I never really knew how much I took it for granted

When I was a child, my grandparents had a place in a corner of North Lake in Coldwater, MI.  This picture was taken in 1977, and truly doesn't do it justice.  My grandparents had a double lot so there was a full garage along with the trailer.  Because it was in the corner, we had amazing views of the wide open lake without the "boat" traffic right outside our door.  I can still remember how fun it was though watching the boats out on the open lake.  The trailer was positioned such that the big living room windows faced the water.  We spent time there every summer as a child, and because my parents had very little, it was usually our family vacation.  By the time we were a little older, we were making two or three trips there every year.  It was a 3.5 hour drive, so very doable to go back and forth.  My grandpa's brother had a place right around the corner from us, and very good friends had a place next door to them.  These are amazing childhood memories for me.

Of course I knew this was special because it was from my childhood, but until I got older I really didn't realize how truly special this was.  When I was in high school, my grandparents sold this place because the drive back and forth was getting to be too much.  They built a cottage on a lake just about 45 minutes from home.  It was nice.  Truly, it was.  But it was built on a channel with no open water views.  By this time I was also not nearly as excited about spending time with my grandparents, so the visits up there were a little less frequent and usually with friends.  My grandfather developed Parkinson's Disease in his 60's, so this place was sold before I turned 30.

I'd never really thought about how much my grandparents' place on the lake shaped me.  As I was looking through photos of the my adult life, I realized I LOVE having water as the backdrop.  And it's true.  I could just sit and look out at the water all day.  That's kind of what I did on Thursday.  While we've seldom been able to afford to stay in places with water views, almost always the water has been a factor in our vacations as an adult.  I'm so very, very grateful that I can make those memories with my family these days, and I'm even more grateful for the memories from my childhood.  I know now that I took those days (and views) for granted.

The sting

Andrew arrived with his mom a week ago yesterday.  We were thrilled to have her here again!  It hasn't been terribly scheduled, which is good for us all.  Last Saturday, the kids all came over, although they didn't stay particularly long.  Sunday, we each watched church services from home, then Andrew headed out to work in the yard.  He's been out a decent amount of time when he came hobbling inside, exclaiming that he had been stung.  As he began taking his shoe off, he realized that there were still about six yellow jackets swarming his foot!

Ultimately, he was INCREDIBLY lucky.  He only had one sting, which was absolutely a small miracle.  Andrew ran outside with his show, although one yellow jacket "broke free", but even that one managed to find his way outdoors shortly after (but not before giving our sweet pup a bit of a scare).  It could have been so, so, so much worse.  We iced his foot and waited to see what would happen as he assured us he was not allergic to stings.

That may be the case, but he sure did have a reaction!  Monday, his foot was very swollen, and by that evening his mother and I were trying to convince him to see a doctor.  He went Tuesday morning, and was given prednisone and and antibiotic as the doctor said an infection was starting.  It was really, really ugly.  He was pretty hobbled for about 24 hours but fortunately it didn't impact him too terribly much on our trip.  And even more fortunately, the view was so fabulous we didn't mind just sitting!

The yellow jackets have a nest in the ground in our backyard.  Andrew said he'd known about it and kept meaning to do something about it.  Needless to say, I am giving that area a very large clearance if I'm out there!

The trip to the river was amazing

When my mother-in-law was here at the beginning of June, we knew she would be back this week.  And I promised her a trip with a water view.  I found a great little spot along the Ohio River that had a cabin and was only an hour's drive.  To be honest, it didn't really feel like much, and I'm not sure Andrew or I expected much.  Our departure on Tuesday was delayed due to Andrew's doctor visit, but that is a different post.  We arrived, and my first thought was that we'll make it through the next three days and I'll be ready to go.  Honestly though, it was wonderful!  The view of the river was amazing.  The weather on Tuesday was stifling and everything made me sweat.  But Wednesday and yesterday were so comfortable and no humidity, and it just really made things perfect!

Tuesday evening, Andrew and I hit the grocery and brought back frozen pizzas.  We enjoyed the view of the river from inside since it was so miserable outside.  We continued watching episodes of the show she loves, and everyone slept well that night.  Wednesday, Andrew and I found a dog park for Janey.  We also drove around a bit to find out what was around, and Andrew was especially excited to find some U.S. Grant historical sites as he was born nearby.  We had a fabulous Mexican dinner, and spent much of the evening enjoying the river view.  Yesterday, I didn't even really want to leave the house.  Andrew took Janey on a long walk and found great places in town.  We brought in dinner because none of us wanted to give up any time enjoying the river view.  We sat outside as long as we could until the bugs really became too much.

We realized there are so many more things we'd like to do around there, and it's also only 25 minutes from downtown Cincinnati.  We are very strongly considering a spring break trip and enjoying the view again!  We all agreed the trip was even better than we expected, and I'm so grateful we were able to take the time with Andrew's mother.  She turns 87 in September, and we all know that nothing is promised to anyone.  We have so much fun with her!

Another weekend in July

Summer is moving right along, as it always does.  I'm so grateful that our lives are so much less crazy in the summer.  It makes the rest of the year much more tolerable.

Our weekend was fairly busy.  Catherine was going to my mom's to help with cleaning on Friday, so I decided it would be a good time for me to go up as well.  Unfortunately, mom's a/c went out...never a good thing in July.  The service company came right out were horrified to learn that the part couldn't arrive until this coming week...hopefully tomorrow.  My mom started saying she could muddle thought, and we weren't having it!  My dad had bought a portable a/c about 15 years ago and had given it to us when we moved here (not entirely certain why) so I came back home to get it (and Andrew), and back to my mom's we went.  I'm so glad that she is able to be comfortable this weekend.  I can't imagine otherwise.

Yesterday was the graduation party for Lyndi's sister, who was also a student of Andrew's her freshmen year.  I was grateful that our morning started with sleeping in we had another relaxing evening.  Today we were at church in the morning, and then spent some time working on the house.  Today also had some emotions. At church this morning we were asked by a member if we ever hear from Robert.  This person tends to think Robert is the greatest thing since sliced bread and doesn't always understand everything we've all been through.  This afternoon I came home and after getting some work done around the house, I started organizing photos.  Some of them were all the way back to 2017.  I'll be honest, it makes my heart hurt a little bit.  It's hard to look at the photos that have Robert in them and not remember how hard things were.  And I miss the days of having Catherine and Thomas here and living together as a sweet little family.  I'm so grateful to be the mother of all three of my kiddos, but today is one of those days where I feel a little sad that it all went by so quickly.  And that makes me even more thankful for the photos!

It was the most amazing trip

We had the best trip this past weekend!  I think we were all a little hesitant about spending so much time together and staying with our friend instead of having our own hotel rooms.  But, it was absolutely spectacular.  We loved having so much time together, and since we were all staying under the same roof, it actually allowed us the chance to be more laid back with our schedule rather than worrying about what time we were meeting Julie.  And the best part was that we could hang out in the evening and have a few drinks without anyone having to drive anywhere.  We visited some wineries, a brewery, and the best part was that we found this amazing park to walk around on our last evening after having the most amazing dinner.  We were able to cross another state off our list, and overall it was just the most amazing trip.  Julie is building a new house this year, and it will be even more fun next year.  We even made a plan to meet half way again in October, and even the drive home was awesome.  I'm so incredibly grateful for Lyndi staying at our house with the pets, for having the funds and flexibility to do this, and for our treasured friendships!

My perspective on this week

We are essentially half way through my summer break.  It's been nothing at all like I had planned it, and I'm completely okay with that!  I had "grand" plans for all the house work that was going to happen, especially painting what used to be Catherine's room.  Not going to happen.

Instead, there have been afternoons of naps and lots of genealogy work.  For one thing, the heat indices have been close to over 100 degrees.  So painting a small room is probably not what I'd be going for anyway.  Secondly, I've had little things pop up during the week and it hasn't allowed me hours on end of painting time, which is what I prefer.  And honestly, I'm prioritizing mental health, and I'm good with that.

The further I get from this past year, the more I realize how awful it was.  As my boss pointed out, we used to have weekly admin meetings, but this past year it was common for us to meet two or three times...a day!  I've realized how unfair it was to Andrew that I would come home and do absolutely nothing.  I didn't even want to talk to him.  I literally just wanted to sit and stare at something, usually my computer screen as I would mindlessly surf the internet.  If I had been parenting younger children, I've told my co-workers I would have resigned because it just wasn't fair to my family.

So, yes, the room will need painted at some point.  But, it's perfectly livable as it is, I'm just not a fan of purple! :). But I've enjoyed spending afternoons with my husband, relaxing, and I've enjoyed spending time (and dinner) with my adult kiddo and his wife, and I'm absolutely certain I will enjoy our trip with friends this coming weekend.  I'm physically able to travel and that is never a guarantee in life.  My dad died at age 59.  Andrew and I have made smart choices and we continue to do so, but it is 100% okay that my week has been more enjoyable than productive!

June is the best

As much as I love the holidays and prefer cooler weather, June really is the best month of the year in many ways.  I work minimal hours in June, and the nice thing is...July is much of the same.  June is usually cooler than July, plus, even after June, I still have July.  So June really is the best.

It also wraps up our first summer month of being empty nesters.  I enjoy it, but I also miss my kiddos.  They've had a lot going on recently, but I'll admit, it is less stressful when they aren't living it under my roof.  Catherine has a new job, and it's closer to where she now lives.  They had hoped to be able to move later this summer, but have agreed to remain where they are for one more year.  Overall, things are working out for her and I'm grateful.  Thomas and Lyndi are house hunting.  I'm not sure how things are going to work out for them in that regard, but I do understand them wanting to leave their current housing situation.  There is a chance they'll be moving in with us in September, but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

It's been a really lovely first six months of the year (knock on wood) in terms of my family, generally speaking.  I'm optimistic that the second six months of the year will also be lovely at work!