I wake up at 5:45. The sun is just starting to peak through and I can’t wait to start my day. I am not so happy that I am up this early on a Sunday, but at least I am starting to wake up at a decent hour and hopefully I can get back on my former routine and get back into my groove. I break out the French press for my weekly Sunday treat and out I go to read my paper. I look forward all week long to leisurely Sunday mornings to enjoy the slower pace, relax a bit and not have to finish a lengthy to-do list. I still get a few items done usually, but it’s up to me what I work on and they are generally things I enjoy. It is cold out at 6AM, so I grab wrap up in my blanket and settle in. I really miss sitting with Anthony at times like these. We so enjoy this time together.

It is getting warmer so I head out for a walk while it’s still comfortable and then I take Caitlin and Elijah to Jumbos for our traditional breakfast treat. Caitlin gets her bigger than the plate pancake and we send pictures to Anthony so he can “share” in the experience. I love email. I’m not sure he wanted to share that much, but we do enjoy teasing him. When we get back home, the kids play with Bob, the hamster in his play yard while I clean his cage. I don’t mind this job anymore; I’m getting used to it.

Caitlin heads off to the state fair and then back to school. I hardly get to see her anymore and really miss her when she is gone. I think she will be back in a few weeks, so it won’t be too long this time. Elijah and I trim the bushes out front and weed the flower beds. Actually I trim and he dumps the wheel barrow. It’s a good system for us. Then we decide to tackle the pool. He gets his suit on and bravely wades into the murky water. I have never vacuumed or cleaned the pool, but I am determined to get it back in shape. It is disgusting and it upsets me that I didn’t realize it was getting so dirty. I never go swimming and I was so busy this week that I hardly even ventured out back at all. Elijah shows me how to hook up the vacuum hose and after some tears, foot stomping and grumbling we manage to be operational. It takes me a good hour or two to scrub the green and vacuum all the sediment but finally it is clean. I dump some more algaecide in and feel relieved. That’s two major outdoor projects completed today! It is sweltering by this time and we decide to stay inside and cool off for a while. The air conditioning feels really nice right now.

I finish up some writing and then Elijah and I head to the ice cream place for a “Monkey Feast” dinner. I promised him a reward for all of our hard work and he is determined to collect. It contains six scoops of ice cream, three toppings, two bananas, tons of whipped cream and the requisite maraschino cherries on top. My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets, but he is doing what I suspect is the ice cream dance. I manage to eat about a third of it and unbelievably my skinny eleven year old boy finishes the rest. We have pictures to prove it! So much fun!

Before

After

Tonight is my Skype date night with Anthony and I have been looking forward to it all week. Although I don’t think I will be able to eat any dessert as is our usual custom. My stomach is still on ice cream overload. It is really wonderful to be able to see and hear him in real time. This technology makes the whole thing so much more bearable. We catch up, make plans, and even disagree a bit. It may sound terrible, but I think that is a good thing. It means that we have settled into a comfortable routine of sorts and are back to normal (at least what passes for a temporary normal.) Today was a very good day. It has been a long, hard, busy week. I am off to bed. I am almost afraid to wonder what the next week will bring, but I hope it is terribly boring.