Official First Day

My sprinklers just came on and scared the skittles out of me as I sit here in my office with Faith Hill's album Cry providing my backdrop for sliding through moment after moment on my computer screen. 

Whew. 

Alright, I think my heart has returned to normal pace and now I'm wondering why my sprinklers are cruising at almost one in morning.  Pretty sure that's not in the schedule of settings.  It's important I stop thinking about that now as I can get myself convinced there is someone lurking in my garage real easy.   

Back to task at hand.  I am extremely behind in the land of my pictures.  It gives me this case of thumping anxiety when I think about the fact there are thousands of pictures not yet pilfered through.  It's my thing to stay on top of such matters. 

But life has been happening. 

Fast. 

With lots of goings and comings and goings.  Trip taking, graduation partying, camping, school end meeting-ing, cooking, packing, coffee drinking, lake enjoying, road tripping, wedding-ing, baby holding, kid wrangling, feet running. 

It's been oh so good. 

Because of all that means one thing. 

I'm leading a pretty amazing life over here.  It's full of people I love and new places and crazy fun happenings. 

Really, what more could a girl want? 

Other than to be caught up with that picture pilfering I mentioned earlier.

It will happen though.  I'm pretty sure tonight just might be one of those nights.  A night in which I sit in this chair until the wee hours doing my thing.  Music will stay floating and favorite sweats are on and happiness is ebbing.  Because I am taking the time to go through the last month of insanely good business.   

Let me go back and explain what went down the first official day of summer break.  It was the Thursday before leaving for the drive to the middle of nowhere South Dakota to spend time in the middle of the road.  

I woke up. 

Met Shelby and Lisa and sweet Rylan for coffee.

Lisa and I wore the same running outfit. We're like that. It happens when you spend every single day together for two years being fourth grade chicken wing teachers.  Rylan is a total honey; she just thinks we are mildy bananas.  Can't say I blame her. 

I can say with certainty she will know the ins and outs of how to successfully coffee it up.  She's been around for a meeting or two.  And she'll take her coffee black too.  I just know it.   

I also know she has had some strong role models for learning the ridiculous. 

Coffee at not six in the morning was the perfect kick off to summer.  Let's not mention the bittersweet part.  The part about them both moving to the south because of their husband's careers.  Job opportunties are sweet but the bitter comes when two people I didn't know three years ago but now are some of those best friend, the ones you can say anything to, are leaving.  I'm determined to not have their physical distance mean a true distance.  I'm determined it's just another reason my fake southern girl-ness will have to fly down to the real south to do some romp stomping around.

I'm sure there are Sbucks in North Carolina and Alabama simply waiting for our kind of craziness to grace them on a Thursday morning.

Shelby.  You'll always be Shelby to me.  Not Mary Beth.  So just go right ahead and forget the name your mama gave you.  Please know you will always be the friend I count on to say, "Girl!  You gotta get your head on right!" in the most sweet southern voice.  The friend who will burp and say anything but it's acceptable because you follow it up with, "Oh my.  Excuse me."  Again in that sweet twang of yours. 

   

Lisa.  You'll always be my favorite co-teacher and city friend.  The one who taught me how drink black coffee.  The one who danced and sang and cheered and chanted through the hallways with me.  Please know every single time I squeeze hug any poor soul, I'll think of you.  Seeings how we were the originators of the squeeze. 

One more thing.  You are a cool mom.  Rylan's lucky.  She'll never have the nerdy mom.