.sweet, sweet summer.

as a teacher, i never take for granted the beauty of these sweet summer months- just as i never forget the days where i'm at work and teaching before the sun is up to one hundred fifty of other people's children throughout the day, tutoring after school, then coaching and getting home past ten pm from those late night games. while i'm quite inept at climbing on soap boxes, today i shan't. instead, i'd like to focus on wishing my summer adieu.

when i reflect on my great adventures and distant cities seen, i come up empty. you see, this summer, i had quite the staycation. with my husband unable to get any time off from his externship and after a busy year of flying back and forth to florida for wedding events, i made the easy decision to call memphis my summer destination. although i worked at my fellowship in june, i still had all of july to play.

first, my niece came for a bit and we toured memphis like never before. i think i saw more while she was here of the city than i have my whole three years living in it. soon after her departure came my two friends' arrival. we partied like it was 1999 until one of them flew back home to her mama duties. that left my hpff here for another week where we got to do a lot of bonding. although, i'm not sure you can get much more bonded than a friendship as welded as ours. so, we just did what we normally do. we were.

with one last week before the alarm clock is reset, i spent most of my time at home nursing my sick precious doggie. let's not get choked up so i shall move on. back to saluting summer. often, i hold onto the last day of my break with nails clamped in tight to whatever piece of it i can hold onto, i don't really have that feeling this time. do i wish i had more time off, well that's obvious. however, i also know how blessed i truly am.

i have a job, no, a career. i have the opportunity to wake up every morning with a sense of purpose. i don't have the worry that many people have to suffer through in a bad economy or in a bad situation. every night, we eat and too much at that. every morning, we have running water and hot at that. every day, i have the unique opportunity to take the life and mind of an impressionable adolescent and demonstrate manners, a positive disposition and instill the beauty of learning. better yet, i am oftentimes gifted the chance to learn myself and laugh from what they give to my life.

do i spend many, many days complaining about the workload, the bureaucracy, the rudeness, and a dozen other things? yep, i sure do. i'm human. however, as i sit here about to embark on a fresh new year with one hundred fifty new teenagers either awaiting or dreading their new math class, i feel that my choice to embrace it makes me a truly lucky girl.

the words of one of my favorite songs by dashboard confessional comes to mind...'i stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays, so long so long." with arms outstretched for the embrace of a lifetime, i wish you all the best sweet, sweet summer. let's do it again next year...