Treat Me Like a Pirate

It's getting a little cliche for me to pretend to be shocked by how long it's been since my last post.  Let's skip that one this time, shall we?

How long do I have to keep ignoring your candy crush invites before you get the message.  Ballpark?

So anyway, summer rocks.

At first I was filled with a HOLYSHITUNSTRUCTUREDTIMEIDKWHATTODO virus, but then I realized... there are some pretty great goddamned ways to fill your time.  (Apart from teaching summer school--which is what young teachers do because we don't get paid in the summers and still want to  do things like eat, drink & buy that new Anthropologie duvet we've been eyeing...)

I do feel a little like I'm floating in the ether.  I've been strangely and unpredictably busy with no real routine to follow.  Every once in a while I am absorbed in a panic that consumes me-"AM I FORGETTING SOMETHING HUGE AND IMPORTANT?!  And it usually comes to my attention that-Yes.  Yes I am.

But right now I'm channeling all my energy into my pirate birthday party.  3 years ago today I was putting the finishing touches on the following backdrop for my epic Harry Potter birthday party:

& today I'm putting the finishing touches on this:

& So, while time has passed (as time has a tendency to do), it's nice to know that I haven't grown up a little even at all. 

Here's a thought I've been having lately:  People spend entirely too much time and energy focusing on romantic relationships.  The truth of the matter is that you are surrounded by people constantly.  Focus on all of them, because putting all your eggs in one basket just makes for a really heavy basket.

Thoughts at the End of a Break

I'm sitting here at the end of my break (and my drink), comfortably absorbed in the latest episode of Downton Abbey.  Happy isn't even the right word... I'm rested. I'm content.  I'm me.

Life gets away from us, you know?  We forget who we are.  Recently, my mom shared with me a story about a job she had and disliked in college.  She couldn't find common ground with her coworkers who fostered a negative environment and it made her social soul pretty miserable.  However, she began to bring a book with her to work and every day on her lunch break, she'd read a little.  According to my mom, those moments inside that book reminded her who she was.  She'd return to her job refreshed and refocused.

This Winter Vacation has been my lunch break.

Before the break, I was running ragged.  Barely scraping along and honestly a little discouraged.  Between planning and organizing, orchestrating and reviewing, I'd come home and crash.  My laundry was piling up and my eating habits crashing down.  Working, driving, sleeping... I think I was letting my life get away from me.  And there's nothing like your mom coming upstairs, frazzled and covered in pine needles because she was trying to unscrew the Christmas tree when it fell over on top of her to remind you of who you are.  Apparently she yelled for help and only the tiny dogs came.  It's amazing what you can miss over the whirr of a hair dryer.  Over the past two weeks, I've had time to breathe, time to read, time to sing, time to remember who I am.

Conveniently, there's a fresh new year just arriving.

& like, HOW CHEESY would it be to end this shmaltzy post by listing some stupid New Year's resolutions?

So anyway, my new year's resolutions are as follows:

1. Make time for reading.

2. Be a better dog mom.

3. Make NO time for laziness.  

Happiness doesn't always make you happy, Lauren.  Remember that.

Happy 2014.