How can you tell when summer is approaching? Well, the days get longer and hotter. The A/C unit on something is going to stop working just when you have your first upper 80s day, ummm....like today on our way home from worship services. (So much for fine Bavarian motor engineering. How DID our forebears forbear without air conditioning?)
Rising temperatures aside, there's just something about knowing you don't have carpool duty in the a.m. that makes Sunday evening stretch out in a leisurely fashion. Other signs of summer? First swim practice (dryland but still...) and fireflies. Girls giggling in the hot tub at 10 pm, with their pop music at a decibel level that's just loud enough to cause a mild irritation for neighbors who turn in early, but not so loud so as to result in a patrol car pulling up outside. Sunday night sleepovers are a SURE sign of summer.
Other signs? Crisp linen trousers with sandals, with toes peeking out that are tapping out a Morse code SOS for an emergency visit to the pedicure salon. A Sunday afternoon trip to the car wash/vacuum, followed by a driveby at Sonic for a happy hour diet cherry limeade. Ahhhh, the taste of summer pops and fizzes and bubbles.
The countdown to the start of our all-summer Bible Vacation now stands at just under 2 weeks. The new songs are recorded and being edited to a CD for copying. The skits are in the hands of the teacher/actors. Videotaping of our story lady ("Professor Peabody," with her sidekick "Sherman") has begun..
My office looks like Oriental Trading and Hobby Lobby are having a gangster-style turfwar, with props, posters, craft supplies and lists of to-do's stacked everywhere, I'm not sure who will win that one, but I know the ending won't be pretty.
It's a given the next few days will fly by in a dervish of frantic last-minute scheduling changes, the insane scramble to get everything moved in and set up, and making the rounds so everyone knows where they need to be, what they're supposed to be doing, and when they need to be in place. Flyers to the Christian school elementary kids before the last day of class? Check. Postcards to last year's attendees in the mail and a registration table up and running? Check and check.
Hearing stories from teachers whose students can barely contain their excitement at the upcoming kickoff? Priceless.
The real question is, will this domestic dilettante be able to squeeze in much quality time in the kitchen between now and then? What about time for Scadie-sitting? Pedicure, even? That remains to be seen.
