August

August is a month of juggling.

It is my most difficult month of the year. It is a month for deep breaths and sanity checks. 

With that being said, today was good. 

I purchased a "cube storage unit" -- I have no idea what it is really called but for $20 I picked up a pretty heavy duty "box storage cubby". Look at me, I continue to invent new names for this. I always think I need more storage. The reality; I need less stuff. 

Anyway, Bill and Katherine are fantastic and if I can get ten minutes visiting with Katherine on any day I am blessed and refreshed. This morning I planned to go pick it up at their home, several miles from here, before getting Merit from weight training. As Vance was leaving the house at 9:45 he told Merit he was taking the truck. Merit said "oh but I thought mom was taking the truck." --- I messaged Katherine, Bill measured the unit for me, I knew that with a little luck it would fit in the back of my car.

Good news is, it did. 

I then get home and start weeding through piles and baskets and totes in my craft room.

And I find myself sort of in another world. 

I see a picture of me, my mom, my Aunt Meredith and my Aunt Joan at Birch Bay.

Quickly, I was missing my mom, missing time with my mom, missing Birch Bay, missing family...

Then I see a picture of me and my mom in my Grandma Dorothy's Sunrise Road house and a little piece of me so badly wants to walk through that house again. 

I remind myself the garbage man could be coming at any time! And if I have broken things, things that are not useful or trash I need to get them out to the dumpster. Hazel asks me to watch an Easy Bake Oven video. Oren asks me for oatmeal. I realized we don't have a plan for lunch. But I wanted two hours to tackle the craft room. 

I did. It was interrupted. They were all good interruptions. I threw away some stuff. I gathered two bags of stuff for Goodwill and took a short walk down memory lane. I toured -in my mind- Grandma Dorothy's Sunrise Road house, Grandma Alma's Stremler Drive house, Birch Bay with my mom and a couple of aunts, Merit's baby pictures... 

The kids and I then all hopped in the car and headed to DQ for a late lunch and a scenic drive!
We laughed and conversed. 

In 3 weeks I will have a high schooler, a middle schooler, an elementary girl and a preschool 4 year old! I hope August can slow down a bit. We still haven't gotten to Lynden this summer. I had hoped the kids and I would enter crafts, legos or pictures in the FAIR here, I haven't seen my Grandma Alma in quite a while.

But I know we will fit in some good stuff. Maybe not all of the stuff, but good outings, visits and conversations for sure.

The back to school flyers and sales aren't my thing. And school supply shopping has to wait till after the first day of school because I refuse to think about it before then.

The smoke has not cleared which makes my brain foggy. I did order two movies on Amazon that the kids will LOVE! 

If your day is jumbled or foggy or stressful or sad, tomorrow is new. And I believe there is joy to be found.