At last, a weekend at home

It's Memorial Day Weekend, the "official" kick off to Summer in the US; a three-day weekend full of bbq's, road trips, beach parties, picnics, and carousing with friends. Except for me and my family. We are happily staying home and trying to do as little as possible. This is the first weekend we've all been together since school started and Queen Teen is ecstatic that I'm home.

So much has happened this May! I don't know where to start. The launch of the newest book from my publishing company; my O and M training over; the end of the Spring Semester; Queen Teen's Stanford appointments; a juggling festival; my father's visit; Queen Teen's birthday and rapidly approaching eighth-grade graduation party... all in one short month. Plus I want to write about crossing 19th avenue and what we learned on our last O and M class. But Summer session begins next week and I doubt I'll get to write everything I want.

Summer session next week... sigh

Don't worry about that right now, Terena. Enjoy this beautiful weekend with your daughter.

On Friday night my husband and I went on a date for the first time in three months. We ate take-out Thai noodles in the sunshine, then walked around town hand-in-hand before getting a glass of wine at the pub. It felt so good to be out in the world on a Friday night with my boy instead of closed up in a classroom. We saw Robin Hood and got sick on greasy, buttery tasting  popcorn, then walked home together under the stars. Beautiful.

Saturday I took Queen Teen to the farmer's market where we tasted fresh made jam and smelled the peppermint, rosemary and basil starts. I was surprised by how full the market was and how many stalls were operating, but then I remembered that the market had been going since late April (some of the farmers go all year) while I was in class. The entire Spring is a blur of stress and curiosity for me, but the world kept on going in its usual way. I feel that I've arrived back in my own country after being on an expedition to Antarctica for 5 months... while blindfolded.

Today, my body crashed. I woke up at 4 a.m. nauseous and shaking. Sometimes I get these episodes where my body behaves like I've run a 40 mile marathon at full speed on too little food and water. Down I fall at the finish line, shaking and praying I don't start throwing up in front of the spectators. Fun. So rather than getting anything productive done, I spent the entire morning in bed, watched Roman Holiday, slept, then slowly got myself back together. By the afternoon I was feeling better, just wobbly. Queen Teen and I watched movies, watered the garden and made a scarecrow out of chicken wire, yarn, pipe cleaners and a child's pink princess dress. Tomorrow I'll rest more, and then we'll look for a cardigan to go with her new dress for eighth grade graduation this Thursday.

Wow. Off to high school after this Thursday.

My house is a mess, my yard overgrown, and my car is starting to smell like a college student's dorm room. A boy's dorm room. I have a huge bag of papers to shred and another pile of clothes to mend. 12 people are coming to my home to celebrate Queen Teen's promotion.

I'll worry about all that on Tuesday. It's memorial day weekend. I'm going to sit in the sun.

Why I have had zero time to write

First of all, I launched a new book this month, an anthology of true, transformative punk rock tales, called Punk Rock Saved My Ass.

Plus, it's the end of the Spring semester. Recently, we went to Guide Dogs for the Blind and learned to travel with a Dog Guide.

This is Toledo, one of the greatest dogs I've ever met. He and I had a blast traveling together, and when we were done, we took some time to play, which included face licking (he licked me. I'm not fond of licking dog hair).

And then there is Queen Teen, who will be graduating Jr High this June and will soon be a High School student. Oh my...

It has been a fast paced, overwhelming, fascinating, thrilling, and enriching Spring. But I'm glad the semester is almost over. I miss writing. Once classes end, I'm looking forward to finishing my play and blogging again. I have a lot to write about, and I'm looking forward to reading your blogs.

Until then, enjoy.