I keep forgetting that summer is upon us.
Having been out of the country for a month and been oblivious to all sense of date and time, I keep waiting for Easter weekend to show up and then suddenly remembering that it’s already come and gone. It’s truly a weird feeling. But sure enough, we are, in fact, in our last weeks of May and soon, it will be summer (or so I'm told!). Why does this seem so strange to me?!?!
I’ve always been really envious of those people that return after Labour Day weekend having raved about the best summer of their lives. They’ve apparently spent three months on the beach, in love and without a care in the world. It’s as though their entire life is an episode of The O.C. The summer has never really been kind to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked almost every summer of my life so the idea of being “off” never really existed. Frankly, sometimes school was the real break. But even now, I approach the summer months with a sense of apprehension because for some reason or another, I usually agonize my way through it. For the past many years, I’ve either been heart broken, sick, bored or involved in some melodramatic episode between friends and/or family. And let’s not forget the summers spent without air conditioning…those are the real winners! In fact, it even comes as a surprise to me now that Steve and I ever survived as long as we did without some reprieve from the Valley’s soul sucking humidity.
The first summer that Steve and I started dating, neither one of us had an air conditioner at our respective homes. Much to my surprise, we somehow made it through the hot, sticky, sleep deprived months even though we made many attempts at scratching each other’s eyes out! When we lived in the apartment, we had a window air conditioner that enabled us to sleep at night and on more than one occasion (when just sitting in front of the television in the dark would make you sweat!) we would move our entire life into this one room. It was like being caged between four walls with a roaring machine sticking out of your window that, while certainly annoying, was the only thing that enabled you to keep your sanity. Really, what’s not to love about summers like that?!?!
When Steve and I first landed in the middle of the Australian Outback, one of the tour guides there was giving us a quick run down on how to get to the resort and to the National Park. In her cute little Aussie accent, she looked at Steve and I and said “you know, your husband and yourself are both fairly light skinned and it can get upwards of 30 degrees here in the Northern Territory. Perhaps you two should consider doing most of your excursions at night or early in the morning”. I couldn’t help but give her my cutest Canadian smile and reply with “thanks sweetheart, I think that we can handle it…but the real question is…can you handle 30 degree temperatures with 70% humidity?!?!” And that was the end of that conversation!
Somehow though, despite all this, I still love the idea of summer…and the anticipation of summer is usually worth it in and of itself. I love the thought of painted toe nails and tanned skin…BBQs and fruity drinks on a patio somewhere. I love the thought of long summer nights and weekends away with friends. It’s all so romantic in its own way…but it just never turns out like it does on T.V. Maybe it’s because I don’t have music accompanying me through all of my dramatic moments or the disposable income to spend $30 a day on margaritas on my lunch hour. Maybe it’s because I’m not seventeen anymore or I still haven’t figured out how to go swimming without messing up my hair! Who knows?!?!
Fear not though, my summer spirit is not entirely lost because this year…I have CENTRAL AIR!!! That’s right folks…this means that I have three floors to enjoy in the cool comfort of my home, which I expect will reduce the amount of summer crabbiness significantly! Not to mention that I am still determined to have the best summer of my life soon, even if it does mean carrying around an appropriate soundtrack to play for every time I enter a room (any suggestions?)!
Besides, I think that I’m due and I simply refuse to turn 30 without it!
Having been out of the country for a month and been oblivious to all sense of date and time, I keep waiting for Easter weekend to show up and then suddenly remembering that it’s already come and gone. It’s truly a weird feeling. But sure enough, we are, in fact, in our last weeks of May and soon, it will be summer (or so I'm told!). Why does this seem so strange to me?!?!
I’ve always been really envious of those people that return after Labour Day weekend having raved about the best summer of their lives. They’ve apparently spent three months on the beach, in love and without a care in the world. It’s as though their entire life is an episode of The O.C. The summer has never really been kind to me. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked almost every summer of my life so the idea of being “off” never really existed. Frankly, sometimes school was the real break. But even now, I approach the summer months with a sense of apprehension because for some reason or another, I usually agonize my way through it. For the past many years, I’ve either been heart broken, sick, bored or involved in some melodramatic episode between friends and/or family. And let’s not forget the summers spent without air conditioning…those are the real winners! In fact, it even comes as a surprise to me now that Steve and I ever survived as long as we did without some reprieve from the Valley’s soul sucking humidity.
The first summer that Steve and I started dating, neither one of us had an air conditioner at our respective homes. Much to my surprise, we somehow made it through the hot, sticky, sleep deprived months even though we made many attempts at scratching each other’s eyes out! When we lived in the apartment, we had a window air conditioner that enabled us to sleep at night and on more than one occasion (when just sitting in front of the television in the dark would make you sweat!) we would move our entire life into this one room. It was like being caged between four walls with a roaring machine sticking out of your window that, while certainly annoying, was the only thing that enabled you to keep your sanity. Really, what’s not to love about summers like that?!?!
When Steve and I first landed in the middle of the Australian Outback, one of the tour guides there was giving us a quick run down on how to get to the resort and to the National Park. In her cute little Aussie accent, she looked at Steve and I and said “you know, your husband and yourself are both fairly light skinned and it can get upwards of 30 degrees here in the Northern Territory. Perhaps you two should consider doing most of your excursions at night or early in the morning”. I couldn’t help but give her my cutest Canadian smile and reply with “thanks sweetheart, I think that we can handle it…but the real question is…can you handle 30 degree temperatures with 70% humidity?!?!” And that was the end of that conversation!
Somehow though, despite all this, I still love the idea of summer…and the anticipation of summer is usually worth it in and of itself. I love the thought of painted toe nails and tanned skin…BBQs and fruity drinks on a patio somewhere. I love the thought of long summer nights and weekends away with friends. It’s all so romantic in its own way…but it just never turns out like it does on T.V. Maybe it’s because I don’t have music accompanying me through all of my dramatic moments or the disposable income to spend $30 a day on margaritas on my lunch hour. Maybe it’s because I’m not seventeen anymore or I still haven’t figured out how to go swimming without messing up my hair! Who knows?!?!
Fear not though, my summer spirit is not entirely lost because this year…I have CENTRAL AIR!!! That’s right folks…this means that I have three floors to enjoy in the cool comfort of my home, which I expect will reduce the amount of summer crabbiness significantly! Not to mention that I am still determined to have the best summer of my life soon, even if it does mean carrying around an appropriate soundtrack to play for every time I enter a room (any suggestions?)!
Besides, I think that I’m due and I simply refuse to turn 30 without it!
2 comments:
Hahaha... that last line cracked me up, because that's exactly my attitude this summer. For the first time in I can't even remember how long, I'm spending the summer being a (nearly) complete and utter hedonist. Living off my savings (I quit my job - hahaha), trips, shopping, vegging with the AC on...
I'm going to celebrate my 30th at the end of a looooong overdue relaxing summer. Maybe I should start thinking about a soundtrack too... and maybe some cameras to follow me around. ;-)
In any case, if it gets too humid, you could always pop on down to London and enjoy the 5 degrees (although I'm sure the city-wide sauna weather will kick in soon - come to think of it, it will be surreal living in a dry country like Kuwait).
I'd say you're well on your way Miss C!!!!
Let's check back in September and see how we did ;)
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