Oh, heyyyyyyy!  So I’m totally going to pretend it hasn’t been over four months (FOUR MONTHS!) since my last blog post and pick right up where I left off.  Mmmkay?

So, where did we leave off?  Avery turned 14.  Jack’s still 10.  I’m still gainfully employed with the school district.  Which really means one thing…I don’t have to put a bra on until well after 9 or 10 in the morning.

Summertime.

The bags under my eyes thank you.  My feet thank you.  My immune system thanks you.  My brain certainly thanks you.  And my kid’s overall health thanks you (did Pop Tarts make their way into anyone else’s kid’s lunch bags?…anyone?)

It’s no great mystery that a little extra downtime at home (albeit, unpaid) can make for an overall slightly more pleasurable human to be around.  There’s something about working around 500 or so kids for nine months that can bring out a little extra sass in your frass with your own kids.  That’s one very important reason why a summer break for school employees is so vital.  It keeps our own kids out of harm’s way.

And now it’s time to take a little “me” time and encourage some “them” time.

This summer will be about guilt-free lazy days in the backyard, reading magazines and bingeing on books.  It will be about Leinenkugel Summer Shandys and impromptu porch sits with friends.  It will be about savoring moments with my family and greedily feasting on those golden nuggets of mutual discovery with my kiddos.  It will be about walks along the river,  lake trips and sub sandwiches.  It will be about sunscreen and bug spray. It will be about late nights watching old movies and naps on a Tuesday afternoon.

It will be about recharging the soul and not letting a single day go by without expressing my gratitude that I get to.

And hopefully it will be about a whole lot of memories, big and small.

Happy Summer,

Mindy