It feels like more than enough......

Today feels like the last day of summer to me some......even though we don't start till next Monday.....tomorrow I head in with my kids to get my classroom ready.....I have a full day ahead of me indeed....then in service on Tuesday and Wednesday....and probably another day in my room on Thursday.....and then its a wrap.....summer 2023...... and you know what it has been enough, so much more than enough.....I accomplished most of what I wanted to this summer in my house.......and the kids and I had a great summer.....it is a gift never lost on me as a teacher....this time that I spend with them each summer is such a treasure to me and especially to me now.....I was thinking yesterday while I was doing my stuff that the last 5 years have been SO intense.....in every way....my personal struggle inside the end of my marriage, and then the end of that marriage....and all the while the pandemic raging in the background....and the infinite challenges that held both professionally and personally....and the kids and I have been through so much.....so much together......my trying to shelter them from as much of all of that as possible....us walking miles, just miles through it all....I remember my clocking us at more than 500 miles during that time we were home during the pandemic.....trying to beat the insanity of it all by walking it off lol:) And now in our new life we do the same when we hike.....miles and miles stretched out before us.......the other day we hit up Dingmans Falls quick and walked and talked....and it is such a great time because it is when they tell me the deepest stuff......they really open up.....because there are no distractions around....no electronics.....no TVs.......no nothing.....just us.....and we talk about everything.....and it is a space I cherish with them.....we have had a really fun summer.....our OBX trip being the highlight.....and then Niagara....some day trips in between....hiking, swimming, just fun......and being in our space and enjoying each other......it is bittersweet to say goodbye to summer.....A part of me always wants it to last forever....and another part is ready for routine and structure to take hold into our lives again and for fall, I mean c'mon lol:) My favorite season! So yea it is bittersweet indeed......I am for sure feeling nostalgic the last couple of days about how intense it all has been the last couple of years and feeling grateful we survived it all......such an intense time in our lives and in the world for everybody too alongside our own little story......it is all kinda crazy if you think of it....the pandemic is like nothing else for sure...and what it asked of us all......so last year for sure felt more normal in my classroom then it had since before the pandemic began.....so that is my prayer for this school year too.....a return to more normalcy in regards to all of it.....and I am grateful for the summer we leave behind.....leaving behind precious memories and such gifts in its wake....and I am looking forward to the year ahead:)