Yes. It's been over a year. I feel bad... I do...but those of you that know me will know that my life is a nut. house. One of my dear friends commented on my Facebook the other day that they "were bored" and needed "some Scherers" to liven things up.....oh yes. The Scherers are definitely a cure for boredom.....and a cure for sanity...and harmony..and perhaps even world peace. But let's not dwell on what's been missing here...let's talk about summer.
I am a teacher. And if you know any teachers personally (I mean other than having to go to the conferences or meet and greet at the end of the year etc...etc.. I mean really KNOW a teacher you know that regardless of level elementary, early childhood, high school, middle grades etc..) if they are really working their job they are consumed 10.5 months out of the year. Consumed as in..they work from 6 am till 6 pm 6 days a week (then you have to buy stuff sometimes too)...worrying, working, fretting and teaching small humans you will hope will appropriately and responsibly run their own lives in the future...and eventually run the country. Now before any of you non teachers get your panties in a bunch I am not in any ANY way denigrating any ANY other profession....I am just saying that like parenthood you can be exhausted by the magnitude and intensity of the responsibility as it is akin (not the same but similar) to parenting. specifically, the feeling of "that's a lot of minds to shepherd...and a shitload of papers"....I'm just saying that I work during the school year basically. And keep in mind many teachers have their own lives with children to keep up with as well...high school there's quite a few teachers with kids that are at that age that they are off all over the place but need a ride to get there...I live in my car folks.
"Ahhhh!" you say.. "but you get summers off"..Yes. Yes at this point I do...but we go back earlier and we do several weeks of planning in the summer...so it's not the 104 days of summer vacation that we (and Phineas and Ferb sing about) remember. ...My whole point is...that one of the benefits of the responsibility is a couple of weeks in June or July to go wherever or do whatever.
So that brings me to Disney and Disneyland or Disneyworld...or Disneyplanet or whatever. All of my childrearing friends seem to have gone to or go every year to Disney (for us the closest one is on FL and I am not too sure if that's D-World or D-land)...Now the pictures they bring back are stunning...absolutely fantastic..the kids all look mesmerized...engrossed...or perhaps they're completely marketed. I don't know. I just can't bring myself to "want" to go to Disney. Yaya and Ross have even mentioned it a couple of times. I hear about all the fun things...the Lion King parades...the cool rides...the character dinners.. I also hear about the long lines and the expense. I just can't get off the fence about it. Grady did however, tell all of his friends that he was going to Disneyland one day about six months ago. He was so convincing that the preschool teacher asked me when we were leaving...."ummm..we're not" I said. For all those reasons and we haven't ever been able to concide Yaya and Ross and my vacations together to be able to go...it just hasn't happened and I am pretty sure (not 100% but close) that we may not be damaging our kids by not going so far into their childhood.
The pressure to do go is pretty intense...the kids feel it...therefore, I feel it. But hey, I went to Texas for about five or six years for a couple of months every summer...to stay with my grandmother. Granny. This beautiful lady here.
When all of my friends were going to the beach or Six Flags, I was waking up extra early to catch the fish, helping make boysenberry pie, riding a four wheeler or begging to go to "town". I learned alot about country life and a lady that loved me more than air. Much like I love my own children.
She's a bit grayer and slower now...gets dizzy often, can't see much..and has an oxygen tank with her..but she still has the brightest smile...and a razor sharp wit...and folks if you want to know where I get my bullheadedness...look no further...
And the boys...well the boys love "Big Gandmudder" as much as I do...it just makes the whole world seem to feel grounded...cliche' I know but encircled...complete..how else to say it..I don't know..uprighted.
We also got to see some friends of mine from Germany. I didn't get to see Em..or "Bean" as she's called but I got to see Stacey and Aaron. Military still ...they have seen combat far afield and right at home, he being a soldier and she a social worker. Stacey became my fast friend because she has an extraordinary skill for sarcasm wrapped up in a beautiful cute package with a bow...She is inspiring and strong and freakin hilarious...just the whole damn package for a friend and a woman. Aaron folks say is Ross' body double...from the back certainly. For all of her volume and fullness and motion Aaron is quiet and still and smoothness...perfectly balanced the two of them..I hate that we live so far away and hope they will come visit soon...and bring Bean...and some helmets.
We broke to enjoy the sights of Louisille, KY. Who knew?? Muhammed Ali, Diane Sawyer, Paul Newman...alll from Louisille.
The Slugger factory,
Schimpffs candy,
and of course Churchill Downs...yup Louisille...Pretty little city. We liked you.
The we got to go to Nash-vegas...
and I showed the boys where their mom grew up as a teen.
I showed them a few of the things that I enjoyed doing...
where Ross and I got married.
Again hoping to tie them more tightly to the world..to their family.
Then DUDE Auntie Jane rocks.
Period. The pool the whoooooooole day...
A new furry friend.
Hugs and Love and Laughter...
just more and more connections...
We then kept course back through the hills of East Tennessee...where I met up with the younger of my two sole cousins on my mom's side.
There are but three of us. And as hard as we fought as children we are older now and with our families together I think at this point in our near forties (and forties) we are taking the reigns of this small limb of the family tree which has been so flattened and thinned to be almost transparent. It was great to see him and Courtney and their two youngsters. The boys loved the fact that these were "fer realz" cousins.
And the water slide..and the peanuts on the floor....and that they were around other kids..that was awesome. Connections.
So cruising into Summerville at 1 o'clock in the morning...I felt full.
I felt tired.But a good tired..
like when you finish something that needed to be done and you enjoy it for as hard as you have to work...that you know will show fruit in the future....
I felt like that I had made the right decision this year and maybe for next year...and maybe the year after that...And the boys may argue later with me...
and maybe I will end up going sooner than later...or they may end up in therapy for it...but Disney has had kids since the 1950's but Disney won't be there for the heartbreaks...the graduations...the tragedies..the celebrations...
These people that we spent time with....they will.
