Plants

 The past few days have been laid back, relaxed and fun. I spent Tuesday afternoon planting the rest of our vegetable garden (yes, I realize we are late but it has been chilly) and re-potting my houseplants. While I don't typically love gardening, I do like working the soil once or twice a year (provided I am wearing gloves). I thoroughly enjoy tending to my houseplants, I just feel an aversion when it comes to messing with dirt. 

Yesterday we decided to switch things up and we went to a local pedestrian mall to stroll and grab lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was fun to just be outside doing something different, and the pedestrian mall is one of the boys' favorite spots. Although it wasn't anything fancy, it was a fun way to spend a few hours.

I'm glad we went outside when we could, because today it is raining and cool. I suspect our summer is going to be riddled with wonky weather. I'm not sure what we will do this afternoon, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

 

Glasses

 After an obscenely hot few days, the temperatures have finally fallen. Yesterday was gorgeous, and today is supposed to be more of the same. It amazes me how my comfort exponentially increases when the temperature goes down. I am definitely not a hot weather girl! 

Yesterday Timmy had his second tumbling class, which is still receiving mixed reviews. While he doesn't love going, he did talk with other kids and was smiling and laughing on the mats. He has a few more sessions before the end of the series, but I suspect that we will not be renewing our tumbling passes. At this point, Hamlet has his eyes on Drone Command Class, which I agree is more to his interests. The drone class doesn't start until August, so he may have been provided with a stay to avoid more classes in July. 

After tumbling class, Scott ran Robby down to the optometrist office to retrieve his new glasses. At the end of the semester he began to complain about some vision straining, so we immediately took him to get evaluated for glasses. As we suspected, he has joined his mother and his father into the community of eye glass wearers. While he is not thrilled with his new eyewear, I think that his improved vision will be a trade off he will learn to embrace.

I plan on working on our little bucket gardens and our yard while the weather is agreeable. Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a good day! 

Hot Friday

 Mother Nature is menopausal. The temperature fluctuations have been wild over the past few days. On Monday we were wearing sweatpants and turned on the fireplace to get rid of the chill in the room. Yesterday the temperatures were over 100 with swamp-like humidity. Today we are in for more heat which makes me grateful that our air conditioner was repaired.

While the humidity and heat has me miserable, they combined impact has forced me to relax without guilt. I've been struggling to unwind, constantly needing to be productive. In these temperatures, the dog doesn't even want to move so why should I? Yesterday I stayed on the couch for the majority of the day and streamed a series.

Today I'll be ditching the boys and heading to visit my mom for the night. It has been awhile since I've been able to visit her and I'm looking forward to the getaway. Stay cool and have a great weekend! 

Cleaning

 The past few days have been rainy and humid, forcing us inside for most of the daytime hours. There have been breaks in the humidity during the evening, when Timmy lathers on the bug spray and takes off on his dirt bike. He has been tooling and zipping through the yard every night from about 7-9:30, just having a blast. 

When he hasn't been on his dirt bike, he has been inside helping us clean and reorganize the house. With one more room to go, the house has undergone a deep clean and full purge. We have been living here for 18 months and we now have a handle of how we want the house to flow. The past few days have been spent undergoing complete room reorganizations. It's been a lot of work, but I'm so happy with the results. Today we have one more room to tackle: the school room. Wish me luck, because this task is feeling enormous. I know that once I get started it won't be as formidable as it feels, but my goodness I have lost my motivation.  

When I wasn't actively involved in the room cleaning, I was working on getting the 3d printers up and running again. This has been a task that I have been dreading because I knew that we were dealing with hardware issues before the move. I had to swap out parts and make diagnostic fixes, but the boys are delighted to share that they are now operational and that FlexyFriends is again producing.  Of course, I need to find a place because the kitchen counters is not suitable for Flexy production.   

Tumbling

 Yesterday was the first official day of our summer vacation. Much to Hamlet's chagrin, we started our vacation by having him participate in his first tumbling class. With the school routine on hiatus, Scott and I both recognized the need to get Timmy out of the house and around other people. We presented him with a list of options, and he chose tumbling. 

While he loved his tumbling camps from a few summers ago, too much time had passed and he had forgotten his positive experiences. As the time for his class ticked closer, Timmy became increasingly anxious about going to the class. I get it. Going to new places with people whom you don't know is hard. Because of his anxiety, we all went to his class to cheer him on. 

After he took to the mats, it took about 2 minutes before I saw the glimpse of a smile. While I wouldn't say that he emerged with the same enthusiasm that we witnessed with the camp, he had a good time. Hopefully it won't be a struggle to get him to return next week. 

With the tumbling class out of the way, today we have a summer day with nothing on the schedule. I know that I should find this comforting, but I can already feel my anxiety starting to rise. I have to figure out a project soon!

 

Memories

 We are all officially on summer vacation!

On Friday Timmy celebrated his final day of school with a virtual party and an in-person smorgasbord of all of his favorite treats. At 3:30 promptly Scott and I fired up the Bluetooth speakers and gleefully serenaded Timmy with a rousing rendition of "Schools Out for Summer."  Unfortunately, we later learned that he had not yet logged off, so it turns out that his class listened to our rendition before closing the term. 

Saturday morning Scott and I put on our funeral clothes and headed back to Northern Virginia for a Celebration of Life. A co-worker's son passed away. Because Scott and I have both worked with her and have remained connected via Facebook, we wanted to go to extend our support. I suppose the scant attendance at my brother's funeral continues to sway my decisions. If I am able to attend, we are going to go.

It was weird being back in our old stomping grounds. While we were so excited to leave for our next adventure, the area holds so many memories for our family. I lived in Virginia for 25 years, longer than I have lived anywhere else. Virginia is where I met Scott and where we became a family. Driving to the funeral, I was flooded with memories of both the extraordinary and the mundane events of our lives. Each store, stop light and park seemed to flick open another memory portal to our past. By the time we arrived at the funeral I was feeling both overwhelmed and horribly depressed.  

We just don't have those connections in our new home. I know that these types of memories are formed through time, and that we need to be patient. After 18 months, we still feel like strangers in the area. I am still struggling to find friends, and we are so lonely. We miss Virginia, but we also know that we cannot go back. 

 

Last Day

 Happy Last Day of School to Timmy!! 

I honestly do not know who will be more excited to put this school year on a shelf- Hamlet or me. He has been eagerly counting down for the past month, excited about sleeping in and enjoying extended play dates with his friends. I am simply looking forward to the absence of the pressure that becomes part of your life when school is in session. 

This school year has been one of change and growth for Timmy. Because his former school closed, his teachers were forced to pivot and develop their own private venture. I am eternally grateful for the dedication and the hard work that they have invested into their school and students. While the platforms were different and took some adjustment, this year there were no tears as we learned to navigate the programs.

As soon as Timmy became settled into his school year I began working full-time outside the home. This put Timmy in a position of navigating instructional and lunch time by himself. He stepped into his new independence like a champion and has grown exponentially through the experience. I am so very proud of him. 

As of 3:30 this afternoon, the Chenoweth's will be on vacation!