That special back-to-school feeling...

 What is this thing I am feeling?  Could it be... exhaustion? As I realize anew each year, there is no tired like the first few weeks back to school tired. Thar rare combination of waking up early and working all day, paired with high emotion, and topped off with a good dose of "but its still summer, dammit!"  It is a challenging transition, to fit all the living and viccicitudes thereof which used to take a full summer day, into the 5 hours of daylight left after work.  Five hours of luscious, summer daylight begging you to go to the pool  or the lake of just sit outside with a cocktail. 

I am three weeks into my teaching year and life has not stopped for one minute of those weeks.  

Nor would I have wanted it too.  I am so very tired... but I'm not giving up a minute of this last bit of summer. Maybe I'l rest in November or something. 

The week after I went back, the kids started their freshman and senior years at Heights High.  I went in to work late to see them off because you don't miss a "last first day." I can't beleive my little babies are both in high school and my heart is not ready for Jack to be a senior... but time marches on and both of these tall, smart, determined and all around wonderful young people are very ready for this "level up"- even if both of them have been pretty darn tired since starting, too.  They're both playing golf after school, plus Jack continued working at Cumberland through the end of the month. I sure am grateful that Jack drives right now!

Just for fun- the last time Ivy joined Jack at a school, Kindergarten and third grade.

Sandwiched in around first days and work days... a spectacular weekend for me.

Holly and I had tickets to see the Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge in Chatuaqua on the 16ht.  We decided to make a weekend of it as Calida and Jacob's wedding was that Sunday.  So, two nights away, an amazing concert experience (front row for the win), time with Meg in Buffalo, and a beautiful wedding celebration, all in three days.  It was the perfect reward for surviving the first week of what promises to be a very... hectic... school year. 

It's hard to pick just a few photos to encapsulate that weekend, but I'll try.  I'm also going to copy here a FB post I made reflecting on the concert, because I want to remember the way it made me feel. 

"Ok. Favorite concert moments in roughly chronological order... and, go!

* making a new friend on our drive to Chautauqua when we gave a ride to a neighbor who I've never actually met before



*meeting the adorable couple from Saskatchewan who sat next to us in our front row center seats, with their matching Birkenstocks and dance moves

*singing "Power of Two" and feeling those lyrics ringing in my heart in a whole new way

*when they sang "Share the Moon" and Amy mixed up the lyrics and had to start over. They are just so real and adorable

* when they sang "Share the Moon" again . I love that song

* the fact that Amy was existing on some other plane entirely all night, smiling and gesturing and just being awesome and SO happy

* the moment at the ending of Look Long when it was so quiet and Holly Miller and I hit the perfect harmonies singing along and the rest of the Amphitheatre just faded away and it was the four of us singing together

*singing Galileo and Kid Fears and Closer to Fine pressed up against the stage in a crowd of other fan girls and the love was palpable

*when Melissa Etheridge came out to join in on Kid Fears and brought the perfect low harmony

*Melissa's whole performance. I knew I loved some of her songs back in the day but I've never seen her live and I was blown away. What a consumate performer. The way she worked the crowd, her facial expressions, and her voice, richer and lower these 25 years later, powerful as ever

* when Amy and Emily came back out to sing Sleep While I Drive and it was magic and heart-rending and everyone there was on the edge of tears

* the enthusiasm and crush and joy of the crowd at the stage for Melissa's last 4 songs

* Come to my Window took me right back to freshman year, standing backstage waiting to go on for my first theater show at Hiram

* getting not one but two set lists and finding a pick on stage after the Indigo Girls set

* being so wired after the concert that we stayed up until 3 AM

What. A. Night.

Live, shared music is so very life-giving, and I am so very grateful for these opportunities to be a part of it"

+4

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39Nathaniel Morehouse, Becca Miklovich and 37 others

                              

We're going to get spoiled, seeing Meg twice in two weeks!  This time we got to see her lovely home and eat amazing ramen and snuggle with Zora on the couch.  A perfect way to receover from concert night.

                                        

Sunday's spotty rainshowers held off for the wedding ceremony and from where we sat, everything went off without a hitch. A beautiful celebration, really good food, an open bar, and great company.

And also a day-long reminder of one of the many things I love about Holly- her loyalty and love for her people, the way she never falters in her support for each of us becoming our best selves.  She is extraordinary.

Back to work on Monday but also straight into more fun with friends-- and two more musical events!  Pub Choir with Mike and his sister, and Jen and Holly and I.  A bit tooo much pregaming before on Jen's porch, perhaps, but we *did* enjoy ourselves.

Blustery lake picture, becaues our lake is always beautiful.

Then Tuesday we were off to the West Shore Chorale summer sing. 90 minutes of Beethoven joy (plus Holly sang in a quartet so I got to actually hear her voice in a choral setting for a change <3 ) 

Photo of snuggly chicken nugget just because.

Thursday we finally made it to an East Shore Park Club concert- first of the summer.  It was a delight.  Met new neighbors, watched a beautiful sunset, tried to control our energetic puppy...

And suddenly- Friday again and off to Cincinnati for another long-awaited weekend, attending Mika's sister's baby shower.  Which included a meet-and-greet at a French restaurant on Friday night, and then an all out boozy brunch the next afternoon.  A two-day baby shower- who knew?  Mika's family is just splendid.  Kind and brilliant and generous, every one of them.  They have scooped me up like I belong to them and it is a warm and wonderful thing.  So grateful. 

Because this is what happens when you let us have a lot of Bloody Mary's and then some time at a table with adorable woodland centerpieces.... 

 (Have I mentioned I love my friends?)

Had a spontaneous bonfire with the kids on Saturday to enjoy the perfect summer evening and burn some dead shrubbery and it was a delight of a half hour before the bugs drove us inside.  Chatting, making plans for future travel, trying to see if we would light all the other trees on fire....

Then Sunday was for cleaning and playing catch up before happy hour at Cavotta's with Jen and then dinner with Teresita, a new Windsong friend who refers to us as "the fun girls".

And.... back to another 5 day work week...

I think I'll pause here for a moment because... I'm tired. 

(wonder why??)

Summer's End

When one must return to work on August 12th, summer's end arrives far too quickly.   We managed to fill the final weeks of vacation with friends and fun and a few epic beach days-- summer as advertised!

The end of July and the first weeks of August were full of...

Walks to the lake with this teeny tiny (whose terrible haircut is finally growing out a little...)

Date nights- dinner and comedy on East 4th...

The Paris Olympics!  And a houseful of friends to watch the opening ceremonies...

                                    

Pictured below- Ivy's favorite way to exist :)

Swim team Champs!   Terrific weather thisyear and a nice (dry!) campsite.  Which is good because we were there for two VERY long days.  Worth it to watch our children with their teammates and friends (the 14 year old girl contingent took over our tent and it was great) and to spend time with our swim team parent friends. Swim team people are the best people. 

Our little team did admirably, coming in second in division two with tons of PR's in all age groups.  And Jack took home several team record medals is his new 16 and over age group.  It's wild, that we are here in the timeline already.  When we first started with Tigersharks our kids were the young ones, and we looked at the 16 and over kids and thought, "who ARE these full grown humans swimming in this meet??"  And now one of those full grown humans is my baby boy.  And it is impossible and inevitable and heartbreaking and exactly right that he is. 

Fit in a beach day with Melinda and Jen in between our various travel. It's grand to have Jen back in town.  She's always been the master of creating spontaneous fun (and the best food), and I've missed having her close to bring that light to my life.  We sat and talked and drank and ate pozole and made up ridiculous jokes that I can't even remember and got sunburned and it was perfect.  In the busyness and change of these past two years it is good to stop and remember how much I love my friends.

  The annual Cumberland pool water show...  Jack's first one as a guard .  He's somewhere in that splashing riot of teenagers as the guards "performed" their act.  I love this silly tradition and how our community comes out in force to watch our kids have fun.  Cleveland Heights is a wonderful place to live and I'm so grateful my kids have gotten to grow up taking all of this love and security for granted. 

 

Cocktail Choir!  With old friends and Windsong friends and new friends, singing rock songs at the top of our lungs and soaking up the joy.

Back to the pool for the Tigersharks end of season party.  Again, these people.  The best. 

More wonderful time with friends- Meg and her pup Zora came for a quick visit an it was a great excuse to gather college friends together, for gaming and beaching and daydrinking and playing with dogs and laughing a whole lot.

Then it was time to close out summer vacation 2024 - with two trips to the country fair in two days.  Not a bad was to do it.  Friday evening with Holly, Calida and Cailen, Saturday afternoon with Nat and the kids.

It was partifularly nice to spend a day with this kid, who has been the busyest person in the family by far this summer, between working and swiming and a girlfriend, and being more social in genearl than he has ever been before.  I know it is appropriate and the natural course of things, to see him less... but I've missed him.   

More friend time, at a fun gathering at Katie's house.  

And of course- no summer is complete without the Great Lakes Medieval Faire.  Our friend CJ joined us and we met Mika and Bella there for an enjoyable day of wandering, eating junk food and shopping for daggers and corsets.

On our drive home Ivy decided she wanted to get her ears double peirced (she's been toying with the idea) and before long she and Holly and I agreed it sounded like a perfect new "back to school' tradition- a new peircing for each new school year.  So we made it happen the next day. Gotta jump right on these great ideas.

And then... back to the classroom.  Except for the vacation ending part, I don't really mind going back to work. There is such a tangible excitement to preparing for a new year, and the hard work of getting the classroom ready is so rewarding.

But summer's not REALLY over, is it?  Not when sunset lingers late in the evenings and fun events abound almost every day, squezed into the time left after school.  More August fun to come... but there'll be another post for that.