Thursday, August 16, 2012

Summer Is Winding Down.

I feel the pressure.  It's almost over and there's so much to take advantage of.  This year it was so hot that I didn't even plant flowers in the back yard.  I made my list of simple summer joys that I can't let slip by. 

Yesterday was perfect weather for the local pool.  I've spent every summer with my children there.  Now they're grown.  I brought my magazines along.  My very favorite way to spend a day is next to a pool or on a beach with a book.  It's ridiculous that I didn't do it more often.  Wasn't it hot enough?  Or was it too hot?

I looked around at all the young mothers playing with their babies in the pool.  27 years of my life flashed by.  There is my oldest pointing her toes in the water when she was 2 months old.  There she is walking a year later along the edge holding my hand.  The teenagers are asking if they can babysit because she's so cute in that red polka dotted suit.  Now, at age 4, she's telling me she's determined to learn how to dive off the diving board.  "You have to learn to swim first.  You can't be afraid of the water anymore."  That baby went on to become an Illinois State swimming champion and earned a scholarship to swim in college.  She coaches her high school swim team.  There she is again. She's blowing out candles on her birthday cupcakes with friends at the pool.

There I am holding my second daughter in the water.  She's 6 months old.  So cute in her bikini. I'm teaching her how to walk on her tiptoes along the edge.  Now I see her diving off the board 5 years later.  "You have to learn how to swim first!!!"  No fear.

I see my little boy wearing goggles.  He's yelling, "Mom. Look!"  I'm looking.  I can't read because I'm afraid to take my eyes away from you. 

So I read my magazines at the pool yesterday.  No one bothered me.  Sad. It was a perfect summer day.  I had happy flashbacks through the tears. 

If you're Blago, you have flashbacks a lot.  They're filled with tears...of regret.  I don't want to regret missing this summer because it was too hot!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Calories Don't Count At The State Fair

Mother Nature gives Chicago a handful of perfect days.  Today is one of them.  I'm so grateful to sit on my balcony and enjoy this weather.  I'm making plans to see Buckingham Fountain tonight.  I love Grant Park.  Nothing is more beautiful than the lights glowing against the backdrop of Lake Michigan. 

I'll be close to Taylor Street. I can stop for an Italian lemonade and a beef sandwich.  So grateful that I can do these things.  I had too much fun a few weeks back at the Ohio State Fair.  LOVED my corn on the cob.  I actually went out of my way to eat foods I normally take for granted.  I stopped to smell the aroma of meat on a grill.  Funnel cakes with powdered sugar.  Love.  I saw a life sized cow made out of butter. 

Once upon a time, Blago was cutting the ribbon at the Illinois State Fair.  He probably hated the idea of going there. There's one county fair left at the end of August.  This one is in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  Funnel cakes.  Enjoy life!