What I Will Miss about Summer 2011 (and NOT)

Let's begin with the negative, so then at the end we can get all nostalgic and misty-eyed.

I will NOT miss:

• endless episodes of iCarly and Spongebob.
• the whines of protest when I turn off the television.
• the feeling of being stuck in the air conditioning
• the financial stress and hard-won lessons of putting everything and then some into rehabbing a house as an investment.  
• the all-consuming-ness of above project.  
• the non-vacation, non-date nights and non-matinees.
• nonstop Barbie fascination, especially naked Barbie fascination.

I will miss:

• working alongside my dad and learning and re-learning skills I'd never otherwise learn (not leaving one's crowbar in the sun in Tucson, how many hits it SHOULD take to drive a nail when framing, how to use a bulldog drill to screw down wall firring, why you keep paint rollers wet and re-use them in the same colors instead of trying to clean them out each time, grout wiping techniques and procedures, how to cut in with an angled brush, why not to give the concrete guy beers while he is doing your kitchen counter)
• the all-over tired muscles from above activities, and also from lots of sweeping, cleaning, dumping of drywall fragments and leftover concrete.)
• working on the house as a whole family:  husband, kids, dad. 
• my daughter being a pre-schooler.  Very cute.
• seeing my kids learn to communicate and play together successfully on several occasions.
• discovering a baby mockingbird in our back yard (pretty sure it lived).
• seeing my dad help the kids embellish a train table and learn about HO scale, etc.
• getting to sleep in a few times, surrender myself to books a couple of times... these are always welcome aspects of summer.

A new school year is here.  One that will surely be a challenge as I pursue my National Board Certification.  Although I have dubbed this summer the "Summer of Austerity," I hope that I can delve up a few fond summer memories throughout the year to keep me going.