Two Weeks Minus One day

David and Mel's wedding is fast approaching. I'm paralyzed. By what?... emotion, excitement, expended energy or all of the above? Yet I'm thrilled that the day is approaching. I'm looking forward to family and friends celebrating with us. I will miss those who can't come and those we weren't able to invite. But here I am anticipating the joy of expanding our circle of family as we have already expanded our circle of friends through getting to know Melanie's loved ones.

In less than two weeks Maggie Blais and I will both watch our youngest child commit to the other, joining their lives and ours inextricably. I think we'll both shed tears of joy, tears that will release the conflicting tension of letting go, giving and gaining children till death do (any one of) us part. Sweet, sweet, bittersweet.

Turn around and they're two.

Turn around and they're four.

The Middle of September!

We're counting down the days until David and Melanie's wedding. Well, they're counting down the days. I'm just sort of keeping in the front of my mind that it's coming up quick. Meanwhile... Tom works crazy hours, just for a little bit yet, until the bus drivers all get acclimated to their routes and the new point of sale system smooths out. Who would have thought we'd see the day when children could buy their school lunch with a finger scan? I guess it beats losing your lunch money, or worse, getting it stolen and going hungry as result.

So those fishing days I blogged about below provide memories that still offer relaxation to Tom and quick meal fixes for me. And after dinner it's off to the tree fields, mowing and shearing, getting those spruces and firs in shape to be Christmas trees come December. The weather has been perfect for mowing an entire gas tank's worth at a time -- about 1 1/2 to 2 hours -- and that's a lot of pushing, pulling, and reefing on the mower. The light gives-out earlier each week. I had to quit last night for fear I would run over a little tree camoflaged by weeds.

My fall schedule is to work at the church 3 days a week and babysit one. Tomorrow is my babysitting day. It'll be me and the girls doing fun things like playdough, coloring, reading stories, and walking to the mailbox, which is always an adventure what with lucky stones to find and butterflies to chase. There used to be a sandy spot where my own little boys would stop to sift sand through their fingers and practice making letters using sticks for writing implements. Now the sand is covered up with pseudo paving -- a chip and tar thing. No more muddy ruts, puddles, holes, which I don't miss. No more sand to stop and play in. I miss that terribly.

Funny how I can get all nostalgic and glamorize the past. Like the sandy spot in the driveway, our old woodshed now a lovely entry and diningroom, and most recently, the 100 year old windows replaced with new vinyl, tilt-in-to-clean, beautiful, efficient, functional windows. Functional means you can actually open and close them, or even keep them open without a stick. And you can see out them sans distortion. Although I miss the wavy glass...it's really cool to see the birds, deer, baby woodchucks and leaves on the trees clearly. Oh yeah. It's great.

It's the middle of September and soon the broad strokes of God's paintbrush will turn grain fields to gold and dot trees with myriad shades of red, orange and yellow. It'll be right about the time of Dave and Mel's wedding. Perfect timing.