My Brain is Afflicted with Summer-time ADD

I really, really like summer. And it has very little to do with the fact that I have a summer birthday. Matter of fact, I really don't like birthdays. Not because this past Saturday I entered into my 40th year of life--that doesn't bother me. I am not sure what "almost 40" is supposed to feel like, but I feel great. With the exception of a few melancholy moments when I realize that Katelyn will be a junior next year and Carson will be a freshman. The years just seem to be going faster and faster. No, the reason I don't particularly enjoy birthdays is that I always have some romantic notion of how my birthday should be all about me, with family and friends entertaining me, and it never works out that way. Then I wind up feeling guilty, ashamed, and immature to think that somehow my birthday should be exclusively about me. No, the reason I like summer is because it gives me time to allow my brain to flit from one random thought to another. And since I don't have to be organized and task-oriented in the summer, this randomness of thinking is refreshing. Strangely enough, I also find that this unstructured thinking leads often to moments of great inspiration. And sometimes funny converstations. Example: I have been trying to think of a way that I could determine which of Carson's friends he would most like to spend time with this summer. If you just flat out ask him, well you don't get much of a response. So I tried to go about it in a different route. I asked him if he were on a deserted island who would he want to be stranded there with. He said...."Probably a girl." At first I was caught off guard by his response. Then I laughed and told him that was a totally appropriate response for a 14 year old boy. Unfortunately, it didn't fulfill the my goal of determining which of his friends I should call to get them to call Carson to invite him to do something. Still working on that. Here are some other random thoughts for today:

• Little Roo got a compliment today from a random stranger. I thought it was very nice. Then I got thinking about how many times I have missed giving a compliment. Was it because I was too busy? Was it because I felt awkward or that it might not seem sincere?
• Then I thought my conversation with my friend Jessice R. at boot camp this morning. She is a terrific mom. She has 5 kids. I don't know how she does it. I should have told her I am impressed by all she does. So Jessica R. if you are reading this, I apologize for not passing on the compliment earlier. But I do think you are a good mom, raising wonderful childrent.
• Then I thought of my friend Jessica A. Another awesome mom who is just discovering the joys of raising a boy. She is also super talented when it comes to home decorating. Again, late on the complimenting, but please know Jessica A. that I think you rock.
• Final random thought for this morning was...how do you go about opening an ice cream store? I think the community of LL is definitely lacking in this area. I don't mean a franchise. I mean a store similar in feel to The Scoop on the South Hill. Where do you even begin. And if I can't do an ice cream store, how about a genuine BBQ pit?

See, summer-time ADD. I just have random thoughts that go round and round in my head. During the school year I completely ignore them because I don't have time to get off-track and distracted.