Wait, didn’t we just cover graduation? And now the new school year starts in a few days? Utterly ridiculous.
Not sure what happened to all my “going to take a little time to relax this summer” plans but they never really materialized. I did take half a day off at the end of June to attend the National Hockey League Draft Day watch party at SAP Center in San Jose and that was definitely fun but I think that has been the extent of my summer break. Worse yet, I had promised my daughter (and son-in-law) that some moving boxes that were stashed in their garage when I moved in to their new house last December would be addressed over the summer. The contents were to be: 1) Disposed of; 2) Donated somewhere; or 3) Used to decorate my room or fill my closet, depending on whether it was photos, knick-knacks or clothing.
The fact that I continue to look at the stacked boxes every time I go out into the garage is starting to haunt me. My son-in-law, who is a semi-hoarder at heart, is much more understanding of the predicament than my daughter, who has no patience for my tendency to save every scrap piece of paper in case I “need it later” for some unknown (and highly unlikely) reason.
It was supposed to be a box a week. I need to get started.
On the flip side, there has been plenty to stay busy with this summer. I can’t remember a time when we had quite so many markets and events – not only does Oakdale have its weekly Morning Market on Saturdays and Friday night concerts, there were Tuesday night markets in Riverbank throughout July and Saturday night markets continuing every other week. Escalon has had its monthly Farmer’s Markets every third Wednesday and a series of special once a month Friday night concert gatherings, plus the end of summer Park Fete celebration, which included activities stretching from July 22 through July 26.
Not to mention my dog still occasionally wants to go on walks and I get to enjoy ‘Mimi duty’ a few days a week to take care of my granddaughter.
Lorelei is also now at that stage of sometimes repeating your words back to you. One of her favorites, when she is feeling frustrated that no one is paying attention to her, is “Listen to my words.” Well, my daughter tells Lorelei that all the time, especially when my granddaughter is displaying her selective hearing tendencies.
And the other day, while driving with Lorelei in her car seat, she flat out told me “I don’t want to hear it” – which is exactly what I say to her when she is flipping out because she intentionally tossed her stuffed animal to the other side of the back seat and can’t reach it, then begs me to stop the car and get it for her. If you accidentally drop it, that’s a different story, but throwing it on purpose … I don’t want to hear it.
She is now getting ready for her first ever competitive soccer game. Well, since we are talking about mainly three-year-olds, I am not sure there will be much actual competition, probably just a lot of little kids swarming to the ball and falling over it.
But Lorelei is excited and so is her Mimi; it has been a long time since I took pictures of my daughter during her competitive travel soccer days and I am looking forward to being on the sidelines again. Opening Day is just around the corner.
It’s almost ‘Opening Day’ for schools again as well – Oakdale students go back Wednesday, Aug. 6 and both Escalon and Riverbank students return on Thursday, Aug. 7.
Summer; it’s a wrap.
Marg Jackson is editor of The Oakdale Leader, The Escalon Times and The Riverbank News. She may be reached at mjackson@oakdaleleader.com or by calling 209-847-3021.
