Two blueberry pies and two apple pies lie on the counter, their crusts still glistening with brushed milk and sprinkled sugar.
And four pizza dough balls are rising into billowy bubbles. Tonight our Mennonite friends and their eight children are coming to visit us and tour Washington. We met the Martins in Ohio: my parents’ farm lies down the road from their horse-and-buggy community. But that — and the fact that these people really embody the simple life — is a whole other story.
For now I wanted to tell you that I am going to practice what I preach and slow down this summer. I’ll be posting one article per week, and one round-up on the weekends where I link to ideas I think you will find inspiring. I’m also excited to introduce you to some different voices — readers, other writers, and even my daughters.
Sofia and Virginia are out of school for the summer, and I’ve been mixing business with pleasure by “taking my daughters to work.” Yesterday Virginia helped me type up our favorite blueberry pie recipe, and Sofia wrote her first guest post about our new allowance system. The rest of the time, they’re reading, playing paper dolls, having a friend over, or spraying each other with the hose.
Virginia at the bottom of our new back yard slide!
Spending more relaxed time with my kids is just one of my missions for this summer. I also want to dedicate time to getting organized. I’ve made a pact with myself: one hour per day on whipping into shape some pretty scary areas — from the junk drawer to the basement piled with hand-me-downs to my business papers.
If you’ve been here for a while you know that, when I decide to do something that requires courage or self-discipline, I am most successful when I:
- define the goal (focus)
- write it down (commit)
- tell people about my plans (go public).
Try it yourself!
Yay — one huge project is done. School and artwork that I save throughout the year eventually gets put in a binder. This year, the girls helped do their own and had a lot of fun seeing how they have changed.
So this summer will be a mix of getting things done, lying in our postage-stamp patch of sunny grass while Mark and Luke climb over me, turning off the computer and reading a book all the way through, curling up for a chat with my girls instead of worrying about bedtimes, and inviting friends over for long al fresco dinners.
Slowing down the churning out of new content will help me step back to look at the big picture and think of where I want Frugal Mama to go next.
I’m sure a lot of you will be taking time off, loosening up, and going out to see the world. I think that’s awesome. We all need a little breathing room, and now the air is especially sweet.
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Hi Amy – Very inspiring; you said exactly what I needed to hear and helped me make a small action plan of sorts. And you gave me an obvious answer to a puzzle I couldn’t solve as well! All of which is why your post is the inspiration for my post today (http://writingrunningraisingkids.blogspot.com/2012/06/slower-summer-less-blogging.html). But I actually do have one question for you. How do you keep up with housework while still maintaining a more casual summer schedule?