Well Behaved

My new cat, seen below, never hurls on the floor, doesn't complain when the kibble bowl is only half-full, and hasn't scratched the leather chair.

Yet.

Summer Time

Blueberry season has arrived and that means a non-stop blueberry festival in my kitchen.  Yesterday, for the last day of school, we had blueberries and cream for breakfast. 

Yum.

With A Whimper

JT finishes the 5th grade today.  All week long, he's been wrapping things up.  There's been no homework (a welcome change!).  It's been clear from his chatter at suppers this week that most of the school days were given over to celebrations and the like.  Gym class was free-play (a concept he heartily endorses).  Field Day, normally the reason that JT consents to attend school for the year, was a disappointment ("it was only two hours!" he complained).  Perhaps more important, my boy is literally exhausted from the self-esteem disaster that half of the year seemed to represent.

I keep trying to sort out how much of this difficulty is due to the arrival of the moody tween years and how much is due to the unbelievable speed of 5th grade math instruction, which often left JT fumbling to keep up.  The creativity that he enjoyed in history and English may, in the end, rescue him.  Much to my delight, he's excited about the summer reading books.  He's agreed to work on some math review.  I've planned some outdoor adventures to re-ignite his interest in the natural world.  Art continues to represent a respite for him, and an opportunity to love what he does.  So I will keep these blessings in mind as I watch today's closing ceremony.

When I re-read this list, I feel better about the year.  I remember that summer vacation and the hours of unscheduled time has the tendency to soften the rough edges of any school year.  JT has already started to daydream about our annual July camp trip.  He's excited about our summer adventure list.  Rest, relaxation, and laughter are in our immediate future. 

We'll take it.

Real Life Conversations with JT: Career Planning edition

The backstory:  We had a couple of display poster boards on hand for a 5th grade project and while we worked out our design plan, JT got creative.

Mama:  What are you doing?

JT:  I've always wanted to see how it would feel to have a cubicle.

Mama:  And?

JT:  I'm not really the cubicle type.

So it would seem.

Real Life Conversations with JT: In the News edition

The backstory: I listen to NPR news with a rather passionate devotion and JT, forced to consume the same media, generally tolerates my listening habits.  Every once in a while, however, he shows interest in an actual story.  Usually, it's a sports story that draws him in but his interests seem to be more varied of late, as the following conversation indicates.

JT:  Can I turn on the news when I go upstairs?

Mama:  Sure.  Why?

JT:  There's a story I want to hear.

Mama:  What is it about?

JT:  Drug cartels in El Salvador and Mexico.

Mama:  Drug cartels in El Salvador and Mexico?……Should I be concerned?

JT:  Shhhh, I'm listening to the story.

Maybe I should look more closely at his backyard activities.

Fancy

By tradition, the last day of school around here requires us all to dress up in our Sunday best for an event we call Honors Convocation.  I participated, of course.  I wore my fanciest toe ring.

 I clean up nice.

Overheard in the Hall

Student A: "Having rules for a dress-down day is like opening up a wound and pouring salt in it."

There is really nothing quite like the sense of injustice among teenagers.  Yet another reason to love my job.

The Mama Car

I have a theory that cars are just the grown-up equivalent of lockers.  As of Wednesday evening, I've got a shiny new locker.  Rest assured we've already put it to work.

Naturally, I've started the process of decorating.

The new ride is still very much a mom car (because, ahem, duh) but it's quite zippy.  It will permit JT to ride up front, where he anticipates a whole new world view (and, I expect, entertains fantasies about joining the music management team).  I'm looking forward to setting aside my reliability anxieties and dreaming about some awesome road trips.

Bittersweet

Yesterday, we said good bye to our Saturn, the car I had taken to calling "the old jalopy."  At the age of seven (what is that in car years?), the car experienced a difficult spring.  As a consequence, so did we.   With nearly 100,000 miles on her meter, the time had come for us to part ways with the Saturn.

It's taken us through countless road trips, covering 15 states, with a little boy who needed a booster seat when I bought the car but who is now nearly taller than me (and no longer little).  We've gone to school in the fall, winter, and spring with bags full of books, homework, and projects galore.  It's been to the beach and camping and to its share of Halloween Trunk-or-Treats.  It's been to baseball games, soccer games, and running contests.  It's carried bikes, garden equipment, groceries, kittens who became cats, and all sorts of luggage.  We've sung hundreds of songs in this car.  It's made us laugh (what was the deal with that damned alarm?) and it's been there when life was very, very difficult.  Five years ago, there were many times when I cried as I drove this car and memories of better days flooded over me.  I hope that I've laughed just as often.  Before we said good bye, JT pretended to take it for a spin.

He's from New Jersey, so of course he rolled down the window and shouted at his imagined fellow drivers.

I'll post an update on the new ride (a VW Jetta SportWagen) tomorrow, with pictures.

June 1st: Clematis Vine

It's hard for me to believe that the summer has already arrived (though the constant hum of the air conditioner certainly confirms it).  I did a lot of planting over the weekend, and the clematis vine blooms helped to keep me company.

In the next few weeks, my school obligations will wind down.  I'm looking forward to leisurely days and more time in the garden.  The clematis blooms are a lovely reminder of the beauty of a good book and a lazy summer day.