While our lifestyle affords us plenty of family time, Chuck and I don’t get a lot of time just the two of us. We have dates here and there, but it usually requires a getaway vacation to secure that good investment. Every few years, we take a trip somewhere without our boys. They give us flak for it, but eventually they’ll realize it benefits them too.
That’s why, when my sister offered to take the boys back to Chicago with them the week of July 4th, we didn’t hesitate. YES ABSOLUTELY YOU CAN HAVE THEM.
We met Becky and Jeff in Nashville at the tail end of their anniversary trip, wished them all well, and hurried out of there before anyone changed their minds.
We spent an obscene amount of money eating out. We slept in. We binged GLOW. We puttered around the house doing our own things. I repotted plants, Chuck reclined. We answered no questions from little people and reminded no one to brush his teeth or put on deodorant. We fought with no one about eating his vegetables. We did no extra laundry or dishes.
I blinked and the week was over, a time-traveling phenomenon I anticipated.
Still, everyone enjoyed themselves tremendously – us here, the boys there. They went to the movies and ate out and spent 4th of July with Jeff’s side of the family. They laughed and played and made sweet memories. They were well taken care of and I didn’t worry about any of it.
Instead of meeting halfway somewhere to get them back, Jeremy and Jackson traveled by themselves on a direct flight from Chicago to Nashville, a convenient way to get them home and I wasn’t worried about that either.
We all got the things we wanted out of that week – time to relax, time to goof around, time away from our regular responsibilities. I’m on board for making this an annual event.
With one month left of summer, I’m feeling the time crunch to finish certain things I hoped to accomplish – namely editing the second novel (following a professional developmental edit) and starting the query process again. I’ve put on another layer of steel in preparation.
I also wanted to plan for the full school year and not just the fall semester. With four classes on my plate, planning and preparation will be key to my sanity.
We have a few visitors planned for July, and I have a quick trip planned at the end of the month for my birthday. Then, summer will end and a new academic year will begin and everything will be different. I’ll be 40 years old and Jeremy will be a freshman in high school. Jackson will start seventh grade and Chuck will spend the next five months reminding me he’s still 39.
So far, this has been exactly the summer I wanted it to be – well-paced and productive, full of friends, family, and lots of reading. May it continue!