Happy Sunday Tuesday, friends!

This past weekend, we had a brief visit from Jim’s nephew and his wife, as they flew into Milwaukee to pick up their new-to-them family car. They stayed with us for a night and then took the opportunity to go on a short culinary tour of the midwest and south by hitting Chicago for their deep-dish pizza, Memphis for their BBQ, and New Orleans for their cajun cuisine. Don’t worry. We made sure to introduce them to real fried cheese curds,  a fish fry, New Glarus beer, and kringle from Racine.

Our house is emptying out faster than I expected it to as Jim is finding success with selling our furniture. So far, we sold a hutch, one major bookcase, the chaise from my library, my hammock, and the sunroom furniture. The loss of the hutch and the bookcase meant having to start packing up my books. The losses of the chaise and hammock mean two less comfy reading chairs, and the loss of the sunroom furniture means we are resorting to foldout chairs when wanting to watch TV for the rest of the summer. It also means less furniture we have to move, so it isn’t all bad. Roughly two more months to go before the condo is ready and less than sixty days before we have to move out of our current address!

This week, in an effort at some normalcy, Holly’s dance team begins its three-week choreography camp where they learn their new competition dances for the season. Normally, this is the most stressful month for me as the team directors hold these rehearsals in the middle of the day, meaning having to figure out the logistics of getting her to where she needs to be without missing meetings or deadlines. This year, it is so much easier but still a pain in the ass as she has one too many one-hour rehearsals during which it makes no sense to drive home only to turn around and drive right back. Plus, for the next two weeks, she still has summer classes, so I have to take her back to the studio in the evenings for more dance. Thankfully, she will be obtaining her driver’s license at the end of the month, so this is the last time I will have to do this.

Lately, I feel as if life is on pause. We are waiting for so much. Waiting to hear about fall sports and plans for the poms’ team. Waiting for the builders to finish our house. Waiting to pack up and move out. Waiting to find out whether Holly’s school will remain a hybrid attendance or become completely virtual. Waiting to see what will happen with the pandemic. Waiting to find out who Biden will choose as his VP. Waiting for November and the chance to make a very necessary change. Waiting for something, anything.

In many ways, I wish the states never opened up their economies again. While we continue to avoid eating in restaurants and minimize our contact with the outside world, it was almost easier when we had nowhere to go because everything remained closed. Now, we have just enough in the way of possibilities for us to recognize how limited we are. In my opinion, this exacerbates the frustration and wish for pre-pandemic access to places. In my heart, I know that even if COVID19 were to disappear completely tomorrow, we will never again feel 100 percent safe in crowds and that we will forever look at a sick person as a potential threat. But it is certainly nice to dream about attending fairs and concerts, sporting events, and even fireworks, and so I continue to wait.