Love Where You Live: Weekend at Home

This is my second post in the Love Where You Live link up series, hosted by Design Mom. You can see my first post explaining where I live, here.
 

This was a wonderful weekend.  My husband might not agree, as he was taken down by the same head cold that I had the previous weekend. It's a sneaky little germ...you never feel all that awful, but you sure don't feel very swell, either. 

But sniffles and sore throat aside, I loved this weekend.  We didn't do all that much, but what we did felt just right.  Two soccer games on Saturday morning/afternoon, and both games were tied, which was just fine, too. No winners, no losers, just two hard fought games.

During Lily's soccer game, my cell rang: it was the mom of one of her two best friends, and they were trying to track Lily down to invite her to our neighborhood pool later in the day.  It was a hot day, over 90 degrees, and despite some initial grumbling and crankiness on my part while I did a quick mental inventory of our pool/sun supplies and ramped up my brain to get organized, it was a great afternoon.

The pool is in walking distance of our house (it's one of the amenities of our monthly HOA fees), and it seemed like half of the kids from school were already there, screaming and splashing around.  It felt like the unofficial Opening Day of Summer Fun. I'm glad we didn't miss it. 

Confession: this photo is from a previous summer. I wasn't organized enough to bring my camera.

I know this all sounds terribly pedestrian and suburban and even a little boring.  But the fact that I was happy to be home, not feeling restless and anxious to escape, sure feels notable to me.  Watching my son's excitement to play with his new friend at our park, walking to check on him and seeing him riding his bike with a small posse of other seven-year-old boys, made me understand, in a deep and fundamental way, that this is where I'm supposed to be right now:

This tract house, that may need a fresh coat of paint and some serious landscape help, but is within easy walking distance of the pool, the school, and next to a park.  This neighborhood, that can feel suffocatingly close and insular at times, but is full of other families who care about their kids, the school, and each other.  And this town, Temecula, which may not be where I dreamed of landing, but on this weekend of Saturday heat and Sunday breezes, felt and looked awfully idyllic.

On this Sunday, at least, I was at peace with being home, and with my own small backyard.  I was at peace with being here, this specific spot on the planet. I could say that I loved where I live.

Tomorrow, Wednesday I'll be back to my usual restless and roaming self, and will have a report on our quickie Spring Break escape up to San Francisco & Sacramento.