I am a routine person. That sounds odd. I am a person who is a fan of routine. That sounds even stranger, like I have pom poms and everything…or maybe one of those big #1 foam hands. Go routine! Ra! Ra! Ra!
How about this? I LIKE ROUTINE.
Now that I’ve typed “routine” and said it in my head so many times it sounds kind of weird. And also sounds like poutine, which is something entirely different.
Anyways.
I eat the same thing for breakfast every. single. day. (Oatmeal and a latte for you newcomers) I also usually eat the same thing for lunch every day, though it changes with the seasons (fresh salad with a little bit of everything is my current fave). We all tend to wake up at about the same time and go to bed around the same time. I am routinely lame. And boring. But I am quite content in my routine little world.
Summer is busy. There are trips back and forth to the beach. There is a revolving door of people coming and going. There are weeds to be pulled (by Honey, but still), lawns to water (Honey again), and decks to be refinished (also by Honey…why am I complaining?). Then there are the mondo work hours that I pulled off over the last two weeks (oh yeah…that’s why I’m complaining).
One thing that Summer snubs and gives the cold shoulder to is routine.
I am so busy running around doing this thing and that thing. Seeing this person and that person (which is nice!). Going, going, going…
My house is a complete and utter disaster. We’ve managed to keep on top of the cleaning (poop streaks be gone!) but the clutter…oh, the clutter.
When you just run in and out all day long the clutter somehow tends to multiply like bunnies. It seems that for every plastic cup I put away, five more appear, spread throughout the house. Same goes for toys. Also? My kitchen utensils (they make great “tools”, according to the boys).
This morning I took the kids (all three!) to WalMart to get school supplies for Graham. I thought that upon my return I would be inspired to do a sappy post about the fact that my oldest is starting school. The sappy feelings didn’t materialize. Right now those school supplies signal the return to routine. A return to order. Life will still be crazy busy, yes, but it will be organized chaos.
(Stay tuned for the sappy post on the first day of school. It is bound to appear.)
I don’t want to devote an entire post to talking smack about summer. Summer is what I will be pining for come January. Summer is great! Summer is fun! Here are some photos to back me up.
We live in the Okanagan, where fruit abounds. My all-time favourite is cherries.
Graham is pretty cool too.
Nathan doesn’t actually eat cherries (or any fruit for that matter. Or veggies. He pretty much exists on cereal.)
He popped one in his mouth just to be like his big bro.
Emily, however, feasted.
With a few grass blades thrown in to get her veggie intake up.
Cherries do have their pitfalls (Get it? “Pit”falls? Oh dear. I’ve inherited my Dad’s lame use of puns). The downside to cherries…is the explosive diarrhea (and you thought I was referring to my kids when I talked about the poop streaks). But somehow? I open the fridge the next day and think, “Mmmm…cherries.”
They are really that tasty.
Honey also planted a plethora of flowers, and the sunflowers have bloomed.
I’m going to hang that one on the wall to help get me through winter.
Summer is pretty fantastic, but I’d like a little routine. If I could have the weather of summer as well as the routine of fall? My life would be complete. Or at least a little less crazy. Maybe.
The grass is always greener, hey?
I love routine also, so I “get” this!!
Oh, and poutine is GROSS!!
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I’m the same way. I pine for summer all year round but a few weeks in I’m craving the routine that September brings.
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SEveral things about this post. First, love the pics. I took a similar sunflower picture you can see in a post or two back…love your picture too. Very bright and so vibrant. I just love flowers!
Your kiddos are precious. Great shots. The cherries. I didn’t know (except from Amanda’s blog) about the cherries causing the diarrhea. I have never eaten any like that..I’m kind picky myself.
I too love routine (and never tried poutine) but it almost sounds like it goes with that diarrhea thang. ha ha
I am gonna miss the summer though. I’ve enjoyed the relaxation in the schedule of having to be here and there. Its about to start again though as my son (12 years old) starts back next week. Can you hear me screaming all the way from Texas?
Have a great day!
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Those pictures capture your kids personalities so well. At least, how I envision your children’s personalities to be
I LOVE the sunflower picture!
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p.s. I need routine, too!! Things should even out once school starts up again.
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1. I managed to live in Ottawa for almost two years, right next door to Quebec, and never once tried poutine. I just don’t care for gravy.
2. I guess I’ve never eaten enough cherries to have that problem, thank goodness.
3. Same problem with clutter and summer in our house…oh, wait, we have that problem year-round!
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yes, we are having the clutter issue here too. I miss having a cleaner house. I like routine, don’t know about poutine, and think in my house, we are all craving a return to schedules…
I especially love Emily’s picture with the cherry juice and grass on her. How cute!
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I have the same breakfast every morning too – oatmeal and yogurt! Gotta love routine.
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Routine ROCKS! I’m a fan of it myself:)
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Oh, I love routine too. Even when I’m traveling I establish some sort of routine to keep my sanity.
As for the cherries, I totally hear what you’re saying. My body may scream “NO!” but my mouth screams “YES!”.
(I truly have a gift when I can turn eating cherries into something that sounds dirty.)
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Clutter is awful. I wade through it daily and wish my house looked a lot less like a barn and a lot more like something out of Real Simple magazine.
PS: I love poutine. Cheese, fries, gravy…what’s not to like?
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That sunflower picture needs to be framed! It’s beautiful!!!! I might snag it from you to frame throughout the winter as well, I’ll make sure you get the photo credits.
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I TOTALLY understand what you’re saying about the “other side” of summer fruit. Me = cherries and blueberries and (lotsa trips to the bathroom, ooops!) but then will do it all again the next day because mmmmmm.
I love the Okanagan, y’all are so lucky to be living up there!
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Great sunflower shot!
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I need routine so much. Sometimes traveling stresses me out because it disrupts routine. Silly.
I wish we had an abundance of fresh produce around. Have you heard about that whole “Eat Local” phenomenon, where you’re supposed to eat food that comes from within a 100 or 150 mile radius of where you live? I think everyone in Vegas would shrivel up and die if we had to live like that.
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Oh, I CANNOT WAIT until school starts again! I miss my routine too!!
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Those are some seriously cute faces!!!
Oh, and I know the routine. With my oldest we HAVE to have routine. And summer, vacations, and baptisms? Routine has gone out the window.
And doesn’t it seem like when the house is cluttered you are more….hmmm…stressed? Scattered? Prone to emotional outbursts?
Well, maybe it’s just me!
Glad to be back…sorry I’ve been away for a while!
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I love the “no routine” part of summer. I don’t like having to watch the clock. BUT, I hear you on the clutter!
Great pics … I love Graham’s expression AND the sunflower pictures you took are fantastic!
MK
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mmmmm. poutine.
totally understand the clutter thing. we don’t even try until the weekend anymore.
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I’m SO with you on the routine thing, although not so much when it comes to food! School is GREAT for routine
Ooooh look at that sunflower – wow!!
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I have a black thumb, and yet I still try. That sunflower photo makes me want to go and bitchslap my dying Dahlias and cry out “WHY??!!!”
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Those cherry pictures are priceless!
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Routine, GOOD.
Poutine, BAD.
Think Joey from Friends
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I LOVE YOUR KIDS! (And I mean that in the sweetest, and least creepy internet lady way possible.)
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