Amy J. Bennett

Yesterday Annie posted about having fun.  She says not only does she like having fun, she “spend(s) a portion of every day trying to think of ways to add fun to whatever activity” she’s doing.

She then goes on describe people around her that are no fun…the ones looking for ways to have “quiet” or “peace” or the ones taking Zumba class way too seriously. <—all me 

She asked at the end of the post for how others have fun.

Honest to goodness, I could not think of any way to have fun.  If someone had come in the door right then and said go do whatever you want no matter how much it costs and have fun, I would have come up blank.

I find things enjoyable like reading but fun? I don’t finish my book at night and say, “Wow, that was so much fun!”

I thought about it all night.

I even talked to my girls about it.  Lexi seemed very concerned.  “Don’t you like having coffee?” Yes, I do like having coffee with my friends.  I mentally made a note.

I realized I really have fun going to the local theme park but we don’t often go because Scott hates heat and crowds and Lexi hates going anywhere mostly.  Concerned Lexi quickly said, “Well, I would go if you wanted to go!”

I had a ton of fun the past weekend. I realized I love flying.  I love eating out.

I was starting to remember fun.

I’m a conference junkie and legitimately find them fun when I’m not totally overwhelmed by them.

I really miss going to country concerts—those were fun.  Scott and I used to go to the local country bar 2-3 nights a week and would line dance and attend the concerts on Friday nights.  We quit when we got married but those were good times when we called heating systems draper ut and we bonded fixing the fire place.

I love live-tweeting a TV show when everyone else is tweeting too but with DVR hardly anyone watches live TV anymore.

I love having silly girl time with my girls. When they’re on a roll, they crack me up.

Movies are great, especially in the theater.

And loud music.  I really like loud music.  When I was a teenager, I had huge speakers in my car and pumped out songs like Gangsta’s Paradise.

So, I don’t know. I think I’ve lost my mojo a little.  How lame is it that I had to think so hard about having fun?

I don’t know if you might have noticed or not, but let me make it clear: this has been a hard summer.  Summer is always hard for me because I’m never available as much as I want to be with the girls so there’s always this undercurrent of disappointment.  Add in the unexpected water leak and a leadership position in our company’s internship program this year along with all the other stuff I’m usually juggling and my capacity was simply pegged.

The past few days though I’ve been able to gain some relief.

I’ve simply let go of getting everything back together from the water leak.  The rooms are together and livable.  I still have a bookcase to stain, decorations to make, and wall art to buy but I realized I was the only one feeling pressured to get it all done and NOW.  I’ll work on it when I can and other than that, I’ve just had to let go of my own expectations (story of my life).

Last Thursday, we had our closing ceremonies to our internship program during a trip to Sioux Falls SD.  I haven’t talked much about it but I’ll say that it stretched me more than anything I’ve done to date at work. 

Even though it was challenging, seeing the difference of my intern between the start and finish was pretty astounding and it really did make the time worth it.  I was like a proud momma watching him give his final presentation.  Add in some great dinners and conversation (and a pedicure) with my coworkers, and our trip last week truly felt like a celebration and closure of the summer.

I followed up that trip with a 24 hour stop in Wisconsin see my friend (and Scott’s cousin) Carla.  I mentioned it in Thursday’s anniversary post but she divorced this past year and we had spent countless hours together walking through that valley. 

I hadn’t seen her in nearly two years so being with her was felt like a final closure to that time.  In fact, she hasn’t seen any family or friends from home for almost two years so I know for her too it was relieving, to say the least.

I felt God’s grace all over our weekend.  From a special bakery to a beautiful night of fireworks to a prayer sung by a 6 year old over homemade spaghetti to a little cheese house to a school house turned cafe to an empty table at a restaurant in the airport, God didn’t just pass by, he orchestrated every moment.  Even the one where I had to hug the one that had hurt her and hurt us and silently say I forgive you.  God’s grace multiplied.

We have just a week and a half before school starts so the start of this final full week of summer truly feels like a goodbye to Summer of 2013.  Emma gets her braces at the end of this week so even that feels like a new start.

Sure, I will miss having the kids home and the warm weather and trips to the beach and ice cream runs and late-night movies but I’m ready to dust myself off, give our routines at home, school and work a new beginning. 

How about you? How would you describe this summer for your family?