BSM: Reflections at Sunrise

Tracy at Mother May I is reflecting on things for Best Shot Monday this week, so I took cues from her and composed my own list of current reflections.

Just returned from my last hurrah of the summer, as I start back to work / school this week on Thursday (yikes!!), so most of my pondering happened in the face of this glorious place- the crashing waves, the sucking wet sand, the delirious laughter of children playing in the nearby pool...what a place to reflect! This is Daytona Beach, Florida...my best shot above is at sunrise on our last morning after spending a week there.

While there, I reflected upon the following:

* going back to work this week- trying to gear myself up for a less stressful year...hoping and praying that all will go well with new administration and new students...I took deep breaths while trying to soak in this sea thinking that would rid me of all of my worries...

* my parents- growing older and more fragile- my father celebrated his 70th birthday while we were at the beach...70 years old. That sounds so old...they are such active and busy people that they do not act like that age, so it is easy for me to forget...I already ache for the day that I will have let go of them...*sigh*I can not even think that thought all the way through...but I have just in the last few years really realized the years in them...the photo below is my father with his two grandgirls- my daughter (the oldest grand child) on the right and MEB, my brother's daughter (the youngest grand child) on the left.

* how fast children grow up- the daughter just turned 19 this summer, and we were all talking about how she would be 20 years old this time next summer...(*oh, my heart*) During this conversation, all of a sudden the daughter realized that MEB will soon be 6 (in November), will start kindergarten in a week or so, and will be almost 7 this time next summer...(boy was that shocking for her!) I told her that is what it has been like for me to watch her grow so very fast before my eyes...that is one little girl that the daughter simply adores...it is so nice for the cousins to be so close; when the daughter is around, MEB will not have much to do with the rest of us...it is really quite touching, and I hope MEB will still love the daughter that much even when she gets older and older...The photos below are from MEB's first slumber party! My brother, sister-in-law, and their kids were in Daytona with us (we stayed in different sides of the resort), and MEB got it into her head that she was going to spend the night with us...so the daughter planned a slumber party with dinner, games, painting nails, make-up, pop-corn, late night television (Disney Channel), and much much snuggling...it was so sweet!

MEB is wearing my shoes in the first shot...a sure sign of growing up- wearing heels! Nana (my mother) was our nail tech for the evening in the next shots...she was so gracious in applying polish to everyone's fingernails and toenails...with such skill and no complaints! And of course, MEB wanted to sleep in the daughter's bed...

* lastly, I reflected upon the future- right now there are many uncertainties for us- financial difficulties, the daughter's college / job (or lack there of), where life will take us throughout the next several months...I continued to take deep breaths and realized that God is in control of it all, and I need to trust in Him...I took this last photo as a sign that all will be well! (not sure if you can see the rainbow, but it is there...His promise.)

Check out other stories and photos of reflections for this week here. Hope you have a great week!

Summer Sky

..."Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom. July is dressed up and playing her tune.

And I come home from a hard day's work, and you're waiting there, not a care in the world.

See the smile a waitin' in the kitchen, food cookin' and the plates for two.

See the arms that reach out and hold me, in the evening when the day is through.

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind..."

Seals and Croft, 1972.

Exactly two weeks...and my summer will end.

*sigh*

I know I have lamented about the boredom I felt for a few days, but sheesh...the thought of going back to work still hurts...new students, new administration, proving myself all over again...in just two more weeks.

I am leaving Saturday for my last hurrah- a second beach trip with the daughter and my parents. The person I feel sorrier for is the husband...he can not get off work to go with us. Like so many others, he does not get a summer break. So, I should suck it up and not complain about it being over. It will be good to get into a busy routine again.

Until then...

"summer breeze, makes me feel fine...blowin' through the jasmine in my mind...".

Two for Tuesday

One:
Ok, so I missed BSM...how did that happen? I am on summer break, and while this is the most luxuriously lazy time of my life, I sort of lose all track of days...I am fully aware that it is 2008, but I can't easily recall what day of what month it is...I did realize that it is July (mostly thanks to the 4th of July celebrations), but I completely missed Monday. Yesterday was kind of a blur to me...so here is what I would have posted on Monday!

BLUEBERRIES...it was blueberry picking time on Friday morning. My friend, Natalie, invited us to tag along with her and several of her friends to a nearby blueberry field. So many little ones and their moms...the daughter and I enjoyed the frenzy of it all...lost buckets, toddlers picking up blueberries off of the ground, and eating handfuls rather than putting them in the bucket...I laughed so much....We had such a nice time.

This is a bad picture of the husband's dessert last night...the daughter made a delicious chicken stir fry with Thai rice for dinner, and I made a light cream to go with these luscious berries. I have also found several not-so-good-for-you blueberry recipes that I will try over the next several months with the blueberries I put in the freezer. For this week's Best Shot Monday, Tracey talked about the "earth's currency" and I think these blueberries are exactly that...for more BSM photos and stories check out her place.

Two:
Another wonderfully fun thing that we did recently...a day of swimming and several games of Candy Land afterwards. How long has it been since you have played this game? Well, for me, since I have a nineteen-year-old, it has been quite a while! Of course, I remembered how to play; it is so simple, but things on the board game have changed a bit. There are bridges and people that I did not recognize...including the King and the Candy Man. What fun. MEB is such a delight, and is totally in love with playing games. She is also very good at most of them...she wins more often than not. Oh, how I love this little girl. You can read more about her here and here. And even here. She makes my heart sing... I love that my parents keep her, especially during the summer, since I get to see her more often. She will start kindergarten in the fall...and most likely will not need to go back to Nana and Papa's house to be kept since school is all day. We are all struggling with that...her growing up and not being a baby anymore. *sigh*
So, I will enjoy many more games of Candy Land and Monopoly Junior while I can!

No BSM: Camera Missing in Action

The daughter is away...with my camera. All of my weekend photos are still on the camera, so I have no shots to post for today. *sigh*

Oh well, just as an update...
I found a book with which to busy myself over the last day or so...
The 4th of July weekend was lovely- swimming and eating dinner at my parents...
Another cookout at a cousin's house with many, many of the other cousins that I so rarely see.
Time with my husband, as he had several days off in a row. That almost NEVER happens, so I was giddy with snuggling and early bed times...(that totally helps my insomnia!)

Speaking of bed times, I just wanted to let you know that I was off of the couch...
I am headed to bed, but I will post some photos when the camera comes in from life on the road with a crazy teenage girl.

Hope your week is wonderful...
Check out the really great Best Shot Monday photos and stories at Melody's place- Slurping Life!

Pity Party for One

Fat.
Bored.
Incapable of getting off the couch.
Daydreams about things that should be done, and then does not do them.
Wakes up ridiculously late, then naps off and on throughout the day.

They say confession is good for the soul....

I am not good (REALLY no good) without the routine of the school year. As a teacher, I need the meetings, the bells, the paper work, and the lesson plans...Summer causes me to wallow in a pit of quicksand, slowly drowning...to the point of heartburn...oh, maybe that was what I ate for dinner. Glutton.

My mother used to say, when I complained of boredom, "Oh, you are bored? Well, I have something you can do..." It was never something wonderfully exciting like shrinky dinks or a game of Parcheesi. No, it was scrubbing the bathrooms, or folding laundry. I need a summer job, I think. Perhaps I will look in to that for next summer. This one is almost over. *sigh*

Do not get me wrong...I enjoy the beach...the sand ,the surf, the sounds. I need that as well- for my sanity. And summer is just about the only time I get that...It's just that in between the beach trips and a few other things that I do over the summer, I get lost. Lost aimlessly wandering through my days wondering what to do...I have no plan for the days. No little ones to chase after. No schedules to keep. The days are endless open plains...I know what you are thinking...you would love to have just ONE day like this, and what the hell am I belly aching about anyway?! Well, excuse me. This is a pity party for one, and I get to cry if I want to.

Perhaps my hormones are out of whack, and I would feel better after a good night's sleep. Yes.

*yawn*

Tomorrow is another day, and I will find something constructive to do with my time. I will surely let you know what that is...but in the meantime, thank you for having such a great life and for blogging about it, so I can at least fill up a few hours each day. Loser.

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