Crazy Summer

The title of this post is misleading. "Crazy Summer" starts next week, and I don't mean "crazy" in a bad way. It's going to be exciting and fun for everyone, I think.

It's unfortunate to live in a separate state from all of your relatives, but when it comes time to see them, it's pretty exciting. Next week, we have 5 Timms visiting from Missouri and Minnesota. Next month, we're expecting 2 more from Minnesota. Sometime in May, the girls' dad will be venturing up to visit from Florida. Then, in June, we'll be seeing my mom and sister in Texas. In July, we have plans to take the whole family to Winter Park for a week of vacation with most of the Timms, including two we won't be seeing before then, who live in Ohio. The only immediate family members who aren't part of this itinerary are the two who live in China. It's much more difficult to see them.

You might notice that my dad is also not on that list. We have talked, recently, about him visiting but I'm not sure if or how that will fit in.

D (my partner) has me counting plates and silverware to be sure we have enough for 10 people, and I woke him up last night to tell him we really need a coat rack solution before relatives show up. He says he'll never get used to my midnight worries. But, to be fair, he said, "kitchen light" in his sleep last night. When I responded with, "what?!" he said, "Kitchen... Light? I don't know." and rolled away. I will never get used to that.

Anyway, we certainly have a big enough table, and enough dining chairs. Our current table set up is enough for us, plus one. That's all we normally need. But with the leaf, it can expand to accomodate 10. Thank goodness replacing the dining set was such a high priority. My old set only had 4 chairs, which wasn't enough even for just us.

However, since we just moved into this house (from a much smaller, 2-bedroom apartment), and had a baby 2 months ago, not all of our furniture makes sense. My enormous couch is in the family room, at the back of the house. The living room, just inside the front door, is completely bare if you don't count the playpen and several boxes I haven't managed to sort through. I have plans for what will go there, but haven't had the chance to look for the right pieces.

Despite our house not being entirely put together, it is definitely time to see family again. None of the kids have ever met some of the Timms, and Cub hasn't met any of his extended family yet. Sometime in the summer it will have been a full year since the last time my mom and sister saw any of us. The girls' dad last visited in September, so it will have been about 8 months since then when he gets here in May.