A goodbye to summer

Yesterday was the last day.  School doesn't start until tomorrow.  It feels like summer is over though  since it is raining, and Emma has swim practice and Braeden has to go to the school for a link crew meeting (he's part of a group of upperclassmen who will help with freshman orientation) and Adam and I have to go to a parent meeting for "student athletes." (How did a nice girl like me end up having to go to a meeting like that?  I purposefully had unathletic children to avoid such meetings.)

Yesterday we went to Lake Goodwin.  Geri was there with her waverunner and Brian was there with his boat and Megan and Scott and Jackson were there too.  I happily watched the action from the side.  For the first time all summer Braeden got to be pulled on an inner tube behind a boat which is one of his favorite things to do. (Work has seriously cut into his recreation opportunities.)  I had a high perch in a shady spot. (I do not get this pasty white from sitting in the sun!)

Adam and Braeden

 I alternated chatting with whoever else was lakeside with me or reading my book.  Somewhere along the way I decided that since I kept putting my book down in alarm, I shouldn't read it.  It was distressing and sad and I was sure something terrible was going to happen.  I don't need to read distressing books.

So instead I watched the sun sparkle on the water and watched the antics of a nearby family picnic.

Clouds appeared and we were tired.  Braeden ferried our family in from the boat.

Braeden, Emma and Mark

We drove home but summer did not leave us empty handed.  We saw the cat walker!

Here are the theories behind his walking his cat in a stroller:

(Mine) The cat was victim of a rocking chair accident and the man feels guilty about the paraplegic cat.  He takes the cat for walks so it can feel the wind in its ears.

(Emma) The man doesn't want to live in anonymity.  If he just walked down the street no one would notice him.  He pushes the cat in the stroller so we notice him and talk about him.  It is working.

(Braeden) He has a domineering wife and invents reasons to leave the house, "The cat needs a walk."

(Mark) He is single and lonely and wants people to think he has a child so he takes his cat out in a stroller.

(Adam) He doesn't need a reason. (I sort of suspect Adam wasn't trying very hard with his theory.)

Part of me wishes we knew the story behind the cat walker.  Part of me loves the mystery.

This weekend I also made a sad realization.  I like my kids more than they like me.

1) At church on Sunday, I heard other mothers say that they were excited for school to start.  One said she was looking forward to getting her "8:00-2:00" back.

I wish my kids weren't going to school.  My 8:00-2:00 is better when they are home.

2) At church some of my kids' friends were unhappy about school starting and they thought my kids were crazy because they are looking forward to school starting.

3) Mark, the one I home school, is the only one that is dreading the start of school.

I feel sort of like I used to feel at junior high dances when no one asked me to dance.

Poor Thelma.