Ahhh…. summertime.  What     could possibly be bad about Summer?  No school, lots of free time, warm weather (which, in the Pacific Northwest, means something.)

Every summer I imagine taking trips with my daughter to places in the area we’ve never been to or rarely visit.  I have images of us bonding together at the zoo, or at a spray park or the beach.  Instead, for the second summer in a row, my dreams are bombarded by reality.

Last summer, we were first time homebuyers.  We had a horrible experience, the details of which I will not expand upon here.  Suffice it to say that we were working with real estate agents, bankers, contractors, and our own house with a two year old and no outside help.  Last summer we mostly worked.  I was happy when winter came and we could rest.

This summer, I bought Polina a bathing suit fully intending to go to a splash park.  We didn’t go last summer and I thought for sure we’ll go this summer.  We still have yet to put it on.

The tag is still on the suit.

Why, might you ask?

Because we’ve been working on the house.  The last couple days I have been digging and pulling out blackberry bushes.  They’re not really bushes.  They’re vines at this point.  Our house was vacant for four years (or so our neighbor tells us) so these massive vines have taken over our backyard fence and the leaves of one of our trees.

That’s right, the vines have grown as tall as the leaves our tree.  As I was digging them out and in the process scratching my arms, wrists, and especially my hands, I remembered Michelangelo’s quote about chipping away at the stone to get to David, except I was hacking away at the bush to get to my tree.

I was also thinking why I never found gloves designed for working with thorny plants.  I just figured I could make do with my rubber ones, the same ones I used to clean out the crawl space.  I was so wrong.  So wrong.  My hands are still stinging.

And it was hot today- in the 80s.  That’s friggin’ hot for out here.  I used to be able to stand 100 degree days when I lived in Washington DC in my teens.  I’m not into hot weather anymore.  I don’t find the weather “glorious,” as one local radio announcer likes to say.

I was hot and sweaty and my arms were stinging.  Periodically Polina informed me she had to go to the bathroom, or she was hungry, or she wanted to play ball or a game with me.  Yes, I was killing a plant and raising a human.

And in the evening, when you just want to sit in your yard and savor your hard work, the mosquitos come out and buzz in your ears.  Last night I had one land on my hand about to insert her little proboscis.

I don’t like the flies that come out in the summer.  Even when I close the screen door, they still manage to come in.  There was a house fly buzzing right now that landed on my computer screen.  Twice.

The past couple weeks my husband has been working on Polina’s room replacing insulation and sheet rock.  This weekend, he was mudding.  When he wasn’t working I was in the crawl space removing the vapor barrier (which also needs replacing.)  And then there’s the issue of painting the exterior.  We still have primer on parts of our house.  But with just the two of us, we’re prioritizing and insulation is more important than looks come winter.

I thought being a homeowner would be romantic.  Instead, it’s downright dirty.  Literally.  We discovered last week that our septic pump wasn’t connected.  Every piece of this house is needing repair.

So, what spray park?  I still have another day ahead of me, possibly more, pulling out blackberries.  If there was an invasion of a plant species this would be it.  Sure they charm you with their blackberries.  Then they kill you with their thorns.

What I did enjoy about today is that I was able to take a break from pulling blackberries to spend quality time with my daughter doing puzzles and playing games.  Last year, I didn’t know how to take a break from work.

This summer, I’m doing a lot better accommodating her needs.

Maybe we will make it to the spray park after all.