Oh yes, I am feeling the longing for the fall veggies. The chard, which my son is already asking for. The root vegetables, the cabbage and all those glorious greens. But we are still in summer and just when I have gone through all my eggplant recipes, I find a new gem.

This is a broiled eggplant brushed with olive oil. It is topped with mozzarella, a bit of basil and tomato and returned to the broiler so melt the cheese. It doesn’t get simpler than that.

The salad is romaine lettuce with a lemon date dressing – olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, chopped dates, cinnamon and a pink of coriander. It is bright, sweet with some of that cinnamon coming through. Next to it is a lemon basil potato salad that is just potatoes with butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, basil and salt. This meal came together under 30 minutes.

The vibrant, bright and cheery colors of summer meals is so different from the rich, earthy tones of fall and winter. And even though I long for the next season, the colors of summer are sill blowing me away.

All this time, I have been waiting for the shift – waiting for the season to change. This weekend I was at a workday for the non-profit I worked for and we all worked together cleaning the center getting it ready for fall. And all at once, I thought – I need to do this. Why wait? The kids and I can start deep-cleaning and de-cluttering the house and getting it ready for fall. Once that temp goes down, we will be spending as many waking moments outside as possible anyway. And wow, giving our house some love feels great!!

We have started a ton of projects that will be completed over the next 3 to 4 weeks – fixing doors, finishing up paint projects that have been half-done for almost 2 years, fixing a water stain on the ceiling, addressing dry wall chips. We are celebrating tomorrow being the first day of September and the promises this month brings. And so we have started movement and created the shift ourselves. I am feeling so excited now! It can be as hot as it wants – I am moving on because I am done with summer.

Our first acorns!!
And if all that wasn’t great enough, on our morning walk, the kids found TONS of acorns in front of a neighbor’s house Oh, the excitement and the joy! The kids were so thrilled because these were the first acorns of the season! We collected as many as we could and I know that soon the kids will be out, buckets in hand, searching for more. It was a great sign and really made our day…

So, I have to say that I am super proud of myself this week because regardless where I was energy-wise and emotionally, every project that I set out to do with the kids this week, we did. They had a great time with everything and so did I. It was a much nicer way to spend the week – Mommy actually had a plan. There was a lot less yelling and a lot more enjoying of doing things together.

And so today, we did beeswax. I had just received a new order of beeswax and let the kids choose their colors. It is a really cool medium to work with – very different then playdough. There is more strength required, but it is quite mailable.

I realized after a slow start, that I needed to get the kids going. They were starting with fruits and veggies and then I made a rabbit. Oh, after that, it was on. Tyler runs to the toy shelf and comes back with element blocks. Next thing I know he is creating a ton of greenhouses each housing different veggies for the rabbit. He was asking me about all the winter greens names and was making apples. Quinn asked me to make a car and was working on a bridge and just doing her thing of collecting all that was made.

All in all, that occupied an hour of play this afternoon. It was really great observing where they took things. I had a great time with all of our activities this week and while they did take some energy on my part, the pay off was more than worth it!

…and then there is thunder and lightening and all the drama I love of a Texas thunderstorm. It was too short-lived, but ya know, it was better than nothing. And as I blogged earlier about the heat, I thought about the release and cleansing that a good rain provides. It is cathartic – it washes the ick away. But ya know – we are in one of the worst droughts ever, so keep dreaming.

And then, the clouds stopped teasing us. I think Tyler put it best:

Tyler: “Just when we were asking for it, it came!”
Me: “Yup!:”
Tyler: “That’s nice.”

Yes, it is sweetie. And with that we had breakfast for dinner, such a lifesaver, and I finished helping a friend with a project. And now I am home feeling grounded, feeling like whatever I needed to get out, is gone and I am steady.

And the cherry on top of course was the lightening storm on the way home. I grew up with these – no rain, no weather, just lightening. It was the electricity of the night and it was awesome. I am rarely out at night, so to see that on the way home was quite nice.

Oh and equally nice today was talking about the “thunder giants” with the kids and talking about how when you see lightening, a thunder giant will not be far behind chasing after it. Ah, the beauty and innocence of childhood.

Oh yeah…I forgot that 60+ days of oppressive, 100+ degree heat can mess with your head, sap your energy and motivation and leave you pretty cranky.

How can one shift into a better place when it is the same story every day, again, again, and again. We are all tired of our houses and our brown yards.

I am going to paste the title of this post on post-it notes and place them all-around the house. This knowledge makes me feel better. Now off to make my afternoon treat – iced coffee. It helps…

More Play
Ah these kids. So now I bring you fun with rocks, jewels and buttons. I need to note that the first two pics were taken by a child – I don’t know which one as they both enjoy confiscating my camera and going on “picture taking” binges. Our house is so fascinating through their eyes!

Kid Hilarity
Quinn loves to rearrange everything and the other day, she did quite a job on the nature table. After a few days, I decided that I would return it to more of its original state, but had to get a photo of her creation first. I told Chris that it looked like the depiction of a trashed beach – right down to the medical waste…great job Quinn! We were cracking up….

Typical Siblings
Yesterday, Quinn put a toy lizard that was special to Tyler in the fireplace. Well, that freaked Tyler out because he thought that was the end of his lizard. He came to me very upset. I rescued lizard, cleaned him and returned him to Tyler. Tyler decided that he wasn’t going to play with Quinn the rest of the evening. She, being a typical 3 year old does not compute this because, you know, 3 year-olds pretty much shadow their older siblings.

A bit later, I told Tyler for the umpteenth time that his jewels needed to get put away or the Jewel Monster might come get them. So before long I hear, “Quinn, if you pick up my jewels, I will play with you again.” Ah, yes…..sibling negotiation – I love it!..

I have been crying off and on all morning. Had a fight with hubby last night, but had lunch with him today and we are fine. Yesterday, I emotionally stretched myself and I am tired. And of course, when I am angry, I can’t sleep, so I went to bed at 1am.

I just don’t know why I am so down. I keep wondering if I am subconsciously trying to release stress? I just want to sit and cry for an extended period of time. Is this the result of living with a depressed person for over a year? Maybe because I worked out for a week and then haven’t since – that stuff has a strong impact on me.

I feel like I keep claw to stay strong, upbeat and keep my crap together because my life just isn’t that bad and there are people in way worse situations totally holding it together. But I am all tears and mopiness today. I can’t even blame it on hormones anymore. I tend to be very empathic, so I take on what is around me and I think I just need to work harder to detach and not feel everything.

I have been reaching out to people a lot lately. There was the guy in the store last week. Then yesterday I was heading in the house with the kids when I hear a *click*. I knew what it was – a dead battery. I didn’t know the car or the person, so asked him if he needed a jump. I had cables, so the kids and I got him set. Turns out he is a nephew of one of our neighbors.

Even today, I chatted briefly with with a friend I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. I checked in with her and sent over some love…and then come tears.

I am feeling it all right now…and that leaves me so vulnerable….*sigh* I know it will pass, I know it will – just wish it wasn’t so annoying. Feeling this way gets in the way of life…and I just don’t have time to mope – I have things to do!! :-p

Tomorrow is Friday….Mom is home…somehow I think me and the kids will be over there tomorrow. Moms are good for this kind of stuff.