Ready Or Not

Summer 2013 is nearly over.

The shocking reality of that usually kinda sets me back a bit. 

Not this year.

This year I'm ready for a change.

We've had lots of great moments this summer......

 

....but we've had our share of stupid moments, too. 

As in  "hard, painful, tough, ridiculous, sorrowful, 'you're kidding, right?' " moments.

 

 

We're okay, no worries.  But, as I'm oft prone to say....

 

..."into each life some rain must fall"...

 

On top of all of the above type of moments, I opened my mail today to find a "request" for a partial income tax audit.  Oh joy.  "You're kidding, right?"  Receipts are now photocopied and the envelope is addressed and I'm trying to get my heart rate down a bit after that unexpected piece of mail.  Always, always open brown envelopes from the Canadian Revenue Agency.  ;)

 

And so we accept the rainy blustery moments along with the sunny ones and move along.

 

Mr. A. starts high school on Tuesday.  We're nervous and excited.  Read:  I'm nervous and he's excited.  Grin.  He'll do well and is SO ready for a new challenge. 

 

Mr. B. heads into Grade 7.  It's been fun to watch his friends zoom over on their bikes on these August summer evenings. They grab a few coins and head to the local 7-11, taking turns treating each other to more-sugar-than-anyone-needs.  It's good and fun and wholesome.  Except for the 'more-sugar-than-anyone-needs' part.  ;)

 

 

We took a little trip to Regina/Moose Jaw this week.  Our summer activities are filled with a lot of people and we've started making a habit of getting away, just us four, close to the end of August.  We re-group and re-discover each other and clasp on to our sense of 'family' a little better when we do this before the craziness of the new school year starts.  We decided to approach Regina/Moose Jaw as tourists (rather than shoppers, tee hee) and visited a variety of museums.  I like being inspired by history.  I think the boys favor science.  But it was good.

 

We discovered a sweet little coffee shop called "The French Press".  Beautiful things abounded within the walls of that little café and my cinnamon bun latte was delightful.  I've always thought it would be fun to own a little shop like that - specialty coffees and teas served in beautiful mugs alongside a well-presented confection.  Well, truthfully, it would probably drive me a little nuts, but the idea is dreamy. ;) 

 

I think I'll stick with my old people friends.

 

While we were there, I just might have walked down Albert Street to get breakfast in my nighty , er, MAXI DRESS.  I'm sure it's a maxi dress, acting like a nighty when it wants to.  Let's be honest, there are few discriminating differences between a maxi dress and a nighty.  I only think this one is a nighty because I bought it from the nighty department.  Had it been placed on a hanger just mere feet across the aisle, it would have been sold as a maxi dress and, truly, this thing is so pretty, no one should question its true purpose.  Long black floral with a halter-ish top. Stunning.  Goes from night wear to day wear simply by the inclusion of appropriate unmentionables.  Mr. D. thinks we got a few stares from the customers at Tim Horton's; I think they were just in awe of my gorgeous dress.  Who walks into Tim Horton's at 9 o'clock in the morning in a maxi dress in Regina?  (besides me...)

 

Ah well.  It's all good.  Modesty prevailed, be assured.

 

After all that, I've settled back into work and it's good to be with my co-workers again.  AND it's good to be with my old people friends, too. I love them and I think I probably need them as much as they need me.  It's like a family.  (...a rather large family, but a family nonetheless....)

 

And I'm settling in back at home, too.  While we were returning from this last little trip, I started thinking about what the next couple of weeks hold with the return to school and whatnot.  As much as I love going away and look forward to all-things-summer...

 

....I miss my house....

 

....and I miss ME.....

- the "ME" that exists inside my house -

- wife, mom, homemaker, cook, organizer, keeper of schedules -

 

 

Yup, I'm ready to be that person again.

 

And so, today, being a gray-cloudy, cool-ish kind of day...

 

 

...I started to find me again....

 

 

I cleaned.  Reorganized my kingdom kitchen.  Shopped for groceries and stocked up on school foods, enough to last into the year 2016.  Cooked a tasty supper of stew and biscuits and didn't barbecue a thing.  We sat together at the supper table without the noisy drone of the air conditioner.  We shared household chores and exchanged stories over stew 'n' biscuits and all was well.

 



So, with holiday memories of moments like this:

 



Mr. B. enjoying an evening out at Delbert and Lisa's.  Thanks, guys.

 

 

 

Or this:

 

 

Mr. A. outside the SK Science Center, playing on an xylophone-type instrument.  I stood there watching and listening then was overwhelmed at the profound music that this boy was creating.  Melody made up and played on the right hand, percussive strokes enhanced the melody on the left hand.  Took me a few minutes to realize that it wasn't a cd.  Wish I could have recorded it.

This and this:

My main (and only!) squeeze, making our time in Regina happy and refreshing with his sunny disposition.

Did I mention "The French Press" coffee shop?  ;)  Somewhere on the southern end of Albert Street.

And absolutely, positively NO RECORDED EVIDENCE of me walking down Albert Street in my nighty MAXI DRESS!!! 

But I am personally refreshed by views like this:

The Saskatchewan Legislature building, looking fine!

Celebrating Mr. A.'s entry to a school that isn't nut-free (!!!), here's the cookie recipe that he has asked me to make for him this week:

Peanut Butter Hide-Aways

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg

 1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

40 miniature peanut butter cups (foil removed)

Cream butter, peanut butter and both sugars in a bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg.

Combine next 4 ingredients in a small bowl.  Add to butter mixture.  Mix until just moistened and stiff dough forms.  Roll into small balls using 1 level tablespoon for each.  Place balls in ungreased mini muffin pans.  Bake in 375 F oven for about 10 minutes until light golden and puffy.  Remove from oven.

Press peanut butter cups down into hot cookies.  Loosen edges of cookies with the tip of a sharp knife. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes before removing from pan.  It may be helpful to let the cookies warm up to room temperature before removing if they become hard to remove.


Please tell me - what is it about the fall season that YOU enjoy?