loving up Jesus in the outdoors.

A for-REALS baptism (lake and algae and all).

Tree climbing.

Picnic potluck like only Mennonites do potluck. (My kale and beet salad was the bomb. Oh. Am I allowed to use that phrase if I'm a pacifist?)

And loving up half-nekkid babies.

Honestly, does it get any better?

And THEN, it was home to start the packing marathon. Because today was:

OFF TO BIBLE CAMP!!

(They weren't really as disgruntled as they look. This is more of a "Mooommm, stop taking pictures" type of look.)

It's the same camp that The Girl went to last year. We've been talking it up big to The Boy. I'm a teensy bit nervous for him - this is one of those newfangled camps that post pictures on Facebook and the one of him with his cabin today is not the most confidence boosting as he is standing a bit apart from everyone with that "get me outta here" look on his face that I know and dread.

However, they went as a team and a team they shall be, so I am hopeful. There were already plans to meet every day at free time and discussions about looking for each other during chapel. Let's all have faith that mama-prayers, a smiley sister, and a teddy tucked away into the blanket will be enough to have him back to his usual hijinks sooner rather than later.

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This Must Be What Hell Is LIke

ARGH!!!

Did any of you ever watch The Twilight Zone? I watched the odd episode as a kid. Not sure how that made it past the parent censors, seeing as how anything that wasn't animated or didn't have Michael Landon in it was verboten.

I remember only one episode, probably because it scared the living daylights out of me. It's about this nerd (librarian? statistician? technical writer? I can't remember what his actual occupation was). Total pencil pusher, coke bottle glasses and all. There's a nuclear event of some kind, and for some reason he is The Last Man on Earth.

He isn't all that upset by his predicament. First, he's not the most social type. Second, he finds himself surrounded by the remains of a library. Piles and piles of books, scattered as far as the eye can see. He smiles. Suddenly he has all the time in the world. Suddenly no one is going to make him get his nose out of a book. Suddenly, it's heaven on earth.

Until he gets up and tries to make his way to the treasure trove. And trips. And his glasses fly off. And he searches desperately for them until he hears the crunch.

Then the camera cuts close to him raising his smashed glasses to his eyes.

Fade out to scream of anguish.

(Ack. I've got goosebumps right now just remembering it.)

I have nightmares about not being able to read. You know that game you play where you choose what you'd rather lose - leg or arm, taste or touch, etc.? (Am I the only one who whiles away the wait for the bus in such a macabre way?)

Sight is always the last thing to go for me. I'm terrified of going blind. (Which is why I refuse to watch meteor showers. Read Day of the Triffids. You, too, will hide under the blankets during the asteroids that have everyone else outside on the lawn.)

Which is why I"m freaking out right now. I just went for an eye exam. He asked if he could dilate my pupils. I said, sure. I laughed when I looked in the mirror - I look like a drug addict. It seemed funny at the time.

But you know what?? If your pupils are dilated YOU CAN'T FOCUS!! I CAN'T READ!!!!! I try to focus, and I can't. If I make mistakes in this post, it's because I can't proofread it. I can't decide whether that receipt is truly trash or whether I might need to return what I bought since I can't see what it says! I can't read my email. I can't surf. I can't pick up a book.

Fade out to scream of anguish.

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