{SQT} An Empty Nester School Employee's Summer List

On Fridays, Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum gives us a chance to spurt seven things out. Some do lists, some do randomness. Some weeks I link up, some weeks I don't. This is one of those weeks when I do.
Exactly what do school employees do during summer break? When my boys were still at home, my list would have looked very differently than it does today. I'll break down what an empty nester school employee's summer looks like.

--- 1 ---

The first thing I did after our last day was....(drum roll)...attend a tech conference presented by our school system. Yep, that's right. Contrary to popular belief, we don't really get our summer's off. The payoff is that I now get an extra day off for Fall Break.

--- 2 ---

I allowed myself this week to just veg out and decompress. I've promised myself to get away from Speech Therapy-related things this summer. That means resisting reading blogs and looking at Pinterest for speech things. Things will start gearing up for me next week. 

I'm getting ready for a kitchen remodel, so there's going to be all kinds of craziness around here. The kitchen is the last thing we need to update in our 1960's fixer-upper, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. Then we can start on the outside (like the driveway, which is in desperate need of a re-paving!) If you're interested, I'm starting Thursday updates on my Life in a Small Town Blog. 

This is what my kitchen looks like right now. See all the crap junk on the countertops? I can't wait until I have a place to put all of that!

--- 3---

Hulu/Netflix binging. So far this week, I've caught up on Designated Survivor, Sherlock, and The Last Kingdom. If you like Vikings, then you'll enjoy The Last Kingdom. I think it's one of the best shows out there that people don't know about. Another one is Underground. My husband & I started watching Season 2 the other night. If the Underground Railroad is an interest of yours, you'll enjoy this series, too. It airs on WGN, but, since we don't have cable, we watch it through Hulu. There are no bad actors on this show. Definitely one to put on your watchlist!

--- 4 ---

Read. I am in the middle of several books: 
The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood): I finished this the other day. Weird. Would not recommend.
Resisting Happiness (Matthew Kelly): How could I not recommend a book from Matthew Kelly? This has me thinking about how much I really do resist doing things. It's also getting me off of my rear to do things I should be doing.
Getting Past Perfect (Kate Wicker): This is a Catholic Mom's read. Even though the author has children at home and I don't, I'm enjoying this book. It's helping me to realize that it's okay that I wasn't a perfect mom when the boys were home.
The Shack (Wm. Paul Young): I started this a few months ago and put it down. I just didn't have time. I'll pick it up when I finish the 2 listed above.
Plan Cee (Hilary Grossman): This is a sequel to Plan Bee. She has also written Dangled Carat. If you're looking for some good beach reads, check these out.

--- 5 ---

Writing. I have several (ahem) blogs: a personal blog, a professional blog, a camping blog (that is supposed to be a combined effort, but I can't get my husband to write a post!), and this one. I haven't had time to write; there have been other things taking precedent. Oh, but summers are for writing!

I prefer to go outside on the porch with my laptop, but there are days when I need to be inside.

--- 6 ---

Dust off my camera. I could spend hours on my porch watching these little ones:

I love watching these little territorial birds flying around, chasing each other.

It always takes me a while to get that perfect setting, but once I do, I click like crazy! There's no telling how many pictures of birds, rabbits, and squirrels I have! The past couple of years, we had some birds visit who didn't realize they weren't small hummingbirds.

I haven't seen any of these guys around yet.

--- 7 ---

Travel. I have the travel bug. Unfortunately, there won't be much of that this summer (see #2). I do, however, get to take my first trip to New Orleans. The bad news is that it's for a conference. The good news is that I won free registration at our state conference. More good news is that I'll get to spend a day or 2 with 1 of my sons. The bad news is that it's in July...with the heat and humidity. NOLA in July, y'all. I'll be thanking God every minute of the day for air conditioning! 

That's my list of summer plans. Even though I'm swearing off speech things, I do have that conference to attend, and the Friday after I get back I have another professional-related inservice to attend. I may write a blog post or 2 on my professional blog, if the spirit moves me! June is my month off; in July I start gearing back up for another year. 
How does this compare to your summer?

Good Friday: Just Imagine and Stop Resisting

Picture courtesy of Aaron Burden

This morning, as I read the entry in my Blessed is She Lenten Journal, this was brought to us: Imagine yourself at the foot of the cross. Imagine Mary & John beside you. Wow. When I started writing, I didn't think I'd have enough room to write what was going through my head. So, I opened up my laptop, and here I am. 

How my heart aches at the cruelty of man. How quickly our hearts and minds can change. During the procession around the church of the Blessed Sacrament during Holy Thursday's Mass, I imagined the people following Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday; then I imagined how many were at the cross when he was crucified.  I wondered just how many people actually went into the Adoration Chapel between the procession and midnight. Obviously, not everyone would be able to fit into the chapel, but I wonder just how many went?

I didn't. I was tired, I had a headache, and I just wanted to go to bed. I have a lot of things to do today, Good Friday, and those things kept going through my mind. I realized I’m just like those people who followed, but then abandoned him when he was put to death. I realized I’m one of those in the crowd who yelled, “Crucify him”. And I’m ashamed.

During Dynamic Catholic’s BestLent Ever, the focus was on how we resist God through resisting the little things in our lives. It starts with the resistance to even get out of bed in the morning, choosing to hit the snooze button instead. This series made me realize how much resisting I do. I resisted going to confession until Wednesday afternoon. There was a struggle going on within me: Do I call the church office or just skip it? It was so late, surely Father is busy and won’t have time. Finally, at 2:45, I gave in and called. I found out I wasn’t the only one who needed his/her confession heard at that late an hour. The Associate Pastor wasn’t there yet, but the priest at the mission church was, and while I don’t think he really wanted to hear my confession, he did. (This was after me telling him that it wouldn’t take long…I was almost perfect! Oops…forgot to mention that sin during my confession!) I’m so glad I gave in and called and that he heard my confession; I think I would have felt really guilty going into Easter Vigil without receiving absolution.

During Lent, I’ve been going to the outdoor Stations of the Cross and going through them on my own so I can spend Friday evenings with my husband. Last Friday, I just wanted to go home after work. It was cold and I was tired. I had to make myself go, but I did go. Resistance didn’t win that day!

I could have gone back over to the church last night for Adoration. I don’t live very far from the church, so that wasn’t the issue. I was selfish. My headache went away, but I didn’t go back over. Maybe I didn’t leave Jesus completely alone, because I’m sure the priests and deacons were there; but, was there anyone else? Is that what happened when Jesus was crucified? Did the people just go home and go about their business? Did they even give him another thought?

We may not have been physically there during the crucifixion, but we can be spiritually there every day. We can resist him, or we can take that extra step to do what we should. We can truly follow him all the way, offering up our little sacrifices in order to be closer to him. Even when we have a headache, we’re tired, and we just want to go to bed.