Last day

Of school. Perhaps of normalcy.

The bad part about school being out is that the neighborhood is less calm. More ambiently restless. I've never liked that part of the summer.

And the semi-official arrival of summer also brings with it some other jitters. There are vacations on the horizon, for which I am largely unprepared in most capacities. I forgot to get the addresses of Shelby's close friends before school was out (her birthday usually falls on the first week of the school year and we like to give more heads up about her party, and also not have it be too far after her actual birthday because of the Labor Day weekend). The mere fact that there's only a couple of months left to plan for Shelby's birthday (before reservations have to start being made) is an issue I hope to still have time to recover from.

And then there's the fact that there are metaphorical storm clouds gathering in the professional life. I see them, they look nasty, they appear to be heading this way, but there are no storm sirens or weather warnings, so maybe they just look bad and everything will be fine after a little heavy rain. But it is just too dificult to tell right now if this is a brewing cyclone or just some rain and ruckus. The trouble with storms like this is that if it gets tornadic, reaction time plummets, and those in the vicinity likely go for a ride without seat belts.

If I could buckle up I would. Or at least wear a helmet.