Technically, my summer vacation began on June 8.
Except that it didn't. Not really.
As soon as I finished checking out of both campuses I went straight to work on homework for my Kodaly Level 1 Certification course, because the very next morning I would be sitting in class as a student. There were 5 class days to go, and a great deal of work to be completed before we were through. But on June 13, we finally finished and my classmates and I were awarded our certifications. Hooray! So summer really started on June 14, right?
Not exactly. Yes and no. You see, in the whirlwind of May and the first half of June, my house became a disaster area, and my husband and I were leaving town for 5 days last week. I had 2 days to clean my house to an acceptable level to allow my mother-in-law (who is awesome) to check in on our cats. And make fathers day cards and buy presents for the fathers in our families. Thankfully, making the cards didn't take long, and neither did the shopping. It still didn't feel like vacation.
I mentioned that we left town for 5 days. We went to Ft. Worth to visit my amazing sister and her family, and to help watch her two lovely daughters in the afternoons while my sister went to teach a summer camp course at the local community college. My sister is mostly a stay at home mom, but she takes various gigs to her interests whenever she gets the chance. Except that means getting someone to watch the girls, and can possibly nullify any monetary gains if they actually hire someone to do it. Enter the family. :-) We don't charge to hang around and care for children...that are relatives. ;-) Also, my sister is an amazing cook, so I'd babysit just for the food, really... So on Father's Day we drove up to Ft. Worth, visited some old friends of mine on the way, and arrived at my sister's home. The nice thing about our little babysitting stint was that our responsibilities were limited to roughly the hours between noon-6pm. And our nieces are super awesome most of the time. I might be a bit biased on that front. I say most of the time because they are 3.5 years old (we'll just call her M) and 8 months old (we'll call her B). I learned that 3.5 year olds never admit to being sleepy, even when they are about to fall over, and that teething babies can be a bit fussy sometimes. Even with those minor drawbacks, I'd rate them as awesome 96% of the time. :-D For the remaining 4%, I am glad that my husband was with me and helped out when I couldn't be in two places at once. He wasn't totally hands-on all the time, but when I really needed that extra set of eyes or a distraction for a toddler, or someone to hold M's parasol on our walk, or when M needed a piggy back ride part of the way back from our walk one day...he was on it, and I am thankful. We had a truly wonderful time, and really enjoyed the time with our nieces, and in the evenings the time with my sister and brother-in-law, and our one evening we spent with my best friends from college who live in the area.
Did it feel like summer vacation? Yes and No. It did not feel like the summer vacations I am used to, but I think it probably did feel a bit like what summer vacation feels like to many parents. When I think of summer, right now I think about long days spent recharging myself in every way...getting rest, getting exercise, playing video games, getting projects done around the house or for the following school year, reading, being the domestic housewife that I am so NOT during the school year... Most importantly, being on my own schedule with very few appointments to keep.
But today, I finally feel it. My true summer days have arrived. Today is June 25.
I have one appointment today, for a clarinet lesson, and it isn't until 6:30pm. I am relieved. :-D
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