School Days

Well, summer is over, here in the desert. The school bells are ringing and our family, along with the rest of the desert dwellers, is back in the rush and routine of the school year. The calendar is staggering in the amount of activities and appointments that we are balancing right now. Both boys seem to like their teachers pretty well (which is nice). I think they will both have plenty of challenges ahead to keep them busy and plenty of opportunity to totally screw up as well! Clara has been making me crazy with the boys gone, as her school starts a week behind them. But she is off tomorrow to pre-school and from that point on will have either school or ballet three days a week. We head out to the gym the fourth day, where she has several little friends. And the fifth day will be "our" day to do some fun things, like shopping or the zoo (Clara's favorite) or the children's museum. This is our last "easy" week for the year. Next week we add soccer and ballet to school, preschool and guitar lessons. I have to admit, that I love the pace of the school year. No time to think about what you'll do....you just DO it. Almost like autopilot. I love falling into bed at 9:30 completely exhausted. I love waking up at 6:30 on a mission with plenty to do. I find myself to get much more accomplished in a day where I am so busy for some reason. On my busiest days it seems I manage to squeeze in my bible study (I'm only 4 chapters behind!), which I could never seem to get done when there was absolutely nothing to do in the day! I get things clean that somehow couldn't get addressed before. I thrive under pressure and a schedule. So....this is my favorite time of the year. I love to just go! So this morning I am thankful! Thankful for the great schools here and for the teachers working with my kids. I am thankful for schedules and activities and that we can afford things like pre-school and ballet, guitar and soccer. I am thankful for the busyness that somehow lends peace to my life and I am thankful for the feeling of accomplishment that I have at the end of each day. I'm thankful that somehow, at my busiest times, I find myself closer to God and Him, closer to me. Life is so good here in the desert!