The End of the World? Not Yet.

    We had such a great weekend that getting up for work this morning was near impossible.  As I went through the motions of showering and doing my hair and getting the kids ready for school, I was cranky and irritable as I silently counted the days left in the school year until summer vacation begins.
    Mondays should be illegal.
   I have a student who believes the week doesn't really begin until Wednesday. It is his opinion that Monday and Tuesday don't really count for anything (his attendance definitely reflects his beliefs!) so they can just be ignored.
   I am beginning to agree with him!
  Yet here I sit, another Monday running its course, wishing for the weekend again.
   Last night we took our kids to the beach for the first time of the season.  It was sunny and breezy.  The ocean water sits at about 65 degrees right now.  We had gone to dinner with friends and then planned to let the boys play in the sand for a bit before heading back home.  My two little men didn't even hesitate despite the spring weather conditions.  They kicked of their flip flops, pulled off their shirts and ran straight into the waves.  For the next twenty minutes they splashed and kicked and jumped the waves without a second thought to the chill in the water and the setting evening sun.  When it was time to go home, they resisted my requests to leave behind the Atlantic Ocean until we promised them a return adventure the next weekend.
   It's official.  Summer has begun.
   I love the beach.  When we were choosing a place to relocate to seven years ago my only stipulation was to be near the beach.  There is nothing more relaxing than stretching out on a blanket in the sand listening to the waves as they crash on the shore.  Ocean breezes, the sounds of sea gulls flying overhead and children laughing and playing are the perfect soundtrack to a lazy summer day.
   I have totally adapted to the beach way of life too.  I have more flip flops than shoes, I drive with the windows and sun roof wide open and we spend weekends hanging out with friends, grilling on the BBQ and sitting around the fire pit with the neighbors enjoying a few beverages and snacks.
    Last July 4th my husband and I sat out on the back deck with a neighbor enjoying the fireworks show of another neighbor.  This was three days before my father passed away and at the heart of my lowest point emotionally and mentally.  As we all sat there, drinking and talking and just enjoying the pure relaxation of doing nothing,  we vowed that from then on we would have many summer nights of exactly the same thing.  We have since carved out a saturday night ritual of game nights and fires and drinks and snacks and laughter and relaxation.  Adult time, as we have come to think of it as, is something we look forward to now.  Something I now realize that we all need.
    Part of my interior remodel of the past year has been to convince myself that it is OK to slow down once in a while and just relax.  I am a champion multitasker.  If I watch television I am also folding laundry or grading papers or swiffering the wood floors.  I am cooking dinner, I am loading the dishwasher, watering the plants and jockeying my kids through their homework.  I am physically incapable of doing just one thing at a time.  I'm pretty sure that is partly responsible for my sky high stress level and even though I am consciously aware of that I can't seem to help myself.  My friend Sherry calls me an over achiever.  I never thought of myself that way but maybe she is right.
   I have accepted that I am not perfect. 
   I will never be mother of the year or even teacher of the year.
   But that's OK.
   There will always be dirty dishes.  The laundry will never be caught up.
   Life goes on and I can either let it pass on by or I can grab on and ride the waves home.
   Harold Camping is a self proclaimed evangelist who believed he had mathematically calculated the end of the world to be May 21, 2011 at 6pm.  Since it is now May 23, I think it is safe to say that his mathmetical skills may have been lacking some.  Or, perhaps it is out of the power of a human being to determine such an event.  Either way, we only have so much time here on Earth and I have decided that I want to enjoy it as much as I can.  I want to watch my children grow into the amazing men they will one day be.  I want to revel in the joy of three tiny tomatoes on my tomato plant and the blue of the sky and the warmth of the sun. I want to stop and smell all the flowers, not just the roses.
   After all, we never know when our lives will end. 
   Isn't that right Mr. Camping?