Surprise! I’m back!

The calendar hanging over my monitor tells me that summer will end in just nine short days. Actually, I can’t remember summer ever arriving. The last time I felt comfortable taking part of my day to sit down and write a post, or spend time browsing the blogs of all my friends and followers was early spring.

As I wrote in previous post, my life has been a bit hectic this summer. My camera seldom made it out of its case. But, hopefully, the pace will soon slow down. The last of my major projects is almost done.

What have I been up to for the last five months? How do you relay in a few short paragraphs the events of months? Should I just make a list that includes how many outfits I have had to pitch because of stains, carloads of potting soil hauled, rooms painted, parties planned, miles traveled; graduation, first communion and birthday parties attended?

Or just tell you about the big time consuming things like: How I gave The Old Salt and my daughter Carrie a combined summer birthday party because both had milestone birthdays in August.

You may remember that last year, I jumped in at the last minute, to replace my sister as chairperson for our family reunion. Well, that led to my taking on the job again this year. Which happened to be the 100th anniversary of the wedding of my grandparents, making this our centennial year as a family. So naturally, it required that we have a few more bells and whistles than on normal years. That grand event took place last weekend and now I just have some loose ends to tidy up, like ordering and shipping commemorative tee shirts and finding someone to take over for next year.
I have always heard that events come in threes and that was certainly true this summer with three each of funerals, births and weddings in our extended family. The cycle of life was well represented in my family. In between all of these activities and events the Old Salt and I made two trips out of town, one to attend my mothers 85th birthday party and another to celebrate my birthday with one of my sisters who shares the same birth date.

I even got to attended my first Cardinal ball game in our new stadium. Which would not be a big deal except for the fact that the last time I attended a ball game was two stadiums ago.

We tried to take the barren yard that came with our new condo and turn it into some sort of colorful and flowering masterpiece. I’m still kicking myself that I did not get around to taking any photos.

I became friends with the young family that used to live a few doors down and have adopted them into my life. So, I have been enjoying playing grandma to their children and helping refurbish the old house they found this summer.
It is getting late so I have to run. I will try to post more details and catch-ups over the next few months. But, first the Old Salt and I are going to take a well earned vacation next week. Then I will get back on track and once again join all of you in Blogland. But, to narrow the time before I return I have scheduled a post for this Saturdays “Pink Saturday” so come by and check it out.