Okay, so the girls had their grandparents take them away for
the week. At first, I was a little apprehensive
as they will be missing our Fourth of July traditions, including having our
neighbors over for BBQ and setting off COMPLETELY LEGAL fireworks in the back
yard and sitting on the second hole of City Park Golf Course for the city’s annual
firework display. My wife and I finally acquiesced
to the request and sent the girls off to Gunnison, Colorado.
While I was reluctant at first, I have to admit that I did
loosen to the idea as evidenced by the fact that within twenty minutes of the
little one’s departure, my wife and I were enjoying a beer at a brewery down
the street from our house. It was nice to
sit and talk to another grown-up without the seven question a minute pace my
children generally set. We sat and
discussed, well, the kids. We talked
about that week’s soccer games and Avery scoring a goal and making a fantastic
save, we talked about Macy playing well but being inconsolable after a rather
meaningless loss and Darby deciding that she wanted to take a summer off of the
sport. In order, we decided that we were
thrilled for Avery, needed to have a chat with Macy and that despite it not
being great for her, Darby taking the summer off was great for us. After that we went home and began to
straighten up after the debacle that was getting the girls out of the house.
The only other event that came up so far was a reading we
attended for a friend who just published his first novel. That’s it.
That’s the fun that we gave ourselves.
I guess in the spirit of transparency, that’s the fun we afforded
ourselves that didn’t involve running around Horsetooth Lake trying to get
ready for our Wild West Relay. Beyond
that we have planned a fun filled week of cleaning the house, thinning the
girls over abundant clothing supply, putting our garage back into order, a
little gardening, mowing the lawn, prepping for a new diet and if that fun wasn’t
quite enough, I am also taking online classes that have taken over my
life.
As my wife put it, “What would the ‘us’ of fifteen years ago
think about the ‘us’ today?”. Chris and
Adrienne of fifteen years ago were fun loving people. It would be fair to say that both of them
would have disapproved greatly of our plans.
Well, fifteen year ago ‘Chris’ was so smart, he’d still be making the
calls for today ‘Chris’ and I have obviously left that job up to Adrienne and
the girls.
Come to find out, while we have been scrubbing and sorting
and mowing and pruning, the girls have been riding four wheelers, fly fishing, watching fireworks in Gunnison
and even went on a rafting trip. Both
fifteen year ago ‘Chris’ and today ‘Chris’ are terribly jealous and I assume
you could plug Adrienne, either version of her, into that camp as well.
The point of this one, little ladies? Pretty simple, really. There is a time for almost everything. It’s summer break and you girls need some
fun. While you’re gone it gives mommy
and me a chance to get some things done around the house. The classes are necessary and so is the
mowing. We’ll get it done while you’re
gone and hopefully find a touch of time for ourselves as well. As for you?
Get your fun in now little ladies.
We have math to study and handwriting to work on. If you want to think about running the 5Ks
you’ve talked about you need to start running.
Soccer starts back up in a couple of weeks and the house always needs
help. So, enjoy your fun, and there will
be more to be had, but we need a certain amount of focus as well. After you get back you can look forwards to
equal parts of work and fun. Spelling
here, Renaissance Festival there, Math here, Glenwood Springs there. Balance like that will help you greatly in
the future.
***
Speaking of helping greatly in your future, invest in your karma! We are still
collecting donations for Mai and her son Nash. For those who haven't
been reading this blog, Nash was in a terrible car accident when he was
hit by an uninsured drunk driver. His road to recovery is a long one
and anything you can do helps. Give what you can, every dollar, prayer
and share goes a long way! To donate, click HERE, but if you can't do that, share this post, and if that's too much, say a little prayer for Mai and her family. Thanks again!