Updates

You may safely assume that my lack of posting this month is entirely due to how busy I've been enjoying my summer. This is the first time I've had a summer off with Adrian and while that makes money tight we sure have enjoyed every minute of it. I have been happier in the last 3 weeks than I've felt in the last 8 months.

As I've said, Adrian and I have spent mass quantities of time together. In fact the other night he went to play basketball at our church and I had a rare 2 hours or so all alone at the house. Outside of my Master's weekends, we never spend large amounts of time away from one another. Some of you may shudder at the thought of that much quality time with your spouse, but that's always been something that Adrian and I could do with no problem. We're best friends.

We had our two year anniversary on the 8th, which we spent in McCall. No pictures this time. I guess I've got so many of the same basic pictures of us up there that I just didn't even bother to take any. But we watched the sun go down while sitting on the dock, similar to how we spent it last year on the coast. Some nice symmetry there. Even though we can't really afford it, Adrian bought me a beautiful diamond pendant necklace. It was really the first jewelry he's gotten me since our wedding so it was pretty special.

Adrian decided about two months ago that we should try to go a bit low carb around our house, something I was definitely not excited about. But the more we talked about it and looked at what our diet currently consisted of (essentially all carbs and a little protein for good measure) it started to make sense. So we began what has become a bit of a summer project. We've cut out a ton of the carbs we used to enjoy and have replaced them with healthier meals, more veggies and smaller portions. On top of that, since we're off every day, we've been going to the gym 5-6 (sometimes 7) days a week. I've amped up my workouts to include running and some pretty intense machine sessions and I'll admit, I've become somewhat hooked on the exercise. So far I've lost 10 pounds (though I seem to be holding there) and have seen a huge change in my metabolism. Since we started watching our portions (super difficult at first) I realize earlier when I'm satisfied before I'm overstuffed. It's been great. And really, after the first week when there was much wailing and writhing on the floor, it hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. More to come on this, hopefully, later.

On the pottery front I'm plugging away, however slowly, on items for the Raspberry Festival. I've had a few big screw-ups which are pretty frustrating, not to mention time-consuming. I'm taking a different focus this time around, making more plates, neti pots and mugs rather than the tree pots. That crowd wasn't looking so much for art as they were practical home items. We'll see how I do this year.

We're heading off to the coast again Friday for our annual camping trip. Same campground we went to last year. This year we're going to attempt to take Nacho, our Jack Russell, (Adrian's idea, NOT mine). I guess we'll see how that goes. Hey worst case it'll only be 12 hours of him whining all the way over there, 4 days of whining there and, well, 12 hours back. No problem right? As my bargaining chip, Adrian will be required to scoop all poop. Have fun there buddy. I'll update again when we get back next week.

Last Day of School

Tomorrow is the day that we, as teachers, value beyond all other days... except perhaps the day after tomorrow. My fifth year is ending on a bitter-sweet note. This has been, by far, the hardest year I have faced. When it started I had nothing but grand visions in mind for the fifth year of my career. I was pumped and inspired. I was going to out-do my previous years of teaching by being even more innovative and dedicated. But life has a way of setting fire to your plans. I found, instead, that I was more self-absorbed, grumpy, introverted and distracted than ever before. I won't go into the details but suffice it to say, I struggled, and struggle still. So tomorrow comes as a much needed break during which, I hope, I can refocus. Though honestly I wonder if 10 weeks will be enough. I feel as though I have let my students down, though it's likely you could not tell by them. I know my teaching was not what it should have been and I am sorry for it. I'm sure all teachers have their up and down years. I only hope that this summer gives me the opportunity to do what I need to do, whatever that might be.

My summer actually looks to be fairly bright to the outside eye. I have plans to spend large amounts of time on my ceramics, with possible production "dates" with a fellow artist and friend, a stack of books knee deep that I'd like to read, a Master's degree to work on, a yard in desperate need of some weeding, a house still in need of chinking and oiling, a front yard to landscape, traveling and camping to do, a new patio to enjoy my coffee on every morning and a husband to spend it all with. I'm trying to be positive when so much of the past seven months has been so negative. So goodbye to the worst year of my teaching career. Goodbye and good riddance.