Up and At 'em and Summer to do's

It's 7:35 am and I am up. This is early for me these days. It has, after all, been summer break and for the first time in my post college life, that has meant a break for me as well. Working an even more revised schedule during the summer months, in combination with no early morning school preparations, has offered me a much appreciated opportunity to sleep in at least 3 days per week. Those of you with small children know that sleeping in means until 8:00 or 8:30 and on the very rare, cool and dark August morning, with the early chill of Fall in the air, maybe even 9:00! I know, Gasp!

This morning, all cuddled up under my covers, subconsciously knowing that this could be one of those 8:30 days, I slept fitfully and comfortably. Then, like someone opened a door in the middle of January and let all the cold air in, there it was. Right beside my head there was the morning breath of Mack saying "Mama, I peed in my bed!". I shot straight up knowing full well that when the brand new bunk beds were put together last weekend the waterproof mattress pad was not put back on the top bunk, aka, Mack's new favorite place to sleep. I just looked at him and said "You're kidding me!" and then realizing my tone was slightly sharper than I expected it to be, especially since those were the first words spoken for the day, I jumped up and gave him a hug and said "How bad?". His answer of "I didn't try!" was enough to tell me it was going to be bad. Not to mention the way his shoulders slumped as he said it was enough to break my heart. So, together, we trodded into his room and up the ladder to the top bunk I went. Hmm, that's funny, it's not wet at all! Since Mack doesn't actually sleep under the covers I had to do a swipe of the entire bed and sure enough, not wet, anywhere. I looked down at Mack from perch high atop the top bunk and said, "buddy, are you sure you peed in your bed?" to which he replied, kind of frantically, "yes, and I still have some more to give!". As he ran off to the bathroom I decided to feel up the top bunk one last time to make sure I wasn't missing anything but it was still dry and I was feeling much better. Mack came back and announced a little bit must have snuck out because only his underpants were wet. Phew! And then, in true Kristin form, once I realized the crisis was averted, and that he had been hugged and made to feel better, I started to realize what this all meant. It meant that I was now awake at 7:20, on one of those days I could have still been sleeping, and one of those days when I forgot to set the coffee pot the night before.

So, here I sit, back in my own warm bed typing away on the computer, listening to Mack repeatedly say "burrrrr" from the living room where the windows were left open last night, despite being buried under at least 2 blankets. He's watching Pokemon and I'm considering finishing up my summer read, "Pillars of the Earth" before Pierson wakes up. Great book, but enormous. So big that I dedicated my entire summer to it and now with Labor Day looming I feel a bit like I have a deadline to meet. And as I say that I realize that it's more than finishing the book that I feel pressured to do before Labor Day. We need to get to the beach again and maybe Crystal Mountain water park. We need to make s'mores at least one more time and I need to get to the Farmer's Market. And then I stop and realize that just because Labor Day is next week, and school starts up again, doesn't mean that summer is over and we can't do these things anymore. Living at the mercy of the school year calender for the first time (Kindergarten doesn't really count because he didn't go all day every day) is a trip and brings a finality to summer so much earlier than when we just look at a calendar and know that September is beautiful in Northern Michigan and we still have plenty of warm weather opportunities to enjoy all that is good about where we live.

Mack and I are dropping off Pierson at daycare for a couple of hours this morning and heading to Target to finish up some Back to School shopping. I think we will stop at Good Harbor and get a Latte for me and maybe a Warm Chocolate with lots of whipped cream and sprinkles for him. Maybe we'll even head down to the Wednesday Farmers Market downtown and check at least one thing off my "still to do this summer" list. I hope you all do something fun and memorable this weekend to mark the end of summer vacation but make some plans while you're at it to still enjoy summer fun right on through September and if we're lucky, maybe even a little bit of October too!