sorbet, sir.

I am radiating heat. I wanted sun-kissed cheeks and nose, and I sure got them. And a sun-slapped back and shoulders, too. I look like I'm blushing all the time. I don't hide my blushes well. It's no secret when what I'm feeling and thinking shows on my face. So for the next few days, no one will know otherwise. But, I digress.

Even though I'm self-employed, I still try to allow myself the indulgence of a three-day weekend. It'd be easy to work all weekend and continue making to-do lists. But I didn't do that this weekend. I turned off my work e-mail, put away my phone, stepped away from the computer for hours at a time, and experienced the love of a long American weekend.

I spent quite a bit of time in the backyard on a blanket, reading a book while Madeleine played and exhausted herself (much to my delight). We saw family, ate good food, rested, relaxed, swam, tanned, and honestly, literally, counted our blessings outloud in the kitchen.

Summer was in the air, on the porch, in the dripping watermelon and on the slow breeze that creeped across the empty cornfields. Gratitude is a rich dessert to taste in the middle of it all. 

Hot dogs, hamburgers and barbecued chicken. I am completely smitten with summer and all its beauty. I'm thanking God for giving us summer. It's like the great palette cleanser after a long winter. Sorbet sweeping across my parched tongue, flavored, sweet, gentle. 

New.

Full of all the best.

love.