Summer

As you can see, one of my summer projects was to renovate the aesthetics of our blog site. Just kidding. Erin did that.

It is that time of year, though--the time of projects and to-do lists which, even when half-fulfilled, generate a gratifying sense of industry. Indeed, I can check off another item--"write blog"--on my current list when I hit "publish". I feel victorious, downright heroic, and the week is just beginning! (Note that I wrote this on Sunday. The fact that I am not able to hit "publish" until today, Wednesday, is somewhat deflating.)

Erin and I both seem to be listers. Microsoft excel is her medium of choice, Post-its mine. Between the two of us, we probably have five to seven lists going at present. I even have one Post-it list stuck to the bottom of another. This has been a habit for a while, but it seems more essential this summer. You see, summer vacation is something new for us. Yes, we've have summers off our entire lives, but this is the first summer when we've had cars and independence and no summer jobs. This is the first summer when we can do whatever we want. Watch out world. Thus far we've done wild things such as sleeping past sunrise (or 10:00, or noon, or 2:00 in Erin's case), going out for frozen yogurt, hopping in the pool at 7:00 AM because it's the only time it's stranger-free, and panting through 20-minute exercise videos a few times a week. We're ambitious.

You can see how to-do lists might be an essential motivation for more . . . essential things, such as groceries or class preparation. So far they have kept me abreast of all the serious work I need to finish. (Erin seems to finish serious work in her sleep, so no problems for her.)

But the largest lists of all this summer, thankfully, have nothing to do with work and everything to do with leisure. Erin and I leave for France in less than a week. This means two giant lists, one for all the things I need not to forget when I leave the house tomorrow, the other for all the things I need to do before tomorrow even arrives. So far so good. Some vacuuming remains, along with a few items for the mailbox or the cat-sitters. Then there will be packing, an early bedtime, and then a long roadtrip for me. Erin already flew to Kansas so she could have a week with the Risch clan; I'll be driving through Denver, spending a couple of days there with friends, and then driving across the plains to Topeka. We're praying that Bernie can hold up, especially as he's responsible for ferrying Erin, me, and Drew Risch--along with some French wine--back to the Southwest in a month. We'll think of it as Bernie's Last Big Adventure.

We may or may not blog from France. You can bet that we'll blog when we're back, though. And Erin will have lots of pictures to post. Until then, Au Revoir!