Schooool's Out For Summer!!

For pretty much the entirety of my adult life, summer has not meant much more than hotter temperatures and the occasional long weekend off.  I honestly don't know what to do with myself now that I actually am OFF for the WHOLE summer!  It's almost an uneasy feeling, like maybe I'm supposed to be somewhere and forgot.  But then I remember my totally awesome job and chill out for a few minutes!  We have started off this summer with a BANG!: first Memorial Day, then the Read Reunion, followed by an extra day at the lake, just because!  Can I just say that I love that?!  Never before has it been an option to stay an extra day or have a spontaneous little mini-getaway just because!  I am loving that we have the freedom to do that this year!  We have lots of things planned for this summer: camping, fishing, canning, swimming, jelly-making, family mini-vacation, napping, dog house building, porch staining...just to name a few!  I can actually enjoy just hanging with my girls and painting toenails and fixing hair and watching movies over and over!  This morning I even did something that I haven't done since high school...I painted my fingernails.  (After about 2 minutes, I remembered why.  I am far too rough on my hands to have them try to look pretty.)  Just having the time to do a little something for myself (even though it didn't last long) is just a crazy, foreign concept to me!  Justin and I have already completed a couple of our little summer projects: a ceiling fan for the front porch and a clothesline.  It's so nice to be home when he's off to work on stuff together and drink our morning coffee and enjoy breakfast, to not have to mow the yard on Saturday mornings and take up half the weekend with yardwork, to be able to cook breakfast, lunch, and supper for my little family (when I'm feeling super ambitious, lol).  Teaching is hard work, no doubt.  I spent many hours this year both at school and at home working on lesson plans, planning activities, grading papers, etc. and these last few months especially felt like we were running wide open all the time.  It's nice to just ease into a slowdown and enjoy my days off with my family.   If you're in the neighborhood, drop on by!  You're likely to find us on the porch or in the pool and you're welcome to join us!