Week one.

That's how I'm going to document this summer: week by week. And today marks one week since I packed up my life and brought it back home.

But oh! What a spiffy week it has been! This is almost entirely because I spent five days at the beach with my best friends, and people, all the stress of the last few weeks of school, the stuff that gives you knots (literally, knots) and makes you nauseous and offers sleep deprivation equal to that of bringing home triplets- it just washed away in the ocean. I slept like I hadn't slept in weeks (because I sort of hadn't), and ate tomatoes all the time, and stood in the ocean and frolicked in the waves. And when I've been home, I've been helping with the dishes and the laundry and the kid-wrangling, and that goes a long way in the eyes of your mother, or so it seems. We've been eating my favorite homemade meals and making brownies and having nice conversation. Week one? A success.

And then just like that, it was over. We'd been clinging to the idea that we didn't have to say goodbye yet because we had five days at the beach together, but then, just like that, it was over. We hugged goodbye with intention, but, try as we might, we didn't fully appreciate those last hugs because we've been with each other for the last year; the idea that we won't be for the next three months is still foreign and strange and impossibly difficult to wrap our minds around. And so, we sort of did our best and headed away in different directions and hoped that memories and text messages and phone calls would be enough to link us in the next months and bring us back; we looked at each other and tried our best to will our hearts to remain the same.

Please don't change, our eyes pleaded.

Maybe there are miles and different families and summer plans between us, but just promise me that when you see me in August, you'll love me as much as you do right now.

And might I point out that although Gracie was in CHINA, she was also with us. We thought of her, we prayed for her, we wished for her, we missed her. So, here's this:

I'm excited for summer; I'm excited for ice cream sandwiches and I'm excited about spending time with all this family that has been put on the bac burner and I'm excited for a great tan and stress-free(er) days. But man, Internet, I am so excited to live with these beautiful girls.

Here's to week two.