As School Approaches

One of my favorite seasons of all is "back to school". I love the fresh school supplies, new shoes, crisp books, and routine. I miss going to school myself. I miss college. I loved school. I might even go back someday, maybe soon? Graduate program... That could be fun. Who knows? Right now I am excited for Kate to start first grade and be a big-time school girl. I am excited to have some time to myself to pursue whatever I want. A lot of moms are asking me what I'm planning to do with all my new-found free time. First off, I am not naive about the "all day" school thing. I know it goes by in a blink and that I really won't get as much done as I think. I usually tell those moms that I plan to do "a whole lot of nothing." And that is not entirely true. What I should say to other moms when they ask is straight from Napoleon Dynamite, "Whatever I feel like I wanna do, Gosh!"

But I do have a rough idea of what I might do with my time. But I don't want to set anything in stone. I just want to enjoy myself. I see myself exercising in the morning, working on art projects, finishing Kate's baby book, organizing family photos, working on a few blurb books, reading more classics (I'm LOVING Pearl S. Buck's trilogy House of Earth, by the way {LOVING is such an understatement}), organizing my office, painting the living room, painting the kitchen, painting every room in the house, cleaning out the garage, and volunteering a little at the school. I'm sure I will come up with more to do. Or maybe I will get all of that done in the first month and be bored. Who knows. But that is my plan. Maybe I will even get all benevolent and do some family history, indexing, or temple service.

In some ways I feel selfish about this time. The adoption idea comes up in my mind... "Julie, you have time now... you could pursue foster care or adoption." But I keep saying, I just want to inhale and exhale a little for a while. You know, catch a breather. Breath a lot. Relax, chill, breath some more. Some days I might put my feet up, watch movies, eat s'mores. And I really might do that. And I might do it just because I can. Of course I will make sure the house is in good shape before hand so the hubby doesn't come home and tell me I have to get a job or something. I will bake a little so he comes home to a warm, aromatic home and doesn't think my time is utterly wasted. But I plan to enjoy Kate in the first grade. Next year, I might get serious about something but I have plenty of time to be serious, next year.

P.S. These days, I am regularly thanking God that I have this unique family situation. It's kind of a treat. I don't want to say it out loud too much because I don't want all the other moms with all their "blessings" to get jealous but it really is pretty cool, just between you and me that is.