Two beautiful days in June

The last two days have been absolutely gorgeous.  In fact, I actually got cold in bed last night!  If it was like this all year round, I might even be willing to forego snow...although I still need my midwest autumn days!

My mother-in-law is still here until Thursday.  I've so loved having her here.  We have found a routine where basically I let her do whatever she wants and and she tries to stay out of my way.  That sounds far more negative than it actually is.  I'm so glad she was willing to come this week.

Next week, Andrew and I are headed to vacation.  It is the first time we have taken a longer vacation by ourselves in over 20 years.  We've had some long weekends, but this is an actual vacation.  Lake Erie, here we come.  

I truly can't say enough about how grateful I am for these moments in life!

These have been the best two days

These two days of this weekend have been everything I hoped they would be and exactly what I needed.  Honestly, I almost can't put it into words.  These days feel like they have been such a gift and I feel incredibly recharged.

To begin, the weather has been absolutely perfect, ideal late May weather.  No rain, 70's with no humidity, and last night it even got down into the 40's.  It's been amazing.

Yesterday, I was able to take off the entire day and not really do any work, either at home or school or church related.  It was wonderful.  The kids all came over for dinner last night.  We had a taco bar for dinner, then played a round of croquet, and then played a game Thomas and Lyndi had given Andrew for his birthday back in January.  We ate, we laughed, we loved.  Sounds cliche, but it was such a spectacular evening.

Today was another awesome day.  Again the perfect weather was in place.  I spent the day working on school things.  For a variety of reasons (some due to school employees) I am way behind where I would like to be in terms of getting reports out.  We are heading to our vacation next weekend, so I need to get them out this week no matter what.  And I will, but lots of hours will be involved.  Anyway, our gift to Andrew's mother for Mother's Day was a nice dinner out.  Since my work schedule may be crazy this week, I suggested we go out this evening.  It was a spectacular dinner.  We ordered a bottle of wine, and even Andrew's mother liked it.  We had an appetizer, amazing food, and brought dessert home.  Then we sat around and watched some episodes of  Modern Family, which makes my MIL laugh so hard that her stomach hurts.

I hate that I don't get to hang around with Andrew and his mom this week, but I'm grateful that I feel so incredibly recharged and ready to face work again.  I am more blessed than I can put into words. 

A perfect Saturday morning

This Saturday morning is about as perfect as one ever gets.  The weather is beyond gorgeous...sunny and comfortable.  The kids are coming over this evening, but the house is already picked up and we have nowhere else we have to be today.  I can honestly just sit this morning if I want to, and I'm so incredibly grateful for that.

We had dinner with a dear friend last night, and I'm so grateful we were still able to make that happen.  We got home about 9:30 and then all of us went to bed...that's the kind of week it had been.  It's important though, to take time to make those things happen.

There are so many things I want to do this summer, and honestly, it already feels like there isn't enough time.  But still, for today, I'm going to sit and enjoy this incredibly perfect Saturday morning!

Just as drained and exhausted as I expected to be

Today was my uncle's funeral.  My uncle was a complicated man who often had fairly complicated relationships with family members.  There was always a lot of drama involved in that side of the family, but we were all still family.  I completely understood why the family had asked that Andrew lead the service.  Andrew knew him, knew his "quirks", and is a religious man who isn't afraid of public speaking.  My husband did a fabulous job.  If my uncle could have chosen a service, he would have chosen exactly what was done today.

I delighted in seeing my cousins and various other family members today.  The kids are all grown up with kids of their own now, and they have all married very well.  I'm thrilled our family has grown the way it has, but since we see each other so incredibly rarely, it was also a little heartbreaking.  Family is a blessing.

I'm absolutely exhausted.  I'm drained.  I'm saddened by my uncle's passing, and of course the memories can add to the emotions.  I'm so grateful to have the weekend to recover before having to work again Monday!

We've been out of school a week, and what a week it has been

It's hard to believe that we have only been out of school a week.  It's wonderful it has only been a week, but a lot has gone on.  We had a couple of laid-back days at school before beginning the weekend, but of course I do the school reports and those need to get done.  Teachers, however, were not as on top of getting info to me in a timely manner, so those are going slowly.

Friday evening we ventured to my cousin's birthday party.  It was lovely to see everyone, although it was day 2 that week of nothing but steady rain.  Saturday we decided to spend the day working around the house after we went to a grad party, because that was going to be the only dry time before Monday when we were hosting some family.  Sunday, we decided to venture to family cemeteries, and Andrew and I really enjoyed spending the day together.  Our sweet Janey girl was able to join us as well, and she's just as great a car traveler as Abby was.

Monday morning, we received news that my uncle passed away overnight.  This uncle is the brother-in-law of my dad.  He'd been in poor health for quite a while, but it was still unexpected at the time.  Instead of getting the house picked up on Monday as I had planned, I spent the day contacting family and communicating information.  My poor sister was tasked with having to tell our grandmother, as it is her son-in-law.  Grandma is really struggling with this news.  It turns out that my aunt & cousin would like Andrew to perform the funeral.  This was also very unexpected, and definitely stressful as well because Andrew is at his mom's house until late tomorrow night.  The funeral is Friday, and I'm already exhausted and drained.  I've been helping to get pictures ready and other things while still trying to get school reports done and take care of wrapping up the school year, in addition to checking in on Grandma.  

My poor mother-in-law is coming back with Andrew to visit for a week, and I'm certain she is beginning to think that our lives are stress and chaos 24/7 because that seems to be what happens when she is here!

Sending out prayers for my aunt and cousins.

Another year in the books

Andrew got home about an hour ago, and that officially makes 30 years in public education for him, 27 in his current district.  Under the rules when he started, he would have been able to retire this year, but even when that was an option, we never really considered it.  We'll see what the next year brings in public education and then he'll make a decision if 32 will be it or if he'll go a bit longer.

I only worked until Noon today, and honestly, it's all very glorious.  No summer camp this summer, so we have so much freedom in our scheduling and planning, and so much peace and quiet!  We definitely needed it after the craziness of the school year.  Yesterday when I got home, I got so much stuff done.  I made the comment to co-workers today that it sure is funny what  you can get done when you aren't mentally and emotionally drained when you get home from work!

We have a few fun plans this weekend, but mostly I'm just looking forward to thinking about the freedom of our summer!

I was pretty sure I was going to react that way

Today, finally, was our last day of school.  Every year we have a family picnic and then the annual "Egg Drop" activity.  Every year we hope for rain, and even though it always shows it might, it never does.  We've had some really cloudy days, but never rain.  Last week, it looked like it might rain today, then by this weekend, not really.  By last night it was looking much more likely, and then by this morning the day looked like a complete washout (and it has been).  So no picnic, but we still did the egg drop.

I kept having this vision that I would get to today, it would be over, and I would be come an emotional mess.  The relief of having this wretched year behind me would just get to be too much.  That's pretty close to what happened.  We have several really awesome students that are moving away or are not returning for other reasons next year.  I gave out some hugs, and when one family in particular came by to say goodbye, I couldn't stop the tears from falling.  I was able to hang out in my office and the tears just kept falling.  I was able to get myself together in order to say goodbye to my coworkers, and I headed home.  I was mentally and emotionally exhausted.  I've also come to realize that there is a lot of anger regarding things that were taken from us this year by a group of absolutely ridiculous parents.  I took a nap when I got home, and I'm still feeling pretty drained.  I get to sleep in about an hour later though for the entire summer (and later on off days) and I'm soooooo happy about that.

I'm grateful we made it through the year, and I'm grateful the summer is upon us.  Thirteen weeks of no school days are stretched out in front of us.  And I'm really looking forward to a good night sleep!