Break

Adulting is a bitch lately, right? The violence in the world, the continued murder of black men in the streets with no apparent consequence, this goddamn slog of an election cycle. All of it is just getting to me. It was piling up so badly the week of 4th of July that I actually cried. I don't cry, generally. But I was at my old Girl Scout camp, one of the most sacred places in my life, and I walked down into the hollow to see the waterfalls and started tearing up. Later I climbed up into the cave to have a quiet moment, and just lost it for a minute. Full-on ugly cry. I guess I needed it. The weekend following, I took the boys on a one-night camping trip with a few families from my Navigators group. It was the first time I've ever taken both kids camping without MB, but it went great. I wasn't stressed (other than by the aforementioned adulty life crap, which I did my best to ignore all weekend), the kids were well-behaved and had a ton of fun. A+++ would do again, basically. It was pretty much exactly what I needed to get my brain right. I'm still low-level cranky and probably would do well to just unplug completely, but I don't feel like I'm close to cracking like I did before we went out there.

What else is up? I finished up my last week of half-day camp at work and got a kickass review on facebook from one of the parents. Nico is SUPER excited about school starting. I'm pretty sad about the summer ending, because I feel like I blinked and missed it, way worse than last year. There are so many things I wanted to do that we didn't have time for. Getting Nico's supplies and new backpack and new shoes is kind of exciting just like it was when I was a kid, and I am glad he's happy about going back. I had more fun than I ever expected narrowing down backpacks for Nico to choose from (he really wanted a pack with two big zipper pockets. I required one with water bottle pockets.) and ordering new shoes for both kids. (backpack and shoes if anyone else likes to peek at other people's school stuff like I do)

The local UU church did a Hogwarts-themed evening camp last week, and I volunteered to teach Care of Magical Creatures two nights. It was SO much fun. Both boys got to go, and even though they know zero about Harry Potter (I know, but Nico is way too sensitive.) they had a good time. Elliott especially seemed really thrilled to be running with the big kids. We have two weeks left until Nico starts school, so if the days could go by slowly, that would be nice.

Reading (just finished):  The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten

Playing:  Hamilton