Yesterday, I cleaned the downstairs of my house for two hours. Not too farfetched a story until you consider we’d just gotten back in town twelve hours before. We were gone for two weeks. How, pray tell, does a house (specifically the floor) get so dirty when no one is home?? This is what I was asking myself as I swept, vacuumed, mopped, and straightened each room. Then I remembered that in the three weeks leading up to our two-week vacation, we had three other trips out of town PLUS me trying to squeeze in as much writing (read: hand-wringing and panicking) on book 2 as I could before the editor’s letter came back for The Hideaway. So suffice it to say, not much housework had happened in about a month, save for quick sweeps with the broom and some surface cleaning when necessary. 

Fast forward to yesterday morning when I was doing all this cleaning. Kate and Sela were playing together happily, thank the Lord, and I had unhurried time for the first time in what seemed like forever. We didn’t have anywhere we had to be, nothing to pack for, no trip to plan. It finally felt like summer. Even as I write that, it sounds sort of silly–after all, since school let out, we’ve spent a decent chunk of time at the beach, which is the epitome of summer (for me at least). But trips out of town also can be hard–everyone off regular schedules, kids’ bedtimes all screwy, early morning writing time interrupted by early wake-ups, etc. It’s always nice to getaway, but sometimes it’s nice to come home too. 

I’m glad that after trips galore, we’ve finally reached that part of summer where we can rest. Or maybe it’s just me who’s finally resting. I usually have a hard time resting when things are messy. For example, I’ll spend 45 minutes of the kids’ quiet time straightening up and getting my “nest” all set up, only to find ten minutes later, it’s 3:00 and the kids pour out of their rooms ready to rock and roll. To show you my progress, right now, this is what my living room looks like: 

That’s the leftovers from a morning campsite, complete with about 45 stuffed animals and dolls and every blanket in the house. And a tent. There’s a tea set somewhere in there too. Instead of cleaning it up before I sat down for a few minutes of my own quiet time, I just stepped over it, poured myself a drink (no, not that kind), and put my feet up. I have about 20 minutes before we’re up and moving again, but I’m determined to take these minutes for myself. (Remind me of this in the (probably near) future when I’m hurtling through my house trying to make it all neat and organized and wasting precious sit-down time. I need a lot of reminders.)

The first month of summer I felt like I had my hair blowing back all the time by activity. These last 5 weeks (really?!) will hopefully be slower. I’m a multi-tasker at heart (reading while cooking, checking Facebook while watching TV, thinking about plot holes while washing my hair) but I just recently heard a great quote: “There’s a temptation to multitask everything but you can’t multi-task presence.” With a house that gets ten times dirtier in the summer, a book to write (and one I’m quite perplexed by), and another one to edit, I’m going to try to not be such a multitasker–especially when it comes to my kids. This morning, after the camping session on the floor and staying in pjs til 10, we stopped by the library and left with our arms full of books. After quiet time, we have a bag of flower seeds to plant and pink hydrangeas to cut and bring inside. Then maybe popsicles. I think that’s a good start.