Tales of the Ordinary Days

Zach loves his summer job.  He works for the Omaha Parks and Recreation as a day camp counselor.  Let me repeat, he "loves" his job.  And even more of a shocker, he "loves" the kids and the kids love him.  No offense to my oldest, but in a million years I would have never dreamt that a job involving children would be in Zach's future.  He has always been an animal lover, but little kids...not so much.  As he describes to me his days full of day camps, bowling, and the zoo; I see a reaction of pride and words of complete job satisfaction.  Who would have thought?  But a very good thing, indeed. Over dinner I typically get daily updates on how cute the kids are and how much fun the day trips have been. "How was the zoo today, Zach?" "Oh, it was awesome, Mom." "Awesome?  Wow.  How so?" "The new aquarium was great and the kids loved all of it." As he describes his various activities around the city, I am reminde

This morning was a reminder to me of the signs of summer that infiltrate my house each year. Although these signs have changed a bit as my boys have grown older with driver's licenses and new interests outside of play dates and water fights; a five minute stroll through my house provides clues as to what the summer days and nights look like for them. With the skills of a seasoned CSI agent (a.k.a. Mom), I am quickly able to apprise the last 24 hours of my children's lives by this simple walk through. Today was no exception. As I pulled into the driveway after my early morning run, I was greeted with lacrosse sticks strewn in the garage with the background noise of the morning sprinkler system. A golf bag laid nearby with golf shoes thrown to the side.  While grabbing a cold bottled water, I found a garage frig typically stocked full of a variety of drinks now barren with the exception of two Diet Cokes, sparkling water, and four Stella Artois'. After opening the doo