Come On, Irene

We did a lot of this over the last four days.

Note the candle :-)

The power went out on Sunday morning, and it took our water supply, internet, and phone with it. Sunday was actually fun--it POURED all day long, so we played as a family and ate some of the fresh fruit in the fridge.

But then Monday came along, and all the stuff in the fridge and freezer started to smell...no water meant no showers, no cooking, and no flushing toilets. We actually met a lot of nice people as we all paraded to the Lake to fill up jugs of lake water so we could flush the toilets. We finished our jar of peanut butter. We played lots of spades. And we spent lots of time outside :-). Another good day.

Tuesday was the day we started to think the gods just wanted us to have lots of ridiculous stories to tell after this summer. Teach in a tent? Check. Pee in the woods? Oh yeah (a lot). Go days without showering? Check check check. Eat crackers for dinner. Again, multiple checks. We couldn't help but laugh. But it was pretty discouraging when a lot of neighbors got their power back on only to come home to a dark (but beautiful) cabin. But hey, we're together, and we are SO grateful the hurricane wasn't worse! And at the end of the day, we were going to sleep in a BEAUTIFUL home!

Got power back today. Hallelujah. No phone or internet (I am posting from the VT welcome center across the border), but hey, we took showers with soap, so we are celebrating. Can't wait to cook dinner tonight.

48 hours from now, we'll be in our apartment in New York City.

It's been an awesome adventure this summer. We've learned a lot about life, love, friendship, and what really matters. Our final destination is right around the corner!!

Next post will be from THE BIG APPLE!

Hello, Lake George, NY

Thanks to our AMAZING friends Liz and Jesse, we aren't homeless this week :-).

Nope, instead we are staying at their CHARMING cabin on Lake George, right across the border from Vermont. Our first few days there were B-L-I-S-S-F-U-L...

I don't know how it happened, but Will got lots of beach time this summer: Lake Winnie, the Atlantic Ocean, and Lake George. We are so spoiled!

Sweet.

Here are beautiful Liz and Caroline. Liz has been a dear friend since Saint James days, but she is actually from Louisville...such a small world. We were in each other weddings, are both in the private school world, and we both become mothers in 2010. Awesome.

Dear friends are such a gift.

Terrible picture of me, but hey, it proves we are here :-)

Isn't she a cutie pie? LOVE Sweet Caroline!!!

We had a GLORIOUS visit with Liz, Jesse, and Caroline this past weekend, and then they headed back to CT to start their school year and miss the approaching hurricane.

We stayed at the cabin.

And then the power went out.

Goodbye, Maine

Here are a few pics from our final day in Maine. Will is sad to say goodbye to Maine and his wonderful grandparents!!!

I LOVE this picture.

The List

Last week, I emailed a faithful group of friends and fellow readers asking them for book suggestions. I have at least 9 months to read as much as I can; I want to read good stuff. I looked through a bunch of school lists and bestseller lists, but ultimately I decided that it is the opinion of you all that I respect and cherish the most.

So...without further ado, here's my reading list for the year (in no particular order). Will it expand? It is every day :-). But I am off to a great start, thanks to the wise responses of dear friends and family!

• The Life You Save May Be Your Own by Paul Elie (recommended by my father-in-law and pastor extraordinaire Pat Gahan)
• Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers (TWO people recommended this one: my sweet college friend Shannon and and my dear GPS friend Kim)
• All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (friend and GPS English Dept. Chair Katy Berotti)
• Rebecca by Daphne DeMaurier (longtime family friend Beth Williamson)
• My Own Country by Abraham Verghese (dear GPS friend and prolific reader Deanna)
• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Deanna)
• Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (Deanna)
• To Serve The All of My Days by R.F. Delderfield (U.S. History teacher and dear friend Ted)
• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (Ted)
• Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith (Ted)
• The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha (amazing person, friend, and librarian Katie)
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Katie)
• Bossypants by Tina Fey (my dear friend and running partner Ashley)
• The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (former neighbor and awesome English professor Sara)
• Strange as This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake (Sara)
• Keeper by Kathi Appelt (Sara)
• The Best Advice I Ever Got by Katie Couric (Mom. She's wonderful.)
• Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner (Almost-Dr. Adele. She is going to save the world. I have read this one, but it deserves re-reading)
• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (best husband ever Clay)
• The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis (Clay)
• The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball (me :-))
• One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakuruni (me)
• Sarah’s Key by Tatianade Rosnay (me)

Thanks to everyone who responded, many of whom offered inspiring titles I have already read and thus not listed here. Any other titles that I could add? I am hungry for good books! xoxo

Mainly present.

It's official: I LOVE MAINE.

Pat and Kay with Will

The entire time I have known Clay, mid-August has meant pre-season football/XC/field hockey camps, faculty meetings, and lesson planning.

This year looks a lot different.

AWESOME signs in Kennebunkport

This year, mid-August means precious time with Clay's parents, driving and walking tours of the Maine seacoast, and fun adventures with Will.

As you all know, this reality is bittersweet for me. This week, I found myself checking the GPS website and Facebook a lot, and admittedly every update and post made me feel a little bit like I was missing out. As if my body and mind were permanently programmed to follow a school schedule, my thoughts drifted to class rosters, summer reading assignments, and professional development articles. It felt strange texting my school friends and wishing them luck on the first day of school--and then crawling into bed and finishing Julie and Julia. I am normally exhausted and stressed--but also exhilarated and pumped--at this time of year. I am a teacher. August means game time, right?

The "Wedding Cake House" near Kennebunkport

But then I once again realized that I was missing the whole point.

For the rest of our lives, as educators and parents, August is going to mean the start of school. Every August for the past 25 years (25 YEARS), August has meant the start of school. Hopefully next year we will have jobs and August will once again mean meeting students and planning classes. This might just be (and I can't believe I am saying this), the only August for a long, long time when school isn't starting for us.

We've been given a year to totally switch things up.

I have the rest of my life to think about the start of a school year.

This August, I am going to think about my son taking his first steps, what books I am going to read this year, and how grateful I am to reset my mind's schedule and find freedom in transitions.

Antiques on Nine, an exquisite shop owned by our friend Susan's sister!

Lucky for me, there are plenty of beautiful, refreshing, and inspiring sights in Maine to capture my attention.

Ben and Jerry's in an adorable New England mansion on the water? Of course.

These people take their ice cream VERY seriously.

Loved the horse-drawn carriage (where are we??)

This is a single-family home overlooking the peninsula in Kennebunkport.

Dude, these people know how to live in style!

The gardens in Maine are fabulous.

There are lobsters EVERYWHERE up here.

This is one of my favorite signs :-)

Just in case life isn't sweet enough already, check out this candy store in Ogunquit.

What else do I love about Maine? Perhaps the fact that our next door neighbors threw a wedding in their backyard. Clay + Sara = wedding crashers :-)

A few more sweet pics from today:

We love you all!

Will is a WALKER!

We have been LOVING our time in Maine with Pat and Kay.

In NH, I ran a lot and ate a little. In Maine, especially with Kay's cooking, I run a little and eat a lot. Fresh salads, turkey butternut chili, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...I am blessed with a mother-in-law who rejuvenates my soul through food. She has inspired me to be creative and thoughtful with the food we will eat in NYC. After eating in the dining hall all summer, I had honestly forgotten how much I love food, love cooking, love grocery shopping. Sure, Clay and I will be on a limited budget in NYC, but we will also have every ingredient we could ever want at our fingertips. We are also going to a variety of flavors and cultures within walking distance. Indian? Thai? Vietnamese? Yes please. I hope to introduce these flavors to Will and explore culinary treasures as we also seek out artistic, educational, and musical treats around the city.

I also just finished Julie and Julia, the memoir of the foodie who cooked her way through 500+ Julia Child recipes in one year. Loved the book, but more importantly, it reminded me how much I LOVE reading.

6 days in Maine and I am reminded how much I love eating, cooking, and reading.

Maine rocks.

Pat and Kay hosted a wine and cheese reception last night. Will had a blast.

Today we headed to Ogunquit, ME. One awesome part of this great seacoast town in The Marginal Way, a 1-mile path along the ocean.

Checking out the beach. People drive for hours to go to this beach.

Thankfully, we didn't have to drive for hours; we walked for a few minutes.

Will loves the water!

And. Then. Will. Walked. On. His. Own. For. Awhile!

We were so proud of him.

He has been on his feet for months, but he has been hesitant to let go of our hands. But today, he walked, unassisted, for minutes at a time.

We've got a walker on our hands!

And he is so happy about it!

Ah, Maine.

We made it to Maine! Check out our view from our front porch. Insane.

We are staying with Clay's parents in the rectory of the church Pat is serving this month.

This must be the most beautiful rectory in the country!

You can imagine Will (and his parents and grandparents) LOVING this lawn.

Our place for the next week. Heaven.

We also did--count 'em--six loads of laundry when we arrived. Hooray for washing machines and dryers that actually make our clothes, sheets, and towels feel really clean.

(I shrunk the size of this picture since I didn't feel like you all needed to see all our dirty laundry)

Don't you love this shirt? Thank you, sweet Shannon, for sharing your William shirts with us!

Will couldn't be happier cruising' around this gorgeous, comfortable home with his Gramma and Grandaddy.

Happy August!

a new chapter.

Today I accompanied a young man through security at Logan airport and made sure he boarded a flight to JFK, then to Taiwan. I rode with him on a bus to the airport, printed off his boarding pass, checked his luggage, and smiled at him when he turned around to wave goodbye as he walked away.

Later, I came back on a school van to an empty school campus but a joyful little cabin in the woods. I tip-toed into Will's room to find Clay lovingly soothing him to sleep, and as I leaned over the edge of the crib, my little boy gave me that smile that connects us every time. No nap for Will this afternoon. He and I were too excited to hang out together.

And then tonight, after watching Will eagerly explore a playground and drink his evening bottle, I started reading A Thousand Gifts, a book one of my Chattanooga students gave me in June. The first chapter explores the emotions the author experienced after her younger sister was tragically killed at the age of two.

And once again, it all suddenly made sense. All day long, I kept feeling like I was DONE. I had written 18 final reports, graded my exams, attended the final awards presentation, and fulfilled my airport duty. Wolfeboro, it's been real, but I'm done working for now. I even finished grading all of my online class assignments at the airport today, so I was having a glorious exhale moment. It's August 10th, a date that for the past 7 years meant I was usually gearing up for a new school year, but I was instead enjoying the wonderful feeling of the first day of vacation. I probably won't "teach" again for at least another year, too--a weird feeling. It definitely felt like the end of a chapter.

But I go to bed tonight realizing that it is instead the BEGINNING. For the next 9 months, I get to focus on taking care of Will and our little family. The work to get to this point is now behind me; now begins the most important job I have been given thus far in my life: protecting and nurturing little Will. Today I took care of a camper I had never met before this morning. Tomorrow I get to focus on taking care of our greatest gift (Will). I don't deserve him, but I cherish him more than anything. And making sure he is healthy and safe and nurtured is going to demand my full attention. So bring on the next chapter. Like teaching, it may not always be easy, but investing in the nurturing of a life is pretty important work. I am excited to see what I learn.

Magnificent Mary

There's something about Mary. She just knows how to make people feel loved and valued. She's a thoughtful one, that Mary, and a generous one and a crafty one and a skilled one...and this same Mary made my day today when I received an amazing care package from her in our mail room! Holla! I opened it up in front of all my jealous colleagues and there was a collective gasp when I held up the item on top: the adorable hat that Will is wearing above. Yup, she made it. and its PERFECT. I am officially in love with it. I don't care that it is currently 80 degrees up here--Will is wearing it for at least 5 minutes every single day because it is the cutest thing ever. And then I reached down into the package and found these:

Yup, two vacuum sealed bags of homemade granola.

Mary, bless you.

This and the fact that my husband brought me Chipotle today on his way back from Maine make my tummy officially the happiest in New England.

Thank you, Mary, Ashley, and Lauren, for caring from us through packages!!!

And thank you all for caring about us, period!

I'm off to eat some granola :-).

Delicious.

The food in the dining hall is free, yes, but it keeps. getting. worse.

So some of our new friends decided to take action.

And with the help of the local farmers' market and some pretty miraculous work with our minimalist kitchens, we pulled off our best meal of the summer so far.

Veggies never tasted so good!

Will had so much fun with the other kids.

Peek-a-boo is a favorite.

Sweet new friends.

And then the three of us decided to keep the yummy weekend theme going, so off to a nearby You-Pick-Blueberry & Raspberry Farm we went.

It may have been the best thing we have done so far in New Hampshire.

There is something about picking your own yummy fruit and eating it right then and there that makes the soul feel nourished.

And I had some fun playing with my new camera :-)

We may have saved some for Pat and Kay...they arrive tomorrow! Hooray!!!