Beaches, Sunsets, and Classrooms

This week, my husband and I celebrated 19 years together. We’ve made a tradition of taking a weekend trip near our wedding anniversary. It fell on a weekday this year, so we took a few days off to spend our anniversary at our favorite beach.

It threatened to rain on us, and it was actually sprinkling as we set up our chairs and umbrella the first day, but that was surprisingly soothing: relaxing in our chairs and listening to the gentle rain tap lightly on the umbrella, waves crashing rhythmically in front of us. Then the rain decided to give us a break, and we spent a beautiful afternoon alternating between jumping in the waves and half-dozing under the umbrella.

The days went by so fast. I loved our time together, nothing to worry about but what to get into next. On our last evening, we took a long walk down the beach, picking up seashells that caught our eye, pausing to take in the pink and blue and purple sunset that managed to peek through the clouds, seemingly just for us.

Today, my husband is helping our older daughter set up her classroom for her very first teaching job. I’m not sure which one is more excited about it, him or her! She has talked about being a teacher ever since she was very little. I got her a teacher Barbie doll many years ago that she still has, with a mini chalkboard, stored away with other cherished toys in her old bedroom closet. We played endless hours of school over the years, sitting in front of her while she instructed, preached, told random stories, issued commands, whatever popped into her head as she strutted in front of us. And now, here she is, awaiting the first day of school and her first classroom of (real) students.

I have been thinking of both of them all day. It’s fitting, actually, that the two of them are working together on her classroom today. They have always been close. I love that she was at our house when she received the job offer, and I love that my husband is with her today, working in her classroom with her. They deserve to share this happiness together, after all the jealous and bitter attempts by his ex to drive them apart. It didn’t work on them, and it didn’t work on us. Go figure.

I’m looking forward to heading home and hearing all about his day, and her classroom, and her new school, before we settle into our weekend together. It’s going to be diabolically hot, but yard work doesn’t do itself, so there is definitely some heavy sweating in our Saturday forecast. But after that (and after much-needed showers) is our date night, so it will be a great day, no matter what.

Setback

Sometimes life is not exactly cooperative. When I hurt my knee recently, I thought, okay, well, this sucks, but it will heal up. I will take it slower, limp around, and do what I need to do to take care of it.

Just as my knee finally loosened up, and I could walk semi-normally again, I ended up rushing from work to Urgent Care because I didn’t feel good at all. I left with a prescription for antibiotics, which upset my stomach so bad. I just want to curl in a ball and whimper, but alas, I’m at work instead, waiting for quitting time.

I’m excited for some things we have planned next week, so my focus this weekend will be resting and healing so I can be as close to 100% as possible and able to enjoy myself next week. I’m frustrated but also know that a bad attitude will multiply any problems and make things worse.

I’ve made a lot of positive changes and don’t want to slide back into any bad habits. Ultimately, though, that is completely up to me and in my control. I can let these setbacks toss me onto my butt and leave me there, or I can take a breather, remind myself of my goals, and get myself back to healthy so I can come back kicking.

Recharge

This image looked really familiar to me, like I have posted it before, but I can’t remember. If I did…oh well! I still like it, and it feels fitting for this weekend. I have a lengthy to-do list, as usual, but we also have a date night planned, and I have some personal projects that I am looking forward to. Almost time to head home and get this weekend started!

Time

Today I bought a 2026 calendar. Let that sink in for a moment. Over half of this year is gone already. Heck, we’re almost halfway through July now! It just doesn’t seem real that I have started buying planners and calendars for 2026 already.

I read somewhere that time seems to go by faster as we get older because we have less novel experiences and more routine lives, and each year represents a smaller fraction of our total life. The “less novel experiences” part got to me. I can’t do much about the day-to-day responsibilities of going to work, cleaning the house, taking out the trash, or folding laundry, but reading that inspired me to throw some color, pizzazz, and newness into our lives whenever I can.

Too many times, my husband and I talk about trying something new or going somewhere we’ve never been, and it typically ends with “someday” and no real plan. I want to start changing that. Why wait? What’s wrong with now?

I’m not talking elaborate trips or bizarre experiences here, since both of us admittedly really like being at home, and there’s something to be said for peace and quiet. I’m just talking little new experiences that can build memories for us, give us new experiences to try together, or allow us to simply slow down and appreciate the moments we already have.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started