End of Summer

Where did the summer go?
I'm really having a tough time grasping the idea that Lydia starts kindergarten tomorrow. Not only does it seem that the summer has flown by, but I also am really having a tough time with the idea that my child is no longer a preschooler. I've come to the realization that this isn't really about her. She is more than ready to start full time school and thanks to grandma she's got the wardrobe to prove it.
This is totally about me.
The past five years have let me be a mom. Everything else that I have done was just extra-curricular. If I wasn't happy with my job I could fall back on the idea that it was just temporary until Lydia was in school. If I got a bad grade in a class it was the result not having enough time to study. When I stopped running and working out it was because it didn't seem like I could fit it in. I now have a great schedule with tons of free time to work out 5 days a week and to study all afternoon.
But I'm not so sure I'm ready for my old life after all. I know I should just get over it and be happy for god's sake, but I'm totally bummed. I'm going to miss the girl. I feel a little weird watching Arthur alone. This is how I feel in this moment, we'll see how I feel tomorrow after my first full day of freedom.
Here are some high lights of the summer.
FARM MADNESS

Chalk Outside the Museum Proud Soccer Girl
Proud Soccer Dad
None of this anxiety is helped by the fact that Roxy, my cat is on her last legs and has an ominous vet appointment tomorrow after I drop off Lydia for her first day of school.

Yes, I am the mom who kills the cat on her daughter's first day of school. How many years of therapy will it take to right that one.

When it's not raining we...

Pick blueberries. We are trying to freeze at least twenty pounds of blueberries this year. Last year we froze 15 pounds and ran out in October. We were well on our way this year we already had about 8 pounds in the freezer when our fridge died and we lost them all. We are now back to ground zero. Not that I mind going back to Green Mountain Orchard, were there is always something yummy being baked.





Spend time with friends. My dear friend Allison and her sons brought Lydia and I to the Cheshire Fair last week. The kids had a great time. They got to see a lot of animals and pretend to farm
Lydia was more than happy to go on every ride possible for a child of her height. I swear that girl worries me. I think it's great that she is so adventurous, I just wish she had a little bit of apprehension.

Today it's raining, again. Off to the library.

Camp Crazy!

So day camp is officially over.

My two weeks of alone time is done.

I'm actually pretty proud of myself because instead of sitting around all day and watching A & E I actually got some things done.

During this time I single handedly cleaned the attic.

I read three books, (I recommend The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta ).

I cleaned out our bedroom closet (there were still things in there unpacked from when we moved in 2006).

I not only got the roofers to call me back but they came AND actually went on the roof and replaced some loose slates and fixed things.

The garden looks somewhat healthy.

And when it wasn't down pouring, I exercised.

Also Steven and I spent one day together alone, we went out for sushi and took a mid day nap.

For a slacker like me I'm pretty happy with my accomplishments.



And from what I can make out Lydia had a good time too. When she wasn't too exhausted to speak she told vivid tales of the "mystery players". From what I can piece together these are two camp counselors in costume who the kids believe are people who live in the woods and only come out when the they are good. She also was super excited because we opted to let her have the lunch, which is basically the summer camp version of school lunch. Taco day and chocolate milk were the highlights.
But the biggest change I witnessed was here new alter ego:
"Camp Crazy Girl".

This is the child that now dances around and says "oh yeah, oh yeah!", like Vinnie Bobarino, "we bad, we bad", usually with her thumbs in the air.
She also goes "Ugh!" a lot when kicking a ball or high fiving someone. It's something between WWF meets Saturday Night Fever. And this morning at breakfast she yelled "Awwwsum" while eating pancakes. Well that might actually come from me.

Where does she get the stamina?

I worked the last two nights from 9:00pm - 7:30 am, and although I got to sleep some I can understand why I'm a little tired. But still I am always totally floored at the fact that Lydia can pretty much be on the go from 6 am - 8:30 at night. I don't know how she does it.

This morning she had her yearly physical, where the doctor said basically she's super healthy (this in itself is amazing to me). She had three huge shots, which made her a little sluggish for about 5 minutes (sort of like if you shot a humongous grizzly with one tiny tranquilizer dart).

After that we went to the grocery store where Lydia not only helped me with my list but also helped me put the groceries away. After that we went to the pool and she got to swim and play with friends.

Then at 3:45 we picked up her friend Sebastian and went to the library where we built bugs out of food (well candy). It's now 7:00 and I am officially done but the gal keeps truckin'. She wants to act out a story and suggests we take stills. Here's her story:

I WANT TO CATCH AND EAT A BIRD by Lydia

I am sad.
I am hungry.
Get over here I want to eat you.
I'm getting angry.

I'm coming to get you. Yeah! I've caught you I'm so excited.

Yummy in my tummy! Ugh, I'm full.

And when I think of stamina and see this picture I realize that I too have had serious stamina at some points in my life. Strolling out of some dive bar after closing and this photo isn't so unique. I've got to get this girl into sports or we're in trouble.

Camp!

Who knew camp could be so much fun.
I myself never really enjoyed camp. Although I wasn't sent to camp until about the age of ten. I was the kind of kid that would rather sit in a dark room with the curtains drawn watching Gilligan's Island through Three's Company on hot summer days. Maybe it's good that I am starting her young at this camp business so she doesn't already know how addictive Days of Our Lives is, and that eating an entire half gallon of chocolate chip ice cream before lunch is actually pretty easy.

But after one day she seems to love it. Swimming, crafts, baseball ( she was so excited to tell me she hit two balls really hard, now that's one skill she will never learn from either of her parents), archery (ditto) all in one day.

And best of all I have free time to do all the things that I love to do. I exercised. I got my hair cut. I tried on expensive estate jewelry at the fancy store in town. I pawned through vintage clothes. Now I'm going to start cleaning out our attic, not so much fun but much easier without the child. Granted it's hard to find an episode of Gilligan's on anymore, but I glad I'm not just watching TV. Well it is only day two, I've got 8 more of these to dive into the ice cream.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!
This one goes out to my favorite Mediterranean queen, living in gorgeous Italy. You can take the gal out of the U.S., but I know she's still whipping up stars and stripes cool whip cakes and wishing she was back in the states to watch the fireworks.
And since she is a "Super Woman" and almost a "Super Mamma", this one is dedicated to you!
We miss you Liz!
Brattleboro Parade. There were many great bands, tons of firetrucks and lots of flags. But this was by far my best picture. We got to see lot's of friends in the parade. Jeremy and Sebastian rocked! But I swear there are tens times more people in the parade than watching it. That's OK more candy for us.

Consumer Anonymous or Bust

I have always been a terrible consumer.
Actually that's not right at all I'm a wonderful consumer, I'm just terrible at abstaining from consumerism.
I have seriously toned it down a lot.
Mostly from necessity, now that I have a growing child and an aging house I no longer have the luxury of shopping all the time. Also I live in an area now with no downtown crossing and cheap knock off stores.
I have become much more practical.
I utter phrases like, "will I wear this more than ten times this season?" and "will this skirt go with at least one pair of shoes I own already and three tops?".
It has really gotten sad. Gone are the days of "this canary yellow wicker purse and magenta sequins top really don't match anything I own but, I must have them because if I don't get them I'll be sad and dream about them and when I return after much distress they will be SOLD to some other cool chickadee with more sense than me."

Now you will see how much I have really changed for better or worse.

Recently the family went to Target in search of a few "needed" items. I made a list. Lydia needed some supplies for camp. A backpack, water bottle and towel were on the list. She got to pick them out and thank god we walked away with Hello Kitty and not the Bratz. I also wanted to pick up a set of sheets and a few other household items. I got the new David Sedaris book, also on list but not a necessity. I bought a t-shirt and a dress, (impulse buys yes, but averaged into list because I knew there would be something I couldn't live without). All in all a pretty successful trip. I didn't buy storage bins, something I usually always feel the need to get because we have so much clutter.
This is where it gets messy. As we are walking toward the register the child is grabbing everything and anything she can get her hands on. She already has a bunch of cool stuff that she picked out! But she wants more. MORE! Veruca Salt would be proud!
Steven ended up getting her a pair of maryjane's for "school" in the fall. And she was crying as we left the store with a ton of stuff for her.
It's gotten out of hand. I have turned our child into a total consumer also. I love to buy things for her. There have been more times than I can count that I have gone out specifically looking for an item for myself such as rain boots and returned with a sundress or purse for my child. I have created this situation.
Case in point today we went into Verde looking for a much needed sunhat for me, we walked out with a little chipmunk puppet for Lydia. This might not seem like a big deal but it is a constant occurrence.

So I have decided as of today July 2, 2008, I will not buy anything, not a thing for myself or Lydia that we don't need, for one month. That means sunscreen = yes, little cute sundress with embroidered cherries = no.
I feel like one of the many who have stopped eating all carbs in order get their eating habits in control.

It seems easy now but wait till the hot pizza/ cute sandels are under our nose, I know it won't be easy.
I'll keep you posted.