MotherReader

It's the last week of what I'm calling the Lost Summer, and I'm just ready for it to be over. It's not I love autumn, but because I'd rather get on with the schedule of the school year if I'm not going to get the fun of summer.

I ended up with another week helping my mom through her radiation therapy. She is at her home now and feeling much better, though it will be a while before she feels like herself. The good news is that the treatment is completed with a ninety to ninety-five percent success rate for holding her vision in check. Obviously, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my prayers with her.

With my mom's treatment, my new job, the girls' theatre/arts program, and scheduling conflicts all over the place, we lost out on our normal summer of sun, sand, and swimming. Only twice did we made it to my old home, Virginia Beach, and each of those for only a couple of days. We canceled our membership to the community pool, but didn't go to my in-laws pool much either. My work schedule was often opposite the girls' program, so I wasn't seeing much of them. And tacking on the Kid's rehearsals, we never seemed to be all together much at all. Our closest thing to a vacation was New York, but again we were only together in the evenings and that was only when Bill was able to join us at the end of the week.

At this point, I'm happy to close the book on the whole thing and get ready for a new, exciting year. We start off with MPAT's performance of 13 on September 7th and 8th - if you're anywhere near Northern Virginia come to the show, which will be fantastic! Then both girls start off with their school's theatre programs, which includes A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Teen. For me, there is KidLitCon in September and the start of a new Cybils year. (Last days for judge applications!) And always, books, books, books to read. And occasionally to write about.