Ahhhhgust

It's August. Where has the summer gone? This has been an exceptionally cool and rainy summer in my neck of the woods so it just hasn't felt like summer to me. I grew up on the Texas coast and it's just not summer until you've dipped your toes in the sand and the ocean or at least in the chlorinated water of the swimming pool. I also love summer vacation trips, the smell of sunscreen, grilling out, fireworks, and summer produce from roadside stands.

But when August comes around, I am in back-to-school mode. As a former elementary teacher, I love the smell of musty classrooms, new books, and get 'the tingles" when the stores start putting out their school supplies. My season of back to school excitement is soon to be over. Last week I registered The Princess for her senior year. There was no school supply list. No new boxes of crayons or the latest Disney character emblazoned on a lunch box. There were, however, school fees, parking sticker fees, activity fees, yearbook purchase, lunch deposits, and graduation cap and gown purchases to be made. So much for free public education.

It's a new year and even being her last year of high school, I am going to savor every last bit of it. Right now she loves high school and can't imagine life any better than that. I'm sure her tune will change over the next 9 months and she will be ready to graduate and move on. So I'll wait (and save) because when the time comes to send her off to college, there will be bedding to coordinate, and dorm rooms to decorate, and a whole new list of new things to buy.

Gina