Little Chirp grunted yesterday when Brainy Bird and Sara and I rolled in, and I declared the beginning of summer. Little Chirp still has a few weeks of school, including finals and his first two AP exams. Brainy Bird and Sara finished their exams at the University of South Carolina mid-week last week. The three of us trekked back to Houston over the past few days, stopping in Biloxi and New Orleans.
Sara and Brainy Bird will both be interning in Houston this summer. I could not be more excited for the two of them. I left the house a bit ago to join a five-year anniversary celebration for a friend’s brewery, and Sara was reading a four-hundred-page book on the crude and natural gas markets. Perhaps, I should tell her she does not need to read the entire book before her first day of work.
Last summer, we introduced Sara to Houston. This summer, the focus will be on making connections. I regret the waste of last summer in that I did not spend much time socializing with friends. I regret the lost opportunity to introduce Sara to our amazing village. I do not have a time machine, but I do have the entire current summer ahead of me.
This summer, there will be pool parties. There were no pool parties last summer. This summer, there will be crawfish boils and woodfire pizza parties. There were no such events last summer. This summer there will be Wednesday steak nights. There were no Wednesday night steak nights last summer. This summer there will be trips to New Braunfels/Gruene to visit my nephew Hewey, sister and brother-in-law. This summer will be completely focused on the things that I love. The things that bring me joy.
This evening, Sara is joining us for dinner, and then the kiddos will focus on work during the week. Kyle is making tacos for us all in honor of Cinco de Mayo.
On Saturday, we will all be getting together at Josh and Irma’s for a welcome home/summer kickoff party. Josh and Irma hosted Sara last summer. Sara’s current summer host, Kristen, will be in attendance. Sara and Kristen have so much in common, including being from families where they are one of three girls, sharing a strong faith in God, and the fact that they are both driven, smart, no-nonsense women.
This will be an extra special gathering in that Irma’s parents will be visiting from Mexico, and Little Chirp’s buddies from the old neighborhood will be there. I cannot wait!!!
Before Covid, I had so many things that I looked forward to every week. As we emerged from Covid, I fell into a relationship that pulled me away from everything that I looked forward to. The weekends became a source of dread. My brain spent nearly five years in isolation. The isolation is over. It will take some time, but I am working on reprogramming my brain back to its pre-pandemic state. The summer will be a perfect start to this process.
This summer will be about reconnecting with what makes me happy. People make me happy.