Oy vey

So, Saturday is it. I return. I get back in my car with my boxes of "summer stuff" and drive myself to the little (actually more medium-sized) town of Roanoke and live amongst my own kind for six weeks.

What kind am I, you ask? (I love to envision people actually showing interest in such a question.) I am a lover of children's literature (and proud of it, whoop, whoop!) I enjoy writing although this summer will determine if I have the determination to take it further than my personal computer. I enjoy mountainous landscapes with rolling green hills and the peacefulness of a mostly empty campus. Ahhhh... I enjoy the completely selfish endeavor that is a Master's in Children's Literature that could very well never make me any additional income.

My classmates are quirky, wonderful people. I am looking forward to living amongst them again. However, I am, of course, apprehensive about leaving my partner in crime. Bryan and I handled the separation so well last summer that I am going into this more confident that we will survive but also that our relationship will strengthen because of our time apart. However, I wonder if this time won't be harder because it's no longer a new experience. He knows what it is like to be here on his own and I know what it is like to immerse myself in my schoolwork for a while. And with London coming up next summer (oh yeah)...this summer feels more like a waiting period until the real fun begins.

I'm not a good waiter, which probably explains my fixation on the whole process. I don't know if it is teaching or what but I get itchy feet so quick these days. I find myself hurrying people a lot. Let's go downstairs now. Let's go for a walk now. Let's get this show on the road NOW. I can't just sit and smell the roses anymore. I need constant stimulation. Not the same kind of activity my students need (with their texting and other various annoying forms of communication), but I do need to constantly feel like I'm making progress towards a goal of some kind. So sitting around waiting for graduate school to start? A little difficult but I will try to enjoy these last few days in my own home, with my husband and my two little kitties. Deep breaths.... Smell roses...NOW!