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| Minnie had to ask permission from her boss for this to happen |
honestly, the type of accomplishments that i end up being proud of don't really fit neatly onto a list. Disneyland? not that important. and don't get me wrong, i love making lists, and i love striving to make the most of my time, and i think the two complement each other. you just have to be careful. i made an outline of my summer at the start. the single biggest item was definitely going on a sailing trip. it had been on my mind a while, and i had done a significant amount of research, trying to find a boat to jump on for a few weeks. i found the perfect boat, talked to the captain, and had everything all arranged. i was going to sail from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia. to do this, i would get back to work one day later than i was supposed to, and that was assuming i could fly from Canada to Illinois, pack, and drive to Arizona in three days total. that's okay, i do crazy things sometimes, like drive alone from Phoenix straight through to St. Louis after packing all night. (drive 1,600 miles in 24 hours. check?)
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| i started collecting dumb signs. |
problem was, i started feeling guilty. i knew even if it could pull it off, i would be dead-tired and come into the school year a few steps behind (i haven't even moved into my new house yet..). it's the type of thing i could get away with in college as a student, but teaching is different. i decided to back out of the sailing adventure. it hurt. it may seem like an obvious choice, but that decision was legitimately a big step for me, responsibility-wise. i don't like thinking as a professional, i like riding segways with my friends. (rode segways through Chicago. check.)
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| can you believe this bootleg shot off the back of a moving segway? |
think this will be hard to keep the theme going AND a picture to go with it? i agree. where was i... oh yeah, not sailing. here's the thing. for a bit, i was tempted to view my entire summer as a failure because i wasn't going to check my primary goal off my list. that's dumb. that's what getting attached to silly lists does for you.. on the other hand, this change freed up the last two weeks of my summer. i spent one week of this recovering at home, and i'll spend the second settling into my new house and prepping for the school year. not very exciting or novel, but i will be a better teacher and coach as a result. who knows, maybe i'll like this new slower pace of life, and i'll stop being spontaneous. (spontaneously bought a one-way flight to DC after realizing three best friends would be there at the same time. check.)
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| moon boys |
shifting gears. want to know one of the most important ways i changed last year? i became an irresponsible texter. seriously! i used to take pride in being able to manage a relatively heavy text load from day-to-day, while still being reasonably productive on the side. last year, i lost my edge. i'd read a text and feel too busy to respond, then forget for days. i'd initiate a conversation and neglect the follow up. no one likes that guy. this is just a microcosm of the larger shift — i had a pretty insignificant social media presence all year. really, last year made me realize just how much free time i had in college. for the record, i never pretended like college was crazy-hard. i knew what i had.
when i got on summer break, i went nuts. i was twittering, instagramming, facebooking, all of it (except pinterest, obviously). all of these pictures are straight from my instagram feed @incomplet_me, by the way. part of this was the repression from last year, i think, and part was because i was stuck in a car so much. don't worry, i also listened to medieval history lectures from Yale! this train of thought made me realize something, though. my age group has an entirely unique selling point to the world. we can tell employers that we are good at social networking, and that is a skill that they take seriously! think about it. the people older than us may try to keep up, but it's not as natural (just sayin'). and the kids coming after us? please. by the time they hit the job market, it will be assumed.
when i had a week at home towards the end of June, i went off the grid. i kept my phone off most of the time, stayed off social networks, and even stopped listening to music. it was revealing. a week was not nearly long enough to break me from my..habits, but it was enough to make me realize the power those things have over me. why do we feel the need to share everything we do? i believe social networks make the world a better, more informed place, but they can be dangerously addictive, too. enough on that for now...
a friend from my high school circle got married this summer — the first one from that group. that weekend was the most fun i've ever had at a wedding, and served as an awesome high school reunion. i think that may have been my favorite week, now that i think about it... but i also had another big wedding "first": first marriage between two friends that i'd known before they were dating. they both allowed me the honor of ushing their weddings, and i'll be flying out to Montana soon after school starts for my first best manning. (in three weddings in three months. check.)
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| #ushpuppies |
all things considered, perhaps the most refreshing part of my summer was the time spent with family. more time than i'd gotten since i left for Hillsdale four years ago, easily. i got to meet the newest member of the family (Anthony), play t-ball with Venice, go to the Dark Knight Rises premiere with Scott, shoot guns with Mark, go out on the boat with Jess & John, pick blueberries with Mom, and introduce Dad to gin & tonics. plus, i even made it to see my Grandma/Aunt Vada out in Equality and my Grandpa in Eureka. they live down roads less traveled, but they make all the difference.
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| (cute picture of nephews. check) |
