One day left

This saddens me.
Even though I was at the lake today, even though it was 30 degrees at 6:00 pm, even though I spent the evening in White Rock with friends, even though it doesn't officially begin until Sept 21 - it felt like Fall today.

The air had that autumnish aura about it.

Which is not unpleasant, per se. It's just not welcomed yet.

A friend mentioned that she doesn't transition the seasons well; especially summer to fall. That's a much maturer way of saying, "Summer! Please don't go. I love you, I'l do anything... please. I'm begging, don't leave..."

I, too, don't handle season transitions well.

In other news, the Chilliwack Safeway stocks Dragonfruit: $1.99 each. Kids prefer them served slushie style. Straight up was not as enjoyable.

"I wish I was that kind of woman," she said. "You know, the kind that putters in her yard after dinner. Watering. Nuturing. Pruning. Inhaling. Just enjoying the simplicity of her garden, the beauty of the flowers..."

"I'm not that woman," I declared. "I have not enjoyed one minute in my yard since I moved in. All I see is the work that needs to be done. And there is no joy in the effort. I do not sit outside and revell in it's stillness."

If I have the choice, and I do have the option every single day, to weed, mulch, dead-head, fertilize, whisper to and water my plants or go out for coffee with a friend. I go.

And I don't even like coffee.

I would rather watch a video I have no hope in understanding (12 Monkeys. WHAT in the hell was that about?) with my kids than deal with the papers strewn hither and yon on my dining room table.

I prefer to sit in impossible holiday traffic and head into Vancouver for the 4th time in 9 days to hang out with the boys at the PNE than sort and organize the school supplies dumped on the floor in the livingroom.

I've had a full and rewarding summer, but my house has that "no responsible adult lives here" look about it.

Three things I have to do as soon as all the fun of summer ends:

1. Clean out the garage. Needing immediate attention are the coolers. I hope they got emptied when we returned from Creation. But if I'm not certain I did it - who would have? I'm scared.

2. Make a chart. A cleaning chart. With jobs for us all. Daily. Weekly. Monthly. With rows and columns. And room for stars and stickers. And prizes. Certificates of "Job Well Done"...

3. Read the owner's manual for my new dishwasher. Maybe the not-draining problem is actually a pressing-the-wrong-cycle-button problem.

Shalom,