hello august

I realized that I hardly wrote at all during the month of July, but to be completely honest, I'm glad July is over.  Maybe it was the two full moons in a month or the never ending heat that made July more challenging than I'd like.  I feel like our family has had a lot of growing pains over the past month...which always make me uneasy.  I usually am just fine if things stay the way they are. But I know in life it's inevitable to avoid change and I also know that change makes us grow and stretch which keeps us moving and feeling alive. 

These past few weeks I've felt like I've been up and down emotionally. Part of me doesn't want to admit that I report back to work next week, yet at the same time I'm feeling motivated and ready to start a new year. I've been in and out of my school the past few weeks getting my classroom set up.  I love to go in early when no one else is there...it's completely peaceful and I can get so much accomplished. My mom has been a life saver helping me put up bulletin boards and organizing my thoughts. This week though, I began to feel my anxiety creep up a bit as all of the first of the year information was being sent out...sign up for this class and don't forget this all day training...it's amazing how you can go from literally having nothing to worry about to a whole heck of a lot. I've been working hard all summer on new ideas and preparing myself for the start of the year. Last year was my first year back in fourth grade after teaching primary for five years so there was a new learning curve to accept. This year though, I've got it :) I really can't believe this will be my ninth year teaching.  

But July has been more than just mentally preparing myself for school. The end of July brought my husband a second job. It's one of those situations where the only solution seems to be a less than ideal one. But sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive. It's been such an adjustment becoming a single parent on the weekends again. We have been pushed and stretched to our breaking points...emotionally, financially, and mentally. But we are surviving and we are learning to make the most of what we have...especially our limited time together as a family. We are learning that sometimes life has to take a little short cut until you can get to where you really want to be. I know someday we'll look back at this time in our lives and see how it made us stronger, how it didn't break us (too much ;), and how we were able to move forward. 

This little one makes everything worth it :)

So, with that I am very much looking forward to August. I'm looking forward to a new season, a fresh start. I'm looking forward to making today better than yesterday...even if that is simply not forgetting the clothes in the washing machine for a week or making Everdeen a sandwich cut out in the shape of a dinosaur. Whatever I can do to make life feel as normal as possible.  And if you made it through my short novel of life, thank you for reading along :)

Okay, August...don't disappoint.