Oh, August

Oh, August.  What am I going to with you?  Every year it’s the same thing: I see that precious summertime is slipping away and I panic.  During the month of July I pass my afternoons quietly lounging in the back yard with the kids and forgetting the art of budgeting my time.  I let my task list gather dust.  I move with the rhythm of the day.  And it is good.

But then suddenly it is August.  Suddenly I am struck by the passage of time and the urge to socialize, host parties, plan excursions.  Professional obligations that were just a blip on my radar in July are urgently demanding my attention, as I wonder how I could possibly have forgotten about those deadlines.

August finds me longing for the beach, the laughter of friends, the sharing of food, the twinkling of party lights out on the patio.  August reminds me that these days filled with the ruckus of little boys running, jumping, playing, bickering, laughing will soon be replaced by a big yellow bus and seven hours of quiet.

I admit it, there’s a part of me that is going to enjoy that quiet – you know, the part of me that takes 45 minutes to write a handful of words while dealing with constant interruptions of a little boy nature…

The rest of me, though, is trying to enjoy the chaos, and trying not to get myself into too many situations requiring deadlines and the ensuing loss of sanity they can bring.

One blog break, one teary meltdown, and three days of neglected household responsibilities later, I’m back to my old self, thankyouverymuch, but it really didn’t have to come to that.  All would have been fine, had I taken my feet out of the kiddie pool long enough to check a calendar.  Ah, but that’s just not what summer is about is it?  Yes to kiddie pools, no to calendars, I say.

Note to self: If you’re going to say No to Calendars in the summer, then be prepared to also say No to August Deadlines. I’m just sayin.

This weekend, we’ve a birthday to celebrate, some socializing to do, and if there’s time I’d like to play with a bit of clay, fondle delicious new fabric, and pore over a pile of new books.  Maybe somewhere in there we can plan a day trip to the beach.  After all, the summer is almost over.  We’ve got a lot of fun to pack into these remaining weeks, you know!