Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Beets and Arrows

It's been way too long since my last post and since I do not keep a journal, I feel guilty that I haven't written. I need to write more often. I like remembering. My third son, Cinci, has an excellent memory and lately has been telling me the minute details of events in the past and then asking, "Do you remember? Do you remember?" Of course I don't. I'm Christine. The woman who can't remember the plot of a romantic comedy seen in the last year. It's kind of sad that my memory is so very bad. That's why this blog is so important to me. I must press on.
Our summer came and went too quickly! We left Doha the very same day Jonathan finished work, stayed with friends in London for five days, Jonathan took Atticus and Sherman to Paris on the TGV, and then we flew to San Francisco. We stayed with the parents for ten days in California and then drove to Utah to finally settle in a home. Not our home, but a home that will be ours for the next year. We camped as soon as we could and then on the 20th of June real life started. Jonathan is at school and work and I am home with the kiddos trying to make life interesting.
This evening while Jonathan put the kids to bed I went outside and shot some arrows at our stack of straw that we hauled home for just that purpose. When it got too dark to aim decently, I decided to weed our small vegetable garden. Then I became inspired to plant some more seeds in the empty spots where nothing was growing. Beets. I needed beets. I will definitely have to make some borscht this fall. This is actually my first vegetable garden and I know I'm not supposed to plant seeds in the ground this late in the summer. But hey! I had them and I had some empty spots. If they don't grow, oh well. If they grow and then get frozen, oh well. You live, you learn. Who knows if I'll ever have a chance to plant a vegetable garden ever again in my life? Jonathan and I could go anywhere next summer. Anywhere! What if I'm living in a high rise apartment building in the middle of Dubai? What are my chances of gardening there? As I look at my small garden I feel pretty satisfied that its still alive. I drive by neighbors who have massive, very symmetrical gardens, with rows and rows of crops. It's intimidating! When I see them just growing under the sun I think that I should be trying harder. But something that I've learned in my life that may only apply to me, Christine McCollum, is that I should never, absolutely never, NEVER, bite off more than I can chew. For the sake of my own sanity, and especially the sake of my dear husband and children. Things never turn out right if I try to do too much stuff. I think that's one reason why I never do my hair in the morning, rarely wear make up, make very simple meals, spend no time decorating my home, and am a lamoid when it comes to fashion. None of those things would factor into a Christine sized bite.
So, just for the record, Sherman lost his first tooth sometime between June 2 and now (I have a bad memory), Cinci got his first set of stitches last week because he walked into a wooden balcony support at the neighbors house, and we found out that we are having a baby girl in late October.

1 comment:

Aimee said...

Hooray! Time for a girl!