The Sound of Silence

I walked out of my apartment this afternoon to go to work and stopped.  For the first time all summer, there was silence.  It was a little shocking to be honest, as this must have been the locust year.  All season there's been noise, no matter the hour, of these insects loudly proclaiming their presence.  I'm not complaining - it's the sound of summer.  But to have it stopped so suddenly, I guess you never really know what you have till its gone.

Unfortunately the silence outside has no comparable resonance in my life right now.  There are meetings at work, conference calls, two months worth of activity planning, shopping and packing and laundry, new youth groups to start and familiar ones with which to reacquaint myself.  Even though the summer might not have been all I wanted it to be, it was wonderful and I'm going to miss the weather, the lazy pace of life.

So, to commemorate Summer 2011, some cell phone photos for your viewing pleasure.

Engaged 6.27.11

The Fair's in town - June 2011

Sunset from the mountain top July 2011

Moth outside work July 2011

Patriotism

Putt putt poses August 2011

Second to last game of the season August 2011

Awesome presentation on some yummy Chinese food Sept 2011

Free as a bird!

I have a rare thing today:  a free Saturday.  Not just a Saturday, but a whole weekend actually.  Although I don't work, there's still lots going on.  On the list include:

• Night out with my good friend Tim - done!
• Shopping with Tim for new clothes - done!
• Closing out my Thirty One Fundraiser - done!
• Shopping for Ethiopia with Em
• Baseball game (second to last one of the season)
• Church on Sunday
• Meeting with two ladies about Ethiopia
• Fall kick off event at my other church
• Loving some kids at St. Johns
• Preparing for the week ahead
• Bowling and general merry-making with friends

There's also some not fun things on that list like:

• Clean the bathroom
• Vacuum
• Do the dishes
• Shop for groceries
• Figure out meals for the next week or two

So far, though, things are shaping up nicely.  Although I'm making sure to pack this weekend full of things I want to do, I probably really should take a small break and relax.  Starting next week, I'm training in another department at work, which will increase my weekly hours closer to 40.  I'm excited about it but it will leave less time for planning for after school, which is really my main focus these days.  Next week 20 elementary school students (in groups at least) are responsible for making their own snack, as well as getting along with each other and trying not to get swim privledges taken away from them.  Phew!

Sitting down to look at it all makes me feel busy but blessed.  Time to start checking things off that list - hopefully Irene doesn't have any remnants that ruin baseball plans (we're not supposed to get anything but I guess you never can tell).