Only the end of July is near

Tomorrow is the last day of July, and notoriously a time of great anxiety for me, as I feel the end is near.  For a person like me, even though I feel strongly that I have chosen my own perfect career, it may also simultaneously be my own worst career.  As a teacher, every year I repeat the same sick-to-my-stomach transition that involves nightmares (the only time of the year that I have them) and stomach knots the size of Kansas.  My husband doesn't understand this.  I don't understand it.  You would think that by this time, as I head toward my tenth year of teaching, I would be over the first day jitters and the agonizing anticipation of the end of the 6:30 AM deck-side coffee talks with my husband (and more recently, my invigorating AM runs) as the rest of the household sleeps soundly, and the unscheduled, do-anything days with my kids.  Soon enough, though, at 6:30 AM we will all be dressed and ready, on the way to school and work.  And I will be dreaming of those sweat-filled mornings as I instead prepare for twenty-five kids to enter my classroom.  Trust me, I don't want to feel this way, and I often wonder if I am doomed to experience this overwhelming sensation for the next 20+ years of my life. 

I know that within two days of school starting, I am always back in the groove and happy to have a routine again.  And I do love my job.  But that doesn't stop the emotions from rolling on the approach.

This year, I am going to try exceptionally hard to keep those emotions at bay, and enjoy the remaining moments of this wonderful summer without worrying them away.  There are still plenty of play dates, museum visits, swimming sessions, and do-anything days left, and I am going to enjoy them all. 

Just for posterity's sake, here are a just a couple of the many moments I enjoyed today:

Roasting marshmallows over an open fire (or, holding chopsticks with the ends of medicine droppers stuck onto them over an empty pitcher in my kitchen...completely Cortlan's idea)

A concert in the park (or, Cortlan singing his heart out into his microphone/vacuum hose while on stage/step stool...again, the product of Cort's imagination alone)

Unfortunately, I didn't capture the adorable Everly moments on camera today, but they were there...her enthusiastic dance party in the kitchen, her matchbox car sound effects, her jumping into the swimming pool.

Let's enjoy...