Dear Kid,

Depending on how one counts these things, summer is some fraction over (am I a math whiz or what?). So I thought I’d make a list of things I want to do before we run out of summer. Perhaps you should make a list too, because before you know it, summer will be gone and it will be time to take you to college. Yark!

Things I Still Want To Do This Summer

1. Go to the movies. I still want to see Monster University and Despicable Me 2 (whether or not you want to go with me). I’d love to take you, but under no circumstances do you get to stuff a sock in my mouth because I’m laughing.

2. Eat some more Kid-style grilled food. Which means we need to get some gas for the grill. And find some sunshine. And find an evening when you’re home to cook. All at the same time…

3. Spend a lazy afternoon watching the birds from the hammock. See above comment about sunshine and free time.

4. Have dinner outside around a fire. Ditto time and nice weather. Are you sensing a theme here?

5. Go out for breakfast. Care to join me? This one doesn’t require any particular kind of weather!

6. Try the climbing wall. Walking past the climbing wall at the Rec Center on a regular basis has inspired me to want to try to climb. Yes, our insurance is paid up.

7. See West Side Story. The summer performance at the High School is West Side Story. Both E-Beth and Amara are in it. I think it will be fun to go, even though Tony dies in the end. I’d love to find out what other schools are performing—there might be other shows we’d want to see.

8. Go to a county fair. When I was a wee young thing, Grandma and Grandpa used to take us to the Duchess County Fair every year. I don’t think I have been to a county fair since then and I’m pretty sure you and Pi have never been to one. Def on the list.

9. Visit the Brazee Street Studios. My understanding is that they do interesting things in glass (although I doubt we’ll see ‘clouds of liquid glass’) and other media. They’ve gotten some very interesting write ups and I’d like to check it out.

10. Relax. I know there are a zillion squillion (my big number for the day) things to do in this area. But I’m looking forward to sitting around and visiting before we lose you. (Maybe with a s’more?)

Did you notice that these don’t require a great deal of work on your part? Perhaps I’ll need to come up with another list….What do you still want to do this summer?

Love, Mom

“Individuals play the game, but teams beat the odds.” – SEAL Team Saying

Dear Kid,

Summer is off to a fine start. When we’re not in the midst of a monsoon, the sun is shining and the spinach is growing. There are s’mores to be made, lawns to be mowed, pools to be splashed in—in short: summer.

With all those fine, frolicsome activities comes the start of The Summer Job. Summer jobs are wonderful for all sorts of reasons. You meet new people, you earn some money, you learn about the “real world” work environment, and – perhaps most importantly – you’re out of the house  and off the couch for part of the week.

Working with new teams can be an interesting experience. The team you find yourself working on can make all the difference in how you view your job.

There are teams where you fit in immediately (camp comes to mind). These are the teams made up of people you feel like you known forever even though you met them thirty seconds ago. They are people you’d like to hang out with when you’re not at work.

There are teams you fit into pretty quickly but on a more professional level. You’ll never be ‘besties’ or get together outside of the office (or warehouse or restaurant or whatever), but they are nice people and make for a pleasant and cooperative work environment. Once the job is over, you probably won’t stay in touch, but that’s ok.

Then there are the teams where one or more member poisons the environment either by attitude or by skill level (guess which is more likely). Being on a team like that can be crazy hard as the team figures out what to do about the problem child (Teach him? Help him? Cover for him? Rat him out? Force him to eat homegrown spinach?).

I hope your job turns out to be all good things and that you enjoy the people you work with.

Please fill the bird feeders.

Love, Mom