June 1

Since we homeschool, the "end of school*" isn't quite as big of a deal as it is for traditional school families. We sort of ease into the summer, taking longer breaks outside on nice days in April or May and extending the school work into the first weeks of summer if need be. There aren't any huge "last day of school" fanfares or field days or celebrations. In fact, Evan asked me yesterday, "Wait a minute: are we on summer vacation??" He had no idea.

It's definitely fantastic to have warmer weather and more friends home every day for the kids to play with, instead of having to wait for the clockwork "ding dong" at 3:46 every day when their friends are out of school. The rest of the neighborhood adopts our lifestyle for the next 2 1/2 months and it's kind of awesome, to be honest.

Ah, summer.

I love Illinois. I know it's not a popular thing to proclaim anymore, given the state of public education (horrible), corruption of government (let's see how many governors we can get into prison!), and lack of funding for any possible public assistance program imaginable, but I am loyal to this state and I cannot imagine living anywhere else. Not permanently, at least. I get an actual high from driving the country roads in early summer. The smells are so comforting and familiar to me. There's that mix of new grass and freshly planted crops alongside backyard firepits and illegal fireworks that relaxes me down to the core. It's Home, you know?

It's amazing what a little sunshine and some free time to garden can do for one's soul. I spent a few hours in our garden on Friday, planting all of the seedlings the kids and I grew this spring. If all goes well, I will be able to feed my family weeks and weeks of meals from our rectangle of dirt. I cannot explain the thrill of this activity unless you've done it yourself. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I am insanely proud of how great it looks! Patrick and the kids put some serious muscle and effort into turning the ground over, fencing it in, and carting in new soil. I get to reap the rewards by planting and watering and weeding... It's weird how happy that makes me.

I truly wish I could focus my brain to "create" a proper blog post. Alas, these mini collections of half-formed thoughts are just journal entries for now. I'm trying to give myself a break and remember that this blog isn't about creating a masterpiece of perfect literary art; I'm recording my life for myself and my children. I know that I wouldn't care WHAT was written down by my grandmother, if only I had the opportunity to read SOMEthing.

And so, future offspring of offspring, here I am. In 2014, I am 38 and not quite able to form a cohesive blog post, but pretty damn happy in the state of how things are floating along in our lives right now. It's a good day to be me.


*we don't homeschool year round, but we are still doing paper schoolwork this summer, so is "school" really over?