It's Time

Miss Lily has no part in this post, but her cuteness needed to be shared

Years ago, when we were buying a house at a lake, we had a loan officer who was sort of, barely trying to help us deal with FEMA and their requirement for flood insurance. Months and months went by, and nothing was happening to resolve the $3000 policy premium issue and there was a one year window to do so. Bonnie (whose last name I will not divulge because my feelings about her still cause wrath to rise up in me), when asked for help with resolving the issue, would say,

'It's time.'

Then do nothing.

We were weeks away from the deadline and would have lost the $3000 for that year and all years forward that we lived there. Finally WE found some good ole boy to go out and resurvey and make calls and be pushy and we won.

But it wasn't thanks to Bonnie in any way, shape or form.

I'm still a little bitter. But the saying, which was muttered so many times, has stuck with us.

Cub Sweetheart and I are saying 'it's time.' Time to head two thousand miles north for half the year, and love on and be loved by that side of our family.

So what am I looking forward to?

ON THE DRIVE:

*a good audible book, knitting in my lap when it's not my turn to drive, red twizzlers (on every single road trip we've ever made), and quiet conversations between the two of us that bring back so many memories of other road trips and conversations.

seeing the world roll by, and appreciating it one state at a time. When we get out of Texas (which takes most of a day) we spend a night in New Mexico, then straight up through Colorado, which has enough beautiful country to make the drive worth it all by itself. We come out the top of Colorado after visiting with family along the way, meander through Wyoming. Am I the only one who didn't realize Wyoming is actually gorgeous in parts? Turn left through Montana and come out near our home in Idaho. Rivers and mountains and hillsides and pine forests and miles and miles of openness - beautiful, beautiful. Everyone should take at least one road trip during the summer, and go far enough away to see country that looks different than where you live.

WHEN WE GET THERE:

walking in the door of Huckleberry Haven, and immediately feeling at home

seeing all my 'stuff' I tend to forget I even own - my coffee cup, my yarn, my Bible

mama deer and their newest arrivals in the back yard nibbling on the hillsides

coffee on the deck the first morning back, watching birds come to the feeders

pine trees in the back yard with squirrels scampering up their sides

only two neighbors within sight, who wave and are friendly but give us space

those other six grandkids and their parents walking in our door, filling the house with noise and energy, immediately looking for snacks, and hanging out with us

getting my real camera that I stupidly left there out of the closet and taking with me everywhere I go

my sweet old piano that is sitting in the basement just waiting to be played - I think I'm going to name her Penelope

impromptu days spent at the local beach or state parks, 30 minutes away, eating KFC and bobbing in the lake on floaties

filling the hot tub and heating it up, climbing in at night and doing some star gazing

checking to see if the columbine, peonies, and clematis in our flower beds have bloomed yet

seeing the robins' eggs that were laid in the nest in our front door wreath - maybe they'll have hatched?

going to the farmer's market downtown to buy ripe red tomatoes and monster zucchini to bake bread with

playing uno with grandkids, or our new addition, Would You Rather

sitting and knitting at the local yarn store with my bestie again

Sundays with our kids and their families, running into grands in the halls of our church

driving our old beater jeep, named The Chief by our littlest grand, windows down

doing a bunch of nothing, because

'it's time.'

What are you looking forward to doing this summer? A bunch of nothing? Something exciting?

*I got the newest John Grisham from our library but am open to suggestions.