Clover Lane

 

We have been having the most beautiful fall weather here in Ohio - which feels way more like summer weather. 

It's November and I wore a t-shirt and flip flops yesterday and went for a bike ride with Sammy.  (Who is 15 and I know doesn't have many of his favorite bike rides left.)

On my weekends I've been working in the garden with the help of my kids someday and others, just me.  Since my classroom is in the basement of our school and I have just one window that looks out into a basement stairwell I try to soak up all the sunlight I can every day.  

Work-I love it!  It's heavenly.  Sometimes yes there are days when things don't go as planned but there is nothing I don't love about my job and if there has been I have found a solution.  (For instance hanging kids art work is so time consuming but I now have more cork strips and a rechargeable glue gun for cement block walls and both make the job enjoyable instead of frustrating and never ending. 

Halloween was wonderful- Patrick went with a friend and Janey and I just slowly walked the neighborhood.  I can get nostalgic about all the years with the older kids at home but then I realize how lucky I am to still get to see the whole day through the younger kids eyes.

One thing I do know when I look back on holidays and life in general is that simple is always always better.  It doesn't mean boring or unenjoyable in fact in means just the opposite.  It means more excitement and appreciation because there is no burnout, exhaustion, unrealistic expectations, and never ending materialism - for parent, child and family.  I have never regretted dialing a holiday, a weekend, a vacation back.  Back to simplicity- back to less decoration, less planning, simpler food, gift giving and outside commitments.  The kids want it and need it- even if the pressure of our culture sells them (and us) the opposite every day. 

Yesterday I sat down and took a plain sheet of paper and planned how I want the next two months to look for me.  For us.  And now I feel more at peace instead of stressed or overwhelmed.  Because it's all as simple as heck with the emphasis on what I decide, not the craziness of outside sources that tell us every day how holidays should look. 

Just a little note to say that the last two years of blogging are missing here-I decided to switch platforms back to my simple and free Blogger, and I will have to manually enter all my posts.  This might take me some time since my main gig is teaching now!  (And if you are an email subscriber you might receive some old posts now and then.)  Nevertheless, I feel like I am back to familiar and easy blogging and it's wonderful.  

September has been gorgeous here and I am loving every minute of it.  The leaves are beginning to turn and the days are warm and the nights are cool.  The last day of summer was hotter than heck, and the temps fell about 40 degrees that evening and we woke up to fall weather-I am not sure how Mother Nature got that timing so right this year but she was down to the minute with that summer to fall switch.

Working full-time is an adjustment for sure, but it seems easier than I thought it would be, thankfully since my two youngest are at the same school where I teach and we live so close.  My main hurdle now is meals-when I get home I just want to eat and eat and eat.  I usually have little to no time to eat lunch because of prepping in between classes, especially the weeks I have planned big-time painting projects.  But I wouldn't have it any other way, because I do love being busy at work.  The time just flies.  I just need to figure out that work-to-home transition.

I was thinking about what I really love about my job-it encompasses a lot of what I do at home!  Planning projects is so fun for me, I have to slow myself down sometimes.  Working with children is intense but I laugh every day and it is wonderful to see them learn and grow.  Organization in the art room, and keeping it clean and orderly isn't any different than what I've done here at home for years.  I like switching off the lights and closing the door after a busy day, knowing it's all cleaned and prepped for my first class the next day.