it's almost time...

On this very day last year, Steve and I were in Australia! It seems funny to say that now as a part of my past experiences, especially given how much time we spent preparing for it. But that’s how it goes…we slowly went from “I want to visit Australia one day” to “I’ve swam with a sea turtle in Australia!!” It’s funny how that happens.

I remember how Steve and I were so excited to come home and settle in to our new house and our new routine. The beginning of the year had been so full of new things that we were very much looking forward to spending the second half of the year living the boring suburban life! Even after our return, we found ourselves adjusting to more changes; new pets, new jobs, new colleagues. There just seemed that there was no end to the transitions in our life. By the time everything did settle down, we were so tired that all we could do was let ourselves hibernate alongside the cold weather and hope for the best! We discovered that the decline from that much change is seldom ever subtle. While we had visions of “coming down” gradually, the universe had an entirely different plan!!!

Summer is back though! It’s 16 degrees here in Ottawa today (that’s 60.8 degrees for you Jim!!!!) and you can just feel the warmth approaching! That means that we officially have a second chance to relish in the island of summer that we missed last year due to relentless fatigue! In honour of the first true summer day of the year, I’ve taken it upon myself to declare 2009 the summer of Gen! I don’t mean it in a “summer of Gen and no one else” kind of thing…more so a “summer of all the things that Gen wants to do and hasn’t done during summers past”. I want to spend the summer relaxing and reading…getting a tan and doing yoga…drinking slushy drinks and eating peaches every day! That’s not too much to ask, is it?!?!

Our summers always seem to be so busy in the flurry of the few nice months that we experience in this end of the province that they tend to be gone before they even get started. So far, we’ve managed not to make too many plans for the summer other than some travelling to visit friends and family. And although I have class twice a week, school will be done in early July…just in time to park myself on a park bench with a Jane Austen book in one hand and a frozen drink in the other…!!!

I’m already luxuriating in the loveliness of it all!!! Any one care to join me?!?! There’s plenty of room on my park bench!!