Monday, August 25, 2014

Summer Happened

Since I'm a teacher, I've had the same basic schedule since I was five years old. My life is broken into semesters and is punctuated by well-timed breaks. All my non-teacher friends always express jealousy at my three months-ish of break, but I've never really known any different. There's something so glorious about having that break time to do pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want. I will take the smaller paycheck teachers get every time to have freedom over my time like that (not that I would say no to a raise, don't get me wrong).

I got some good and much-needed mama time...and Gatsby got some Grammy time :)

The thing about having a three month break from your routine is that...you have a three month break from your routine. Days start to blend into one another in that languid way that only summer days can. At its best, you get to work on and do things just because you want to; at its worst, you forget the last time you washed your hair.

 I made some fun friends while in England and played lots of char-ahds (which is like charades, but British).

My family and I hiked a glacier in Alaska. We ate PBJs and filled our water bottles with glacier water and it was one of my favorite days ever.

All of this is to say I haven't been the best blogger the past few months, but for good reason. I've been busy with all the summer things: traveling, spending time with family and friends, hanging out with my sweet nugget, and eating and drinking lots of great food and drink. In the last four months, I've been to New Orleans, England, Austin, and Seattle/Alaska. What?! Picture dump posts are forthcoming. More than having fun, I've had the opportunity to be with people I love and to think deeply about what I want out of life moving forward. What can I say, too much free time makes me existential. Hopefully, some big news is coming soon!

I drank butterbeer at the Harry Potter studios in England. My (not-so) inner nerd was freaking out the whole time.

School (real school, you know, with kids) starts today, and I'm ready for it. I'm ready to wake up at a normal time, do something productive all day, and see my colleagues and students, who I really enjoy being around. I spent my last real day of summer drinking coffee, sitting on the couch with Gatsby, running a few errands, and having dinner with friends.

My brothers and I in front of Mendenhall glacier in Juneau

Goodbye, Summer 2014...you've been pretty great.

xoxo,
E