Unclaimed Saturdays

Unofficially, this is the last weekend of summer. The Minnesota State Fair comes to a close on Monday, the last of the summer sweet corn will be making it's way to roadside stands. With the exception of a few school districts and charter schools with a year long rotation, Minnesota schools are up and running the day after labor day. For me, this weekend marks the last of the unclaimed Saturdays, at least until November.  We'll be heading to my husbands families cabin tomorrow for hopefully a final day of lake weather in the sun, and do the annual summer to fall transitions. Monday we got a boat load of things to get done and hopefully will be finishing my daughters takeover of her brothers bedroom.  This leaves today for me.  Of course there is the laundry catch-up, a little advanced cooking and baking to take food along for tomorrow, but essentially nothing is on my calendar.

I don't know why business has seemingly became a competition, a challenge with each other on who has the fullest calendar. Sometimes trying to come up with a date and time to plan something, say for instances a fall birthday dinner for my father in law, and it becomes a race to state why each date proposed won't work. We scroll though e-mail, texts, and calendar details making sure we didn't miss something else before we finally decide, and even then, someone seems to need to leave early or arrive late.  I have been trying to be more intentional about what has to be put on my calendar, and what I am choosing to put on my calendar.  I'd like to not start a conversation with someone about how busy I've been, but rather share interesting things that I have spent time doing.

My daughter has been trying to reconnect with her friends and cousins since she came home.  She was fortunate to pick up several days of work a week in my office, having temped there since she was 16, to supplement her costs while she looks for regular employment, now claimed spaced in her schedule.  One cousin is a school teacher, and is busy trying to get her classroom set-up curriculum training and all things that are added to a teachers plate this time of year.  Between the two of them they scheduled and rescheduled, many times, as other things interfered.  Finally, they were able to have a few hours out together, laughing and sharing as twenty-something's should.  My daughter shared how nice it was, and in particular that neither  she nor her cousin checked their phones even once.  They claimed that time for each other.

It poured yesterday and last night but it looks like today will be wonderful.  I don't have any firm plans, but know it will be a waste of God's gift to not get outside for part of the day.  The puppy would appreciate it. We have a Saturday farmers market in town and the thought of a burger with a meaty tomato on top for dinner sounds like heaven, so I might run there quick. I think the weekend calls for  good mind-candy book as well.  I think I have a Jane Green novel purchased before our trip to the UK, still unread.  That's all the planning I intend to do for today.