So long, summer!

We always say "summer went too fast!" And I can't argue with that. I love summer. I love the heat and sunshine. I want it to go slowly so I can enjoy it. But once again, it seems like it's over before it started and I wonder where the time flew and what I did with it.

Technically, summer is still here until Sept. 23. For most of us, though, Labor Day weekend signals the end of the season. We adults get a long weekend and the kids know summer vacation is officially over!

Here are some sure signs summer is over:

Goodbye summer sun: Woke up this morning and it was 46 degrees! I kid you not. Only in Wisconsin are we sweating our keesters off one day and want to crank the heat the next. Carter comes out of his room wearing long sleeves and long pants. I had to convince him to take along a t-shirt and shorts to Kidz Camp because it's not going to stay in the 40s all day. (At least I hope not!)

Goodbye Iola friends: Speaking of Kidz Camp, today is Carter's last day since Jim and I have tomorrow (Friday) off. He's going to miss his Iola friends and can't wait to get back there next summer. I'll miss having Carter close by -- and along for our commute. I'm guessing he learned a few adult things this summer he really didn't need to while listening to Bob and Tom in the morning and Mom and Dad (and their work "discussions") at night!

Hello new friends: There was an open house at Grant Elementary yesterday. Carter got to meet his new 4th-grade teacher and was excited to see some of his friends are in his class this year. Carter's age group is so big that they have always been divided into 3 classes of 20+ kids. As a result, his closest buddies one year aren't always in his class the next. This year's class includes a good friend from Sunday School and a girl (who I won't name) who has kissed him twice before (that's the first thing he said yesterday when we got home!). Should be an interesting year!

Hello football: You know it's the end of summer when our favorite baseball teams (Twins and Reds) are out of the playoff chase and the Vikings have their season opener in 10 days! Between now and then comes the crucial Fantasy Football draft where the Sand Wedgies (managed mainly by GM Jim but supported by VP Robyn) hope to take back the championship in the Rumblin' Rapids Football Federation! Gotta love football!

Hello soccer (the other football): Carter starts soccer practice tonight and will be playing most Saturdays in September and October -- if you're looking for something to do! He's quite the kicker!! Of course, we just like to have him stay active and not turn into a GameBoy-playing TV-watching couch potato. When we mentioned that this morning, he said, "Well it's not like I'm going to turn fat that fast. It will just happen gradually!"

Ahh, summer. I will miss you. But it looks like there will be some fall fun to be had -- whether we're ready for it or not!

B.F.F.

Remember in grade school when we'd pass notes to our girlfriends and sign them BFF (best friends forever) -- and we really meant it? We really thought we'd forever be calling each other daily and stay totally involved in every aspect of each other's lives -- from boyfriends to bad bosses to bad hair days. It just doesn't work out that way.

For those of us approaching 40 or are already at the top of that hill (or over it), it seems to be nature's requirement that we take time to reflect on life. Where are we? How did we get here? And where are all those people who took part in segments of that journey?

For me, I've had some really close friends (I'd call many my BFFs) during each road trip on that journey. My friend Julie has been my BFF forever -- well fifth grade seems like forever ago. What is special about Julie is that she knows everything about me from the get-go (and still wants to be my friend!). Plus, we survived high school together -- that says a lot, trust me!! Our lives have intersected in interesting ways over the years and we still keep in touch (probably every other week -- thanks to email)!

When I think back on every stage of my life since then, I fondly recall special moments with wonderful friends.

In college, there were Sue and Maggie (roommates); Carolyn and April (who I first got to know through the school newspaper and yearbook); and there was the Rodent Club with Jules and Carrie. I don't know if I will ever put that story out on the Internet for the world to know about, but we had fun living life as RAs (resident assistants) in Angell Hall.

At Bible camp, our whole staff was a family. At the newspapers, there was Cindy, Sally, Kristin, Laura, Kathy, Toni, Deb and Melissa. At my current job, there's Jana, Katy, Karen, Sandy, Tamara and many more. In my neighborhood, I have Cindy and Niki. In scrapbooking land, I have Becky and Molly.

Then I have my six sisters, too, a circle that has been broken at times in my journey but seems to be woven tightly now, and getting stronger.

So many circles. So many friends.

One of the coolest things that has happened to me this year is that I have reconnected with three people from my earlier "circles." Camp counselor Julie and "Rodents" Jules and Carrie. It's been 15-20 years since I've seen these "girls" and I still love them!

It just brightens my day to get a little note from one of them. And it really brightens my day to hear they are reading my blog!

Jules even says I add positively to her mental health. Leave it to me to put the FUN in dysFUNction! That's been my role on every leg of the journey, right girlfriends?! Love ya, BFFs!

Busy bees :: Epilogue

My hubby pointed out I was remiss in my duties to add the one LIGHT component to the "bee attack" story.

When we heard the screaming and we were running through our yard and the neighbor's yard, my eyes were on Carter -- nothing else. I didn't know until I got to him that I had charged barefoot right through a pile of dog poop!

When we got Carter's clothes off and he was running to the house, Jim looked at me like he was wondering why I was standing there and not running after Carter. "Sorry! I have flippin' dog poop on my foot!" (Only I didn't say "flippin'" or "poop.")

I guess I don't handle stress very well. Sorry for yelling at you, honey. I was angry at those stinkin' bees, not you. Oh wait, I was the one who was stinkin'...

War stories

There's something about adversity that brings people closer together. A certain experience can bond them like no other, whether it's positive, like winning a championship, or negative, as hugely catastrophic as a war or a minor trauma like Saturday's "sting operation."

Sunday, the "day after," was the day we found out more details while listening to the kids compare battle wounds and share war stories -- like one might imagine a group of veterans doing.

Madison, the neighbor girl who is Carter's age, stopped over in the late morning. Between the two of them, I learned they'd all been walking in the dry creek bed -- where they haven't gone before and won't go again -- when one of them must have stepped on the underground bee's nest. Then all hell broke loose. Well they didn't use those words, but that's what happened. And to hear them tell it, I can see it really was traumatic for them.

I took both Madison and Carter with me when I ran to Plover to get some scrapbooking supplies. Afterwords, we stopped for lunch and sat out on the patio. The two of them freaked when there was one hornet interested in our lunches. Carter was jerking out of the way for anything that flew -- whether it was a fly or a leaf floating by. I tried to keep him calm. Madison, meanwhile, says, "Well I'm probably used to getting stung now so it won't hurt as much."

I'm confident that with time they'll all be OK and their brave faces will return. For now, they have an unbelievable tale to tell, survivor stories to share -- and they are counting down to winter when there are no bugs outside!

Busy bees

We had one of those scary parenting moments tonight that gives me goose bumps when I think about it.

Carter was playing next door with the neighbor kids. Jim and I were flipping through the channel guide trying to figure out if there was anything worth watching. That's when we heard the screaming.

Now it's not unusual to hear screaming in a neighborhood full of girls. Carter and Sam (the only other boy in the subdivision) get a kick out of chasing the girls around and making them scream.

Jim recognized right away that this was a different kind of scream. He muted the TV, stood by the window and that's when we realized the boys were screaming, too. We instinctively booked it out of the house as fast as we could, through the trees to the neighbor's yard where the kids were covered in bees!

All the parents must have heard at the same time. We all converged on the kids, tearing their clothes off and sending them running for their houses. I followed Carter into the house and got him into a cold shower and he just couldn't stop screaming and crying. I've never felt so helpless!

Meanwhile, Jim -- who is deathly allergic to bees -- is still out by the road, killing all the bees off Carter's clothes and shoes. Thank God he didn't get stung, too. And thankfully, Carter didn't show signs of an allergic reaction.

Jim called the ER for some treatment advice while I took out 5 stingers. All totaled, Carter had 10 stings. He was actually lucky. I think he had the least of the kids and the neighbor girls' dad, who estimates he got 60-70 stings while trying to help his girls. What a nightmare! In my head, I can still just hear these kids screaming in pain.

Carter already stated he is not going outside tomorrow either. I can't blame him after the trauma, but I pointed out that both Mommy and Daddy are allergic and we still go outside in the summer. Though I'm a little leery, too.

As the ER nurse warned us, Carter's stings are starting to itch now. He knows not to touch them. "I'm gonna tough it out, Mom," but it could be a long night. I don't know if I'll be that tough. I might have to sleep with him!

Be careful out there! And don't forget to hug your honeys today!

Who wants to be a millionaire?

What would you do with a million dollars? What about 300 million? It's hard not to think about with Powerball fever at a high pitch these days.

Jim and I play a certain set of numbers each week. Some of these are "our" numbers and some came to Jim in a dream once so we don't want to change them and we don't want to miss a drawing ... just in case.

Occasionally we do win $4 here or $7 there. We get miffed when the jackpot gets high like it is now and everyone comes out of the woodwork to play. We're the ones playing it every week. Don't go around pushing up the impossible odds for winning. That's not fair to us dedicated buyers!

My sister Rayna is convinced she is going to win the lottery someday. And I don't mean just wishful thinking. She just has this knowing feeling in her heart that it is going to happen some day. Yesterday was her birthday so I thought, wouldn't it be great to win the Powerball on her birthday so she'd never have to work again?! I bought an extra 10 bucks in quick picks last night while getting milk ... just in case. Sorry, Rayna. I checked the numbers this morning and we didn't win.

When I think about winning a million dollars or 2 or 3, that is one of the things that immediately comes to mind: helping out my loved ones, doing what we can to ease -- or eliminate -- their financial burdens. Naturally, Jim would get his Jeep and I'd get my hot yellow SUV of choice, but that would only be a small part of it. We would love to be able to tell my parents that they can live out their days wherever they want and not have to worry about the heat bill. We'd love to tell my sister she doesn't need to hold down two jobs. It would be a kick to sponsor Jim's nephew's race car, too!

It's fun to dream but it's true when they say money can't buy happiness. It can buy a few material things to delight you, that's for sure, but what really makes you happy? Jim and I were talking about that this morning. We already are happy. We have a good marriage, three wonderful -- and healthy -- boys, loving parents and siblings, our own home and we're gainfully employed. What more could we ask for?!

I'm still going to play those numbers, though ... just in case.

Where the wild things are

The position of being the baby of the family comes with its perks. Despite my tales of hardship and woe, my older siblings claim I had a spoiled childhood ... or at least had many privileges they did not.

Carter happens to be the youngest grandchild (he doesn't like it when I say he's the "baby"). This means that while most of his cousins are grown men and women who may or may not have gotten into trouble now and then, Carter can still charm his way into the hearts (and homes) of his aunts and uncles. This includes, but is not limited to, extended stays or what we call vacation.

Last summer, he had such a great time during his "Up North Vacation," getting passed around from sister to sister while acquainting himself with Jack Pine Savages, he decided to do it again. Mission control was once again at my sister Romey's house in rural Grantsburg, Wisconsin.

Somehow, throughout the course of his stay earlier this month, he managed to do something special with my parents and each of my siblings (except Rayna in Texas of course -- but he spent Spring Break there on his "Down South Vacation.") He went to the fair with Grandma and Grandpa, played at the park with Auntie Nell and cousin Anthony, had lunch at the wildlife park with Aunt Rachel (see photo above), went to the fair (again!) and four-wheeling with Auntie Ro and Uncle Ken, stayed at Auntie Lene's and went mini-golfing with her and cousin Ashley, then capped off the week at the Vikings scrimmage with Uncle Ron and cousin David. Somewhere in between all that, while staying at Romey's, he spent quality time with a bear in their yard, went fishing and lazed around in their pool.

With all that excitement, a kid would be hard pressed to pick his favorite highlight of the week. But he really just can't stop talking about that baby black bear that visited Romey and Rick's a time or two that week -- and even took a nap while they were in the pool. Romey took a picture to prove that Carter was "sort of close" to one. He assured me he was safe. "Mom, they're harmless!"

Really? Harmless? I don't think he knows too much about the wild things north of Highway 8. He does know about being spoiled. And I know about a pretty special family who takes the time to make some great memories for my "baby." Thanks, everyone!