Time sure flies when you are having fun!

This is my first summer as a teacher, and I have the wonderful luxury of being off from work for the entire summer. This is a concept that I believe all workplaces should have. What a refreshing way to regather your thoughts and sanity after 10 months of work! The Europeans have it right by offering employees liberal amounts of time off for vacation. One week off once or twice a year is certainly not enough to allow your body and your brain to rest and recover from all of the stresses of the workplace. Additionally, I remember being in the corporate world and actually dreading vacation (sort of). Although the vacation was always something to look forward to, coming back to the work that piled up in your absence and all of the problems that were waiting for you to return was enough to deter anyone from taking any substantial time off. Goodness, I can already picture the piles of folders and sticky notes on my chair from the last time I took a vacation when I was at Frontier... ahh, I simply love my new life as a teacher. Don't let me fool you, I have bad days too where I just want to quit, but that doesn't happen too often. Even if it did, the beauty of teaching is that the end is always in sight, because June comes around every year (just in time, I might add!). Not to mention the fact that the school year is filled with all kinds of long weekends, holiday weeks, and the occasional (but highly coveted) snow day!

Anyhow, this summer is flying by at the speed of light it seems. We have been busy doing all kinds of exciting stuff since the summer began. Of course as you likely read in one of my previous posts, my close and very special friend Robin came for a week to visit us from Holland. During that time, we went and visited friends and family downstate in Brooklyn and Long Island. After Robin left, we took off for the annual trip to Tunnel Lake up in Canada to visit with Aubrey's Dad and step mom (Phil & Linda). We returned home, and have taken some really nice day trips and overnights.

Lanie making ice cream on the dock at Sue's on Keuka Lake
Lanie and Sue
On the swing that Sue's father put up years ago

Lanie and I were invited down to Keuka Lake to visit with Sue, my friend, mentor and former colleague from school. What a fun time that was (other than driving through the flood on the way down!). We watched all of the birds that came to the feeders, we made home made ice cream (sort of ;-) ), and played by the water. It was a really enjoyable visit all in all.

We also took a little time and drove to Kayuta Lake in the foothills of the Adirondacks to visit with some of Aubrey's aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. In fact, we were the first people to spend the night in the camp that his Aunt Kathy and uncle David bought. It was really pretty nice, and we enjoyed the time there. Lanie even got to go on a jet ski AND drive a pontoon boat! Lanie driving the boat on Kayuta Lake

Aubrey's uncle David was the lucky recipient of a leech on his foot, which Francis (Aubrey's cousin who will be deployed to Iraq in September) took the time to show to all of us. I had actually never seen a leech. To be honest, it was a lot less disgusting than I had thought it would be - it was really an interesting little creature! Gross, but interesting.

Lanie playing UNO for the first time!

This weekend, both Lanie and I will be in a wedding. Our friends Kirsten and Mike will be getting married on Sunday, so that should be a lot of fun for everyone. We are really looking forward to that.

This coming Tuesday, I am leaving for San Francisco to visit Stacy for a week. I am really excited about that, but nervous at the same time. It is the first time that I will be away from Lanie for more than a day, and I am still not sure that I am ready to do that! I just love being around my child. She is a person that I just love to spend time with, and I will miss her terribly that week. I will of course also miss Aubrey, and don't often spend more than a day away from him, though he has had to go away for work in the not to distant past.


Tootles, y'all!