Summer Right Now

Thanks to the Summer Solstice, we are now officially in our Summer days. Here's what is happening. I am...

:digging up a storm to clean up and arrange our little yard into some workable space. The garden is planted! Though I don't currently have space for my big vines (watermelon and pumpkin...next year, guys), we should have (as long as the bunnies stay away): tomatoes, basil, green peppers, mustard greens, collard greens, peas, and garlic. The rest we can get from the market this year...

:smelling the sweet smell of the the air after a long rain

:packing for a small vacation to celebrate marriage, babies and family. It's the only planned getaway for the summer...so we'll live it up, I'm sure.

:organizing, cleaning, and continuing the work of MOVING INto this new home. There are shelves to be built, boxes to sort through, and countless fix up and painting projects around the house...all in time.

:sleeping off a year of stress, chaos and exhaustion.

:enjoying too much coffee, too frequent snacks, and too much internet time in these early vacation days...that's ok ;)

What are you feeling at this seasonal change?

Father's Day

We recently spent 9 days in Detroit for a sort-of vacation. Our intention was to go to the cottage in Canada for some of that time, but that's hard to do w/ an expired passport ;(. So we just took our time with both families, a few friends, a grad party and some Father's Day celebrating. I was also lucky enough to get a last min. surprise interview. It may turn into something, it may not...the market is VERY competitive over there as there are so many teachers out of work and folks graduating from teacher's colleges in the area. The fact that I've had 4 interviews is encouraging in and of itself.

We got to spend time with Caitlin's new cousin, Hudson..I'll post more pics in the future. I can't believe I forgot how SMALL Caitlin was @ the nb stage! And she got to play with her cousin Lily who seemed to enjoy entertaining her. It makes me feel good to know that Caitlin is learning her family faces--all the grandparents and her cousins. I grew up seeing one set of grandparents and aunts and uncles pretty frequently and that is something that I want for my child.

We also got to go on a DATE! Our budget has been tight and we don't have as much free babysitting around here, so we've just been enjoying the post 7pm hours as "adult time" for conversation and renting movies. BUT...it was extremely nice to finally get out and spend the whole evening together. We went to a vegetarian restaurant in Ann Arbor, got coffee at Espresso Royale and sat in the park. We lucked out b/c it was 1/2 off wine night @ the restaurant...I look forward to more dating in the future! ;)

We also did a bit of preparation for moving into Stephen's family's house. I am so grateful that they're allowing us to land there temporarily while we begin the hunt for the right house, the right price, and the right neighborhood.