Last day of summer!

How is it at the end of the school year the whole summer seems so long, Drawn out and without end to the time off and the possibilities? I pondered this yesterday with my brother-in-law and then all night in my sleep lastnight. What did I do with the summer? I had a list of hopefuls, things to do with the kids, hubby and family, projects around the house, reading a book that I wanted to check out, traveling some, just having time to smell the flowers and take in the world. But did I do it all.
Well here is the mental list that I remember from the summer.
Yard work, flowers redone, raised beds made and planted, mowing, trimming, chopping wood, stacking wood, Barb-Que for family and friends when the Army boys were home, cooking fun things with my kids, traveing to Indiana to meet the boys and visit with family there, seeing my dying Step Grandmother just days before she passed, playing with the dog, reading 1/3 of the book that I bought, signing up for 3 college classes, getting my financial aid done, redoing somethings at work, making some sewing projects that were ask of me, painting polka dots in my daughters room, and letting her paint the shelf and dresser the way she wanted, Watching as all 4 of my children rode ATV's around the property and wondering when would they do that again?, surprising my dad with a B-day party, seeing my uncle for the first time in 8 years, Helping my husband to move concrete to build a base for a drive way where he hopes to build a wood shop, spending the afternoon at an auction when it was 100+ with humidity see my hubby could get some wood working tools, sending children off to war and trainings for war, sending two younger ones off to church camp and girl scout camp, realizing that my 13 year old is tougher then I thought when he broke his collar bone at camp on the second day and stayed the rest of the week with out me!, Endless garage saling Saturdays with my hubby and kids, working to complete the wood floor in the livingroom from the scrap wood we have, painting 2 walls in the livingroom, reading about gardening and making plans to expand the food that we can grow, buying a laptop and new cell phone that bring me knowledge and expand my thinking about technology.
WOW! when I'm forced to think of the many days laid out from May to August it's amazing what I was able to do, I also slept later and sat more on the porch. But those are mental health accomplishments and that can't be missed. After retreaving the list of things that we had planned to do on the house, put in a new livingroom window, add a door from the fireplace to the outside to retreave wood, tile the area around the fireplace and recaulk the bathroom tub still remain on the list. It seems that one thing then the other get us off the list and so we keep moving forward with jobs and accomplishments but we sometimes need redirecting to the list.

Tomorrow makes the start of the 2008-2009 school year! Our two younger ones are both in MIDDLE SCHOOL NOW!! Andrea a 6th grader and Brian an 8th grader! It also will mark the beginning of the two older ones Derek in Iraq and Casey in training for somewhere in Iraq or Afghanistain (I'll have to learn to spell that). So it struck me last night at the open house for school that we have two in Middle school and two in the Middle East. Saying that outloud really give me a startle. HOW did this happen?? this must mean that I'm MIDDLE AGE! There is a theme developing here, "time in a bottle," "Don't let the sun go down." It seems that as time goes by, I think of the older songs that I know, I love some of the new ones too, but the good oldies always pop up. And then in my email today. The Daily Insight, "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently." by Henry Ford This doesn't feel like failure but it sure does seem to be a time of new beginnings and hopefully more intelligently doing it. So it goes today, that my mind was overflowing with thoughts, more than the normal, "Thank you God for this day, please watch over my boys as they work to protect the country, keep my family save here in the states and guild us to make the choices you wish for us!" AMEN!