I have had a job every summer since I turned 13. I started babysitting for a coworker of my mom's, her three kids, one a newborn. I loved it. I felt powerful and strong and in charge, and I loved having my own money.
From there I worked at a local bakery and gallery in Lindsborg, then at the Lindsborg Pizza Hut, then for my dad working construction, at an Applebees, as a telemarketer, at Barnes and Noble, at the Manhattan Public Library, for Lovewell in FL, for SYT in Lawrence. This year, though, I'm not working. Not officially, anyway. I'm redesigning the curriculum for all three of the classes all teach in the fall--20th Century Lit needs to be more contemporary, more diverse, Adv. American Lit needs to be streamlined, and I'm creating a course pack for American LIt that students can annotate as opposed to having them read from textbooks so packed with extra features that they often miss the text itself--and I'm planning to write. Really write. I want to do something with my writing, have always wanted to, and so it's time to make that a priority.
And, honestly, it's time to make myself a priority. I tend to throw myself into other peoples' projects, into work, into anything that distracts me from the here and now of my own life. Not because my life is so all fired terrible that I can't deal with it, but I tend to put everyone and everything else first. But, this summer, I want to settle and rest and focus and feel for myself. I think it's time.
To that end, this was my first day: woke up at 8, played with Z, read and emailed for a couple of hours, went to the pool for three hours where I read The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg, picked up my last LAC paycheck, went to the bank, picked up new contacts, got gas, put away my laundry, played with Z, had dinner H & J, got yogurt from Orange Leaf, wandered CVS for thirty minutes, now watching old Law & Order SVU and blogging.
I was worried I wouldn't know what to do with myself this summer. Not really feeling all that concerned anymore. Up later this week: thrifting Thursday in KC with the girls, Samantha Crain & Langhorne Slim @ the Bottleneck Friday. It's good to be me.
There are a lot of acronyms and abbreviations in that penultimate paragraph... next time you make your way to Orange Leaf, send me a text. It's right up in my neck of the woods, and I'm also without a summer job for the first time in a decade. My plans to keep myself occupied are far less noble than yours, though. :)
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