This is the End...

It is with some sadness that I come to this day. It is grey and dreary outside, a bit of rain on a summer day, and chilly. In my mind it is fitting that today should look like this. It is the last day of summer vacation. Well, technically Sunday is, but I never count the weekends, they are free days anyhow.

It doesn't seem possible to me that summer can be over yet. I feel like it just started, and I haven't gotten to do all the things on my to-do list yet! The boy told me it's not a vacation if you work and he's so right, but sometimes you do what you have to even if you don't like it. Having said that, next summer I will be staying home. And I will go to the lake, and play in my gardens, and work on my house, and go hiking and to the ocean and have fun. I'm looking forward to it already.


That's not saying I didn't have fun this summer. We went camping several times, and enjoyed cookout's with friends. I spent some quality time with my girlfriends hanging out on the porch laughing and perhaps maybe enjoying a few cold ones. The kids went to Summer Rec for a good part of the summer and enjoyed swimming at my friend's pool. They had sleepovers and friend's over and learned how to read a map and do orienteering. We went blueberry picking and to the county fair. My steel drum group performed at a bunch of events and we were able to overhaul our porch. Overall I'd say it was a good summer. It was just too short.

The school year brings a lot of changes to our family this year. It is the first year that my daughter will be considered an "intermediate" grade student. She'll get to eat lunch/ recess with the "big kids", and have a new P.E. teacher. She can choose to work at the school store or on the school paper and all those things that being an older student entails. It's the last year that my son will spend at the elementary school. He has a big huge Biome project this year, and a week at environmental camp to look forward. The boy has a new job as the Systems Administrator for our school district (HOORAY, and he starts Monday and couldn't be more thrilled). His office is over at the Jr/Sr High School but sometimes he will visit the elementary schools and we're very happy and excited for him. Except Mr. Man is a little bit peeved. He had mom at elementary school, and now dad over at Jr/Sr. high school.. and it doesn't sit well with him. (or so he says). And this year is the year that I take sabbatical from Special Ed and the resource room to work one on one with an Autistic boy who will be in the 6th grade (diff. classroom than my son). 6th grade is a hard year for children with autism as they are going through puberty/hormonal changes the same as their classmates, but because of all their sensory/OCD/other issues it's about 100 times harder on them. This is going to be an exhausting and challenging year for me at school and I'm hoping I can balance it with a low-key and quiet home front. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.