Do you ever have that moment when you feel a little behind the season?  You know, when you are eating Halloween candy at Easter or finally getting the Christmas crafts gifts done in May? Apparently, I am that way about Summer.  Worse yet, I did not know this until just recently!  I was showing homes. My client and I were standing on the deck when she looked at the neighbor’s deck next door. It was empty. No chairs. No grill. My client asked if that home would be coming on the market too, as “obviously no one is living there.”  I didn’t think much of it at the time – until I got home and noticed how my deck looked: empty with just a table and a grill and begging to be welcomed into the season of Summer fun. How did this happen? I love Summer. We love to grill, hang out on the deck, take in a warm (okay, not too warm) afternoon. What is equally amusing is that I always told myself that once we were not helping to run the Spirit of the Lakes Festival each year, I would have all this extra time. Not only would the deck be set up, but the flowers would be beautiful and the backyard setting would shine like a photo in a magazine. The table would be set up like a Crate & Barrel catalog. Believe me, we are in over 500 homes a year and have seen some really neat outdoor venues we would love to replicate.

Now before I get too far ahead of myself, I decided to look at the past month or so. It turns out we are not completely Summer scrooges. We have celebrated at graduation parties, a beautiful wedding, our friend’s birthday bash, a family reunion, a Twins game, house warming parties and a few other fun events. We have even had watermelon on more than one occasion! Okay, now I am just bragging J. But clearly we are enjoying summer time cheer! Add into the mix that this is a very busy time of year for us (we can easily show homes as late as 9:30 before it is dark!). And just like that we are smack in the middle of July!

I suppose the logical choice is to jump to Thanksgiving planning – just think how ready I would be for the big feast!  But what would be the fun in that?  Instead I am going to do a crash course in Summer. Just need to get a few things: Sunglasses, a pitcher of iced tea, gas for the grill, lounge chairs and new dishes with a splash of color. Speaking of splashing, all of this would be way more fun pool side!  If I started digging now I could have a pool installed by….hmm. Maybe I will just buy a baby pool. They likely are on sale now to make room for Christmas trees J.    Happy Summer Everyone!