July

June was a month of endings – the end of school, the end of spring, the end of our relaxation vacation…

It was also a month of beginnings – the beginning of summer, the beginning of our relaxation vacation, and the beginning of my daughter entering a new grade/phase of her education. 

July is about camps and play and swimming.  It seems to also be about heat and humidity and remembering with some fondness the feet of snow that graced the DC area in February!

In the past, July has proven to be the month in which I pull out my cape and dust off my magic powers and go above and beyond as “Super Mom” to ensure that my daughter gets to camps and play dates and such as scheduled.

This year is no exception.  For the next five weeks I will attempt to go where I have not gone before!!  (I really need a theme song)

I will work 40 hour weeks.

I will have my daughter at camps near and far.

I will work remotely over choosing to commute in and out of DC for a few weeks.

I will explore new areas and ideas, and sit along the Potomac with a laptop.    

I will work 40 hour weeks (did I mention that?)

I will think and dream and create and sing… and at the end of each Friday, I will crash into bed and sleep!

There is much to consider as my life unfolds throughout the month.  While my June vacation ended, the thoughts and concepts from those weeks are now a part of me.  On our return home, my daughter noted that it was like we never left in that everything seemed the same.  I explained to her that it seems the same, but we are stretched – we are a bit different in shape and texture and depth than we were before.  I suppose that we have the choice to fill the same space we did before – adjusting ourselves to the size of that hole.  Or we can choose (as my daughter seems to have done) to allow ourselves to share the experience and stretch with what we have seen and learned – to be that much more aware and appreciative of the world, both big and small; both near and far.  

I enter this phase of “super mom” with a larger amount on my plate than in the past and with a greater sense of excitement as this year, for the first time, I will be doing and exploring and experiencing for me personally.  Not only will I be giving my time and energy to my daughter, I will be giving myself new and different and… time.  

June was a wonderful month.  The experiences… as often happens after a vacation, I can not find words to describe…

And July – a time of year I often enter with trepidation… This year it is different.  I enter the month with excitement; with a sense of anticipation; with a realization of all that is within; and with a sense of peace.  There is much for me to accomplish in July in regards to schedules and camps… and yet…the prospect of it all isn’t overwhelming.  

Here’s to July and the realization that despite my daughter’s busy schedule, we will have time to explore and discover and embrace life.