Father's Day

Since the move I often find myself longing for our old life.

BM (Before the Move -- could also mean Bowel Movement or crap, depending on what my actual view of the move is at any given point!). Anyway, BM everything was easy in the sense that we knew where to go if we wanted to get take-out, or where to go for a quick day at the beach, or who to go to for an impromptu cookout. We spent a lot of time puttering in the yard and bouncing on the trampoline. Life didn't require a lot of thought or a lot of effort. It just happened, and it was good.

Now contrast this with life after the move. I expected that the move itself and the process of settling in to the house would be a whirlwind. I also realized that moving in to a house that was still under construction was likely to add to the chaos. And I was right! What I didn't expect was to fast-forward 9 months and still have so much work. I still have not found good take-out that is nearby, we have yet to even begin to discover all of the fun that is to be had in NC, and I am always on a quest for great produce. Unpacking boxes, apparently, is the tip of the iceberg! About 6 months ago I told Pat that I really looked forward to the day when we can sit out by the pool, drink coffee and casually read the Sunday paper.

A subtle change has come upon us over the last several weeks, and it culminated Father's Day weekend. On Saturday we had kids over to our pool (which is FINALLY finished). Pat spent the afternoon tossing little people around like ragdolls, and doing cannonballs. On Father's Day we had a huge, yummy breakfast. We had coffee. We read the paper. It felt good. We puttered around arranging furniture by the pool, and fertilizing flowers. Then we went to the community pool and had ice cream sundaes. Not a lot of thought and not a lot of effort. But it was good.

Pat with the girls on Father's Day. These pictures aren't quite in the right order, but I can't figure out how to re-organize them once they are pasted in!

Pat was trying to do a slide version of a cannonball, and make the water splash out of the pool on impact. Mission accomplished!

The girls LOVED the make your own ice cream sudaes by the pool. It is amazing how many goodies a person can cram into a fairly small cup!

And there's me! Too cool to take my sunglasses off for the trip down the slide!