And just like that, it’s the last day of summer.  As always, with the end of one thing comes the beginning of another, and so these days we find ourselves with brand new school supplies, looking forward to new teachers, new classes, new schedules.  We have an exciting fall ahead with very conflicting calendars and are thankful for friends who have already offered to help raise Huck.  But enough about that!  Let’s look at the waning days of June, July and August, back when Troy worked a little too hard, some favorite friends left Fayetteville, some favorite friends moved to Fayetteville, our car got a face lift, I grew sunflowers, Sunny ate my sunflowers, the sun shone bright by day, the katydids sang loud by night, and the pool always brought smiles to our happy faces …

We three had our one and only lil’ summer vacation when we joined T4 (Jeni, Nathan, Noah and Lily) in Kansas City for a quick weekend of fun that included a swanky hotel, a lovely swimming pool, a brief visit with the parents in nearby town Topeka, an evening at Crown Center & Union Station, a morning at the Nelson art museum, and most importantly, hotel room hijinks with cousins.  We daydream of a longer vacation one of these days, but for now good old KC with those four will do just fine.

The other night I awoke to Troy leaning over me and gently grabbing my face in a very specific and terrifying way.  It turns out he thought I was cloth that he needed to tell one of his stories at work. The next morning I headed over to the Montessori School to drop off Troy’s guitar that didn’t make it with him on the 6:30AM bike ride. I walked into his classroom for the first time ever and was introduced to his students who gazed at me lovingly.  One asked for my autograph, which meant signing “Troy’s Wife” on a piece of white paper that she carried around the rest of the day (and apparently displayed it in her art showing yesterday).  Another child said, “I can’t believe there’s a real live wife in here.”  I used to say it in New York and now I’ll say it in Fayetteville: It’s not always easy being married to a celebrity.  As I type these words Mr. Troy is on his way to the Farmer’s Market with his green guitar Pesto to sing some ditties to his miniature fans.  Huck and I opted to stay home away from all the fame and organic vegetables.

Last Saturday we had a big day celebrating a birthday and beginning to say goodbye to three of our favorite Fayettevillians who are about to move away.  Later today we have a cookout with some more favorites.  More often than not these days I find myself with a bunch of new friends and realize that somewhere along the way over these past 12 months they’ve morphed into feeling like old friends. It’s the magic of time and good people, I guess.  A few days ago I sat down to pre-re-enroll Huck for fourth grade on the computer.  Around page 85 it came time to list our emergency contacts, and before I knew it I was writing down our dear New York friends Russell’s and Cheryl’s names and phone numbers.  Why would I do that?  Because they’re moving to Fayetteville next month!  We are about to have two of our dearest and oldest friends live in our town, and there aren’t too many words I can find to express our happiness except these: They are Huck’s emergency contacts!

Lastly, the boy and I spent last week with my sweet parents while Troy stayed behind and worked.  Grandma and Grandpa spoiled us with lots of love and fun including the water park in 105 degree weather and watermelon and canasta and coffee outings and antique shopping and library visiting and sculpture making and school clothes shopping. Little did we know while waking up on our last Kansas morning Troy’s bike brakes stopped working as he flew down the extremely steep Rockwood Trail on his way to work, causing him to throw himself and his bike hard onto the grass.  Huck and I made our six hour drive home safe and sound, only to be side-swiped the next day on a narrow little street by a very nice person who took full responsibility and whose insurance company is slowly assessing the situation.  I am a mostly happy person by nature with a deep sense of anxiety and fear, and having two near accidents happen to me and my family in two days makes me feel like the universe just may be out to get us.  Thankfully we ended the day with a moonlight swim and the hope of a better tomorrow.

So far so good.

July 9, 2014:  Huck, age nine years, four months and two days.

He’s having a great time at art camp while I have a great time at Shakespeare camp in the same building. Due to our close proximity, I seek him out everyday during our lunch breaks that overlap 15 minutes.  I happily hike down a grassy hill with my JONNY name tag around my neck swinging in the breeze and a smile on my face. There he is sitting under a shady tree with his HUCK SCHREMMER name tag stuck to his shirt.  There’s laughter and joking and game playing with several girls he will quote all evening long.  As I approach, one of them says, “Is that your mom?” in a kind of low tone. He barely glances at me and then answers “yeah” in a similar lowish tone.   They continue their game.  I awkwardly say, “Hi, guys!” trying not to sound too lonely.  I think he says hi but maybe he doesn’t.  After the world’s longest minute I nonchalantly shout, “Well, bye!” and slowly stumble back up the hill in my flip-flops to join the teenagers who like me.

Later I broach the subject, checking to see if maybe he’d rather me not come say hi at lunch.  He says maybe not while he’s in the middle of a game.  I also mention that one of the teachers said that parents can pop into the studio at any time and see what the kids are creating.  He tells me I can do that as long as no one sees me.

Oh, but when I pick him up come 3:00 it’s a different story.  There’s eye contact, conversation, hand holding, and he is seemingly fine with my visibility.  Still, I worry that at any moment he will cancel my mushy lunch box love notes.

The times, they are a’slowly changing.

Thanks to Kahn Academy and Uncle Nathan who first introduced the topic, Huck has become a passionate computer programmer. Out of the blue the other day he began asking questions about college. Because he’s also a passionate Razorback fan, he assumes he’ll go to the University of Arkansas to become a computer programmer, but he’s also got his eyes on MIT.  I gave him what information I had about such matters, and then he very sincerely asked the sweetest question he could possibly invent: “Will you and Daddy move to Boston if I go to MIT?”

In other news, he’s also become a passionate swimmer thanks to some fantastic summer classes at the Mount Sequoyah pool, and if not for a packed July of art & science camps for him, Shakespeare camp for me and a visit to the grandparents in Kansas for us both, he would have joined the neighborhood swim team.  He practices all four strokes diligently whenever we go to the pool, which is constantly, and as with so many things, his self esteem regarding swimming is outrageous.

Last of all, today is one of Huck’s #1 passions, thanks to Uncle Scott introducing driveway fireworks a few years ago.  Since we were brand new to the neighborhood this time last year, we opted not to make loud noises in front of our house and sadly missed fireworks altogether.  This year everything’s different.  Last night we joined good friends at a delightful Naturals baseball game followed by a Fireworks Spectacular!, and today we’ve promised Huck a trip to one of the many tents all over town to buy some explosives and have a family celebration on the driveway before going to a 4th of July party at a friend’s house that includes “a pyrotechnic extravaganza.”  As we got ready for bed late last night, Huck said he felt like tomorrow was his birthday or Christmas, and he double-checked the itinerary to make sure it included not only fireworks galore but also the swimming pool and some computer programming time.  Yes, yes, I said.  Now go to bed.

To quote Uncle Steve, it’s good to be Huck.

(Celebrating Sunny’s 2nd birthday yesterday!)

Somewhere along the way July first became a very special day for the three of us.  First off, it’s Nana’s birthday! Secondly, it’s the day Troy started his job at the Fort Washington Church followed by finding out I was pregnant ten years ago!  And finally, it’s the day we officially moved to Fayetteville last year!  Huck and I are celebrating by beginning my private lessons on computer programming, something that one of us is going to enjoy more than the other.  Fingers crossed for some late night backyard time with the hubs and the fireflies later when our talkative little coder is fast asleep dreaming of zeros and ones.

Here are some pictures from last weekend’s quick trip to Kansas to celebrate Troy’s cousin Terri’s wedding which included the world’s best teeter-totter and an Elvis impersonator who officiated.  We also managed to sneak in a little time outside between rainstorms, a visit to Grandma Twyford, and an early birthday lunch for the original July first celebrator, Troy’s mom.  One of my favorite moments happened on our last morning when Huck sat across the breakfast table from his four year old cousin Jackson who announced, “That guy right there is with me.  He’s my buddy.”  Four year old cousin Rylee sitting next to him smiled in agreement.

Happy First of July, Everything!

Our neighborhood is extremely hilly which makes bike riding very challenging for Huck and me, but our town is extremely bike-friendly with its lovely and expansive trail system.  So we got ourselves a handy-dandy bike rack for our car and just like that we are back to being a bike-riding family like back in the days along the Hudson River in upper Manhattan.  Huck learned to ride a bike on that crowded path when he was a tiny four year old, and I used to pray obsessively that he wouldn’t get squished while riding alongside the rest of New York City.  If you can learn to ride a bike there, you can ride a bike anywhere.  So ride anywhere we shall!

Now Huck can really wear his “I Bike Fayetteville” t-shirt.

New Bike!

One of the most wonderful things about living in Fayetteville is that two of our all-time favorite friends, John the playwright and Shana the director, often come from Brooklyn to work at TheatreSquared.  Since we arrived 11 months ago, they’ve been here 3 times, which isn’t as good as 11 times but it’s pretty close.  This time around they’re working on John’s latest play with Shana directing, Troy acting and me doing everyone’s laundry.  We all had a day off Saturday, and so after Huck’s skating rink party we headed up to Eureka Springs for some beauty and fun at Beaver Lake, a delightful dinner at a local joint where Huck nearly read an entire novel, followed by Troy’s dream-come-true overpriced family Western photo, compliments of our New Yorkers.  I think our sweet friendship can best be summed up by us Schremmers dressed as cowboys holding rifles trying not to smile for a cranky photographer while those two stood off to the side reacting as if watching the world’s best comedy.

Eureka!  John and Shana should move to Fayetteville.