Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Sad Signs of Summer Ending!

Have you noticed the crickets are chirping?  And that the evenings and mornings are cooler with the afternoons heating up?  Have you seen all the stores with their back-to-school stock in?  And the garden centres selling their mums?  These are all the sad signs of summer ending!     Two months ago, I was actually wondering what I was going to do with my kids for 2 1/2 months of summer vacation!  I must have been out of mind!!!  Here we are two months later, and I can feel the familiar tension building up in me as another school year approaches.  I usually feel like I've been dragged into autumn kicking and screaming...sometimes literally when the alarm starts going off again at 6:30am.  But it isn't always about losing my sleep, it's putting back on the mantle of educator and all the pressure that comes with that.  And working part-time in my younger children's school while homeschooling a high schooler full-time isn't exactly a picnic, either!  So, I will soak up whatever is left of summer and put off thinking of school as long as I possibly can!  Of course, my son laughs at me when I can't help but sneak a peek at all the new school supplies in the stores!      Our summer has been so different but good!  Tori, who is 16, got her first full-time job working at a golf and country club.  She works on the maintenance crew and her mornings start at 5:00 am.  It is hard phyical labour, in sometimes extreme heat.  I am so proud of her for persevering!  She is quite pleased with the money she's made as well.     Belle, who just turned 13, has had a very full summer at a Christian camp.  She has been through a week of leadership camp, two weeks of being a leader-in-training, two weeks as a camper (hard switch there!), and will finish out with a week on the kitchen staff.  She stays out at the camp when she is on staff so it is a new experience with her being away.  She has grown up a lot over the summer, sometimes going all "teenager" on me which I am not used to when it comes to my sweet Belle!     With the girls gone most of the summer, that has left a lot of time for Hunter and I to be together.  He has taken two weeks of swimming lessons...which he passed with flying colours, and just finished a week of vacation Bible school.  We have gone to the wading pool, the beach, and spent a lot of time at a friend's pool.  He's become an extremely good swimmer.  His biggest and proudest accomplishment this summer has been learning to ride a two-wheeler!  I feel like a proud mommy bird whose baby has learned to fly!      As for Ron, he finally went back to work full-time at the beginning of August.  This injury has been a long haul and it's not over yet.  He will have a second surgery done in October since he still cannot straighten his leg.  He is still in quite a lot of pain and his knee is tight and swollen.  The financial stress is ongoing and very draining.      Well, that pretty much sums up our life to date!  I will not think of the "s-word" until the very last minute I have to....then you will hear me kicking and screaming!!!

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