Farewell to a Friend

It's the first evening in a long, long time that's been cool enough for me to sit out on my porch.  That means two things, two sides of the same coin: autumn is on its way, and summer is over.  The first brings me great joy, for fall is one of my favorite times of year (along with spring and summer -- no love for winter, my friends).  The second?  Well now.  Not as happy.

I've had some good times this summer.  I was at my apartment maaayybe fifteen days out of the entire sixty or so that I had off, but I like being socially busy.  Here's a quick recap:

• Hilton Head, SC -- My dad had a business trip there, so Mom and I tagged along and had a blast.  We slept in and sampled the local cuisine for the better part of the trip.  It was a fantastic beginning to the summer.
• Baby shower hosting -- A family friend, my aunt and I hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Page at my parents' house.  Very cute, lots of fun, and a great way to catch up with friends and a few family.  I was the photographer, and I also made some suuuper tasty dips.  And I bought Chicago Cubs footed fleece PJs for da bebe.  Yay!
• After that I stayed in town for a few days, then headed back to the apt. to catch up on my recorded television shows.  Saw the movie Bridesmaids with some of my favorite coworkers.  Hilarious.
• Returned to my parents' place so I could join the church folk for our mission trip to the Appalachian Mountains.  The Appalachia posts (what I have of them so far) detail all of that.
• Back to the apartment for a couple of days, then picked up my never-before-seen cousin at the airport and headed to Ocean Isle Beach, NC for a family vacay.  I knew half the people there -- my mom's siblings and their kids -- but I'd never met her cousins and their kids, who also joined us.  It was SO fun, despite the fact that there were so many people in our house of twenty-two who had never enjoyed the pleasure of each other's company.
• NKOTBSB -- Brandi and I went to their concert.  It was one of the best concerts I've ever been to in my whole entire life, probably because I got to act like I was twelve again, screaming and giggling and singing all their songs.  Holla, yes I'm a grown-up.  Ask me if I care.
• Parents' house again, this time to hang out with people from the mission trip who were still in town, hang out with family who'd made a special trip there, and ask my financial advisor how I'm ever going to be able to afford a trip to New York and buy my own boat.  Again, relaxing and fun (ooh, except that I got a flat tire and had to get four new tires anyway, so that wasn't as fun).
• Baseball -- There's a single-A team in town, so I got to go to the game with my mother, a friend of mine, and that friend's friend.  I love baseball.  A lot.
• Baby shower #2 -- Page's aunt hosted a family shower at her gorgeous apartment.  I got the little guy three outfits -- two striped onesies and a Batman onesie.  I've decided that I'm going to look for a Batman tee for myself so he and I can match.  How cool would it be to own a Batman shirt?  Hello.  I was the photographer for that one, too, so I had the pleasure of using Page's awesome camera again (so jealous).  And I was wearing a cute outfit.
• Good buddy! -- On my way back to the apartment THIS time, I stopped and had lunch with one of my dearest friends ever, Alexandra.  We went to one of my favorite places for lunch, then hung out for a little while at her place, then went to Barnes & Noble (she works there) for her to work and for me to stock up on young adult literature.  Score!
• Mom came to my apartment after this for a cleaning weekend.  She arrived Thursday evening, and we spent Friday and Saturday cleaning up my place, hanging out, and watching almost two entire seasons of White Collar.  It's nice to get everything super clean before starting out a new school year -- it makes me feel a whole lot better.
• Less than a week later, it was time to head to south Georgia!  I have family there (remember the trip to Savannah and the hunting shenanigans last fall?) whom Brandi and I happen to love dearly and who love Brandi and me dearly as well.  She and I drove down there in my little bitty gas-sipping car (love you, Baby Girl) (fyi that's my car's name, NOT a reference to Brandi) and hung out all weekend with the fam, watching lots of movies, hitting up the same awesome restaurant thrice, and going on two sweet fishing trips.  I caught a total of one shark and five fish, and Brandi caught the hugest most awesomest shark I've ever seen.  Yess!!

Here I am, people.  I arrived back at my place last night, slept in and did laundry and got my hair cut today.  My summer ends tonight, effective at bedtime.  I'm almost afraid to go to bed, tempted to draw it out as long as possible, but I know that I'll only make myself more tired for tomorrow's events if I delay sleep.

It's a sad thing, saying goodbye to summer.  Hope for another summer next year and the promise of numerous wonderful happenings and holidays to come in the meantime soften the blow but a little.  I will miss making my own schedule and changing it on a whim, being able to stay up late and sleep in, having no papers to grade or lesson plans to submit, and spending time doing absolutely nothing except enjoying the sunshine.  Milkshakes and sweet tea will soon give way to hot chocolate and spiced cider, so that's not too sad of a change.  But folks, I'm not really looking forward to much of the rest of it.

I think Heaven's going to be summery all year long, but still smell like fall and have the flowers of spring.  Until then, I'll just have to keep working hard on becoming a trophy wife so I can enjoy my free time despite seasonal changes.  Sigh.