4 am thoughts
If I'm just laying awake with my eyes open then I should get up - that's my rule.
Feeling like we are passing another kind of empty nest milestone. This will be the first time since 2007 that I won't be getting a grandchild off to school in the morning. Rossy is starting his first day of high school today (7th graders go to the HS here) and he will be leaving his house to go directly out to get on the early bus with Sebby. I will miss seeing him in the mornings.
Dave has shingles. A largish patch on his back and smaller spots on his arm and chest. Another thing to make us feel older I guess.
Yesterday I biked with Candy on the Oil Creek bike trail up to Titusville where we ate lunch at Perkins, then came back down again. All in all it takes about 4 to 5 hours (the way we travel) but it is one of my favorite outings. 22.3 miles in all. The first half of the trip is all slightly uphill as you go up Oil Creek - you can feel the effort but it's not that hard - we stop every couple miles for little rests. When you go back down it's smooth sailing - barely peddling and no need to rest. Though we did stop once - at the half way point picnic area to give our butts a little break.
Then in the afternoon Dave and I went up to Erie so he could pick up a mini icefishing shanty - not really a shanty - more of a padded seat with an attachable windbreak. We also stopped at Gander Mountain and I found some Keen hiking sandals for 1/2 off. I may be switching over to these for my favorite shoes - at least in the summer:
Andy sitting with Dave on the couch last night when we got back. Andy's not allowed to have toys on the couch by himself but he can have them if someone (human) is holding them for him. Hopefully that will avoid messes and chewing on pillows and such in the future.
I smell the local skunk right now - he or she makes his rounds to check for fallen bird seeds under the feeder outside my studio window every night. Because we turn on the fan in the kitchen window in hot weather to draw in cool night air we get a good whiff of him most every night at some point.
I see the end of August as the end of summer and especially the kids going back to school means the end of summer to me. Did I do enough summer things? Did I swim enough, bike and hike with the grandkids enough, spend enough time outside? It always feels like I didn't. I don't like summer to end.
Feeling like we are passing another kind of empty nest milestone. This will be the first time since 2007 that I won't be getting a grandchild off to school in the morning. Rossy is starting his first day of high school today (7th graders go to the HS here) and he will be leaving his house to go directly out to get on the early bus with Sebby. I will miss seeing him in the mornings.
Dave has shingles. A largish patch on his back and smaller spots on his arm and chest. Another thing to make us feel older I guess.
Yesterday I biked with Candy on the Oil Creek bike trail up to Titusville where we ate lunch at Perkins, then came back down again. All in all it takes about 4 to 5 hours (the way we travel) but it is one of my favorite outings. 22.3 miles in all. The first half of the trip is all slightly uphill as you go up Oil Creek - you can feel the effort but it's not that hard - we stop every couple miles for little rests. When you go back down it's smooth sailing - barely peddling and no need to rest. Though we did stop once - at the half way point picnic area to give our butts a little break.
Then in the afternoon Dave and I went up to Erie so he could pick up a mini icefishing shanty - not really a shanty - more of a padded seat with an attachable windbreak. We also stopped at Gander Mountain and I found some Keen hiking sandals for 1/2 off. I may be switching over to these for my favorite shoes - at least in the summer:
Andy sitting with Dave on the couch last night when we got back. Andy's not allowed to have toys on the couch by himself but he can have them if someone (human) is holding them for him. Hopefully that will avoid messes and chewing on pillows and such in the future.
I smell the local skunk right now - he or she makes his rounds to check for fallen bird seeds under the feeder outside my studio window every night. Because we turn on the fan in the kitchen window in hot weather to draw in cool night air we get a good whiff of him most every night at some point.
I see the end of August as the end of summer and especially the kids going back to school means the end of summer to me. Did I do enough summer things? Did I swim enough, bike and hike with the grandkids enough, spend enough time outside? It always feels like I didn't. I don't like summer to end.