I hope I don't jinx it because technically the quarter isn't through yet.. but I honestly believed this quarter would kill us.
I can't pinpoint any specific reason, other than that graduate school on a family is just plain old hard.
Emotions have been running high for everyone, that is of course, except for Via. I don't know how someone so tiny can keep an entire family afloat.. but somehow she just does. She is sweet and chunky and always ready to throw her adorable crooked grin at all of us; and no matter how irritable or grumpy we may have been, she melts us and immediately lifts our moods.
I honestly panicked and was worried that we had horrible timing with her. Bringing her into the world while Jaron starting chiropractic school seemed like it was a HUGE mistake... but it wasn't. God's timing was actually perfect and I'm glad I followed the prompting because I honestly don't know how we would be doing this without our little Via Bean.
We now officially feel the summer. Yesterday we thought it was hot but oh no.... no no.... today blew it out of the water. It's HOT.
Google told me it was 92°... which makes me feel like a big chicken because I grew up braving the 100°+ weather.
BUT. We don't have AC, and I think that is the kicker right there.
Most places here in the bay area don't have any sort of central air, and that's because most of the time they don't get much heat.. but on the rare occasions that heat does come around... YIKES.
We all dragged our feet getting ready for church this morning. Jaron and I were tired because Via didn't sleep until 1am. That's completely out of the ordinary for her, and in the moment I was so frazzled and couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. I just wanted to cry too! But this morning I realized- she was too hot to sleep!
We knew the temperature was just going to keep climbing, and sure enough when we got home our apartment felt like a million degrees. But thankfully church helped our attitudes not be so sour about it.
Our big bedroom window faces west, and although I absolutely love the natural light it gives, when the sun beats down in the afternoon our bedroom BAKES.
We only have two bedrooms. Grant and Grace share one, and Jaron, Via and I share ours. Poor Via couldn't take her usual naps because it was just too hot in our room. I tried putting some tinfoil up over the windows but surprisingly it didn't make a huge difference.
So there we all were... sweating our brains out, trying to hide from the heat in our dark apartment while we watched a movie.
We had all the shades and curtains closed and all of our fans blasting... but it was sticky. and it was hot.
Finally, Jaron got up and turned the movie off. He walked to the door and said to the kids, "Okay! Come on guys! Take off your clothes!"
I smiled because I had a hunch as to where he was going with it, so I grabbed the kid's swimsuits and followed them outside.
We spent the afternoon playing with the hose. The kids swam in their "tubs" {aka just an empty plastic tote and an old water cooler}, Grace planted and watered a pretend garden, Via and I splashed in a little bowl of water, Jaron sprayed water to make rainbows and of course, lots and lots of water fights! I went inside with Via and we made a giant snow cone to share, which reminded me of Tiki Shack in Cedar City. When Jaron and I first got married we lived in Cedar City. There was a cute little tropically painted trailer in the parking lot of Lin's that sold the most amazing snow cones! We'd save our loose change and almost every day that summer we would get Tiki Shack! I loved telling the kids that story, because they are always so intrigued to hear about our life before they came along. I have no idea if Tiki Shack is still a thing.. but if it is... it's now on my Summer To Do List when we visit home next week!
It was such a fun afternoon. We felt so lighthearted and carefree for just a few hours. It felt so good to not feel stressed, overwhelmed or isolated for once.
While I sat there I realized something.
The fun we were having, the connection we all felt to each other, to laughter that rang into that hot summer day... it never would have happened if we had AC. If we had AC we would have just stayed inside enjoying the cool air.
I think that may be why people in less-fortunate countries are always described as being the happiest people, even though we feel like they go without "necessities". And as a general whole, Americans who have it all seem to be rather unhappy.. suffering from the mental health epidemic we are seeing now. In that moment, I didn't feel bad that we didn't have air conditioning. I felt bad for the people who DO.
Not having AC gave my family the time and space to really LIVE and enjoy each other's company.
It was a day I won't ever forget.
Love,
Carmina