Well, what a coincidence; it looks like my last blog was written right around the time school ended, or more accurately, when all my free time disappeared like a box of doughnuts at a Weight Watchers meeting. Believe it or not, my summer has ended and Ava is scheduled to started second grade tomorrow. I cannot believe I have a second grader, or that yet another summer has gone by.

Back-to-school time is always filled with mixed emotions for me. As a child, I hated it. It meant grumpy teachers, the same old kids year after year, and the end of playing outside after dinner. I didn't like it much more as a high school or college student. I had a few years where it didn't matter much, since I was a working adult in an office, and the start of school really meant nothing to me.

Then I became a teacher, and back-to-school took on another whole meaning. It was the end of my summer off, and back to work. There were boring teacher's meetings to endure, and a whole bunch of new stuff to organize and label. Actually, I liked that part...when the kids came, it was another story. There was some excitement about starting fresh with a new class, but that lasted about 2 days until the chaos started and they began to drive me insane.

And now as a parent, the emotions are even more mixed. For the most part, Ava is a good kid, and I enjoy having her around. This was the first year that it was just the 2 of us; we always had a nurse with us, and this year I felt we didn't need it. We had a nurse come 2 mornings a week, while I worked, but the rest of the time it was just us. Our days were pretty predictable: we started out slowly in the morning, watching some TV or using the computer. We'd go out for the afternoon, sometimes for lunch, sometimes to the library or a friend's house. Sometimes we'd go to the beach or a museum, or to the park. We stopped at the farm stand a lot for fresh fruit and veggies. We did some crafts and made books and pictures. We had some doctor's appointment, karate once a week, and physical therapy twice a week. We tried lots of different ice cream shops and had some dance parties in the evenings. Weekends were often spent visiting friends or family, or sometimes just enjoying our yard and home. If I have tried to instill one thing in Ava, it is the appreciation of the small things in life. I try to simple things mostly. We can't really afford to vacation, so we'd spend long weekends with family of friends. For the most part, this worked fine.

Sure, there were many times, when she'd be screaming for me when I was trying to do laundry, or asking me for the fifth snack of the day, that I glanced desperately at the calendar and wish for Sept. 1. When she started complaining of boredom, or I had to watch the same episode of iCarly for the millionth time, I wanted school to start. But now that it's here, I will miss her during the day.

I hope to get back to exercising (not because I want, but because my ass will need its own zip code soon if I don't). I hope to get back to getting my laundry done, cooking meals, and doing some projects I have started. It's not exciting stuff; it's boring as hell, but boring isn't always bad. I will always be happy to see the bus come home at 3pm, because by then I will want a little Ava time. Here's to the start of school!