August Musings

There’s a slight chill in the air that tells me autumn is just around the corner. Lazy August days are dangling by a thread as I ponder what it will feel like to drop the girls off at their first day of school. Over the next few weeks we will desperately hold onto the best of what late summer has to offer – dining outdoors in light coats well into October. Summer, where have you gone? You, ever-the-rascal, seem to disappear before you’ve even begun…

{A Summer Eve – CT at Dusk}

We’ve slowed things down over at the Pless household. The girls and I have lounged around the house – still in our pjs – until 10am. We’ve lingered over lunch in the backyard with little to do but impromptu play dates at the beach and in the front yard. We’ve become much less rigid about bedtime, even having ice cream on a weeknight at our local ice cream shop well after bedtime. This article about not hurrying our children really had me thinking. How often do you say “Hurry up sweetheart!” with the best intentions of rushing your kids just enough to get somewhere on time? I hate being rushed. I would imagine my children do too. I promise I am going to rush them less in the future.

{Two Cones worth lingering over.}

As we head into the fall I fear my inner perfectionist will once again rear her ugly head. Always watching, always judging, frequently reminding me to get it all done – and perfectly. Wouldn’t it be liberating to realize that our childhood princess dreams of having “everything in place” are unrealistic and pretty unfun too? I really appreciated this tongue-in-cheek series of photos. Here are the perfect ladies of the stories from our youth. Alas, even the most perfect of princesses eventually succumb to imperfection.

{Snow White After the Fall, by Dina Goldstein}

And then there was this moment this week. I was giddy like a child. I, MYSELF, researched, read, trouble shot, and toiled for hours to update this beloved site. I eventually added my very own “widget” buttons to the top right portion of the page. And now you can easily click the link to follow me on a multitude of social media sites. YAHOO! This is huge people. Not the “you following me part” (although that would be very much appreciated) but the “did it myself” part. Who would have thought that the girl who could barely use excel would some day be cutting and pasting html code onto her very own blog. Let the heavens open up. Let the pigs fly. It has been done. And John is very sick of hearing how proud I am of myself…

{My Widgets}

Last weekend we travelled down south and spent 3 full days with some of our dearest friends and their children. Our afternoon out on their boat was a highlight of the weekend. We smiled until our cheeks ached – letting the wind whip against our faces as we cruised along the water. The day ended with some water skiing on the flat waters of the bay. Our fearless leader, the man of the house, was first to go, getting up on one ski and making it look altogether easy. Then it was my turn. In my head I held fast to fond memories of myself in my early twenties, waterskiing with ease. I soon learned those memories were just that  – memories. Holy smokes is waterskiing harder than I remembered. I, like Bambi in his first uncertain moments on wobbly legs, was up and down three times in the least graceful manner. Groins were pulled, egos were bruised, and defeat seemed imminent. Thankfully the group convinced me to try one more time and on my fourth try I actually stood up on the skis and cruised around the bay. Next up was John – bringing respect back to our family name by getting up on his first try and even managing to go “one handed” for a bit as he waved to the girls from afar. And then the other mama onboard decided to give it a try. I had no expectations as I had never seen her waterski. After my mediocre attempt I was skeptical. She plunged into the water and put the skis on her feet. Up on her first try – all the minis on board were thoroughly impressed. Then, to all of our amazement, two minutes in she kicked off one of the skis and seamlessly transitioned to slalom skiing. She looked so badass out there cutting through the boat’s wake on her mono-ski. My heart swelled with pride because you all know there is nothing I like more than having our children realize that we as parents (especially mamas) can still do it all. At least a little and sometimes on very wobbly legs…

{My “shit eating grin” says it all.}

Oh, by the way, I think I am going to give up bleach. I figure if something is strong enough to burn a whole in my new silky sheets (remember them from this post?) then it is probably best not to have my face snuggled up against said sheets while I sleep. Agreed?

{The Sheets Made Threadbare by Bleach}

Lastly – Paloma over at this blog said it best when she posted this quote. Let’s all try and make some good choices during these last dog days of summer. And when I say good I mean easy. Isn’t easy better than hard? I always used to gravitate towards hard. I’m ready for easy. Are you?

{Words to Live By}

So there you have it. My August musings… Who knows what tomorrow holds. I’ll be sure to let you know in a future post.