Summer, You Wear Me Out

I am pooped.

Reasons I am exhausted and in need of frozen dairy sustenance:

1. Editing. I make mistakes. A lot of them.

2. Lack of sleep. The word summer in Latin translates into “it's hard to go to bed.” Last night (or this morning) I went to bed at 2 am (see item number one) and finally woke up at nine when the ding of a text thankfully pulled me from a nightmare about…packing my suitcase.

3. Vampire Diaries. I rarely watch TV. And I don't say that all uppity-like. I'm not reading the Wall Street Journal or painting beautiful but obscure abstract art during this time. For some reason a few years ago the television and I just fell out of love with one another. Lucky Charms and I had the same experience about a decade earlier. I think my lack of cable enthusiasm might've coincided with the cancellation of Friends, but I'm not sure.  But usually every summer I find a TV show in reruns that snags me and lures me in. This would be how I found Gilmore Girls. One summer Dawson's Creek came on three times a day, and the drug known as Teen Angst in a Small Town roped me in and I was hooked. I saw the entire series that summer. Very productive. So, yeah, Vampire Diaries. I had watched the premiere episode when it debuted and was mildly impressed, but not enough to keep watching. Then I accidentally saw another episode a few months ago. I'm afraid to say it was awesome.(Note: this is not a TV recommendation)

4. Watching my grass die. Last year I asked my regular handy man to fill in this wilderness area on the side of my house with something low maintenance. I suggested decorative gravel because, believe it or not, that is a perfectly acceptable thing here in the golf town in which I reside. Mr. Handy Man buys sod. And now I have to water this stupid stuff. Watering grass–what IDIOT came up with this? And I PAID someone to talk me in to this? Rocks don't ask for water. They just want to be who they are.

5. Painting. So last week I started painting. Then I stopped halfway through because I had real work to do. Then I painted a picture frame. Then I painted some trim. Then I painted my mantle. I still have half a house and two tables to go. I don't want to talk about it. Lindsey Lohan and I need help. I know this.

6. Thoughts of school. File this under “I don't want to talk about this, Part II.”

7. Jonah. I started a Bible study called Jonah by the always clever Priscilla Shirer. You should check it out. It's good. It's about divine interruptions.

8. Online classes. I have to take six of them before I return to school. I meant to do that in June and July, but those two months up and ran away, and now I'm stuck with August. I picked really educationally relevant classes to take though. Like the one on Garage Band.

9. Reality TV. Keeping up with the goings and comings of American Idol. I would say now would be a really good time for Simon Cowell's camp to start advertising his new show.(Side note: if Simon Lythgoe is returning as producer, will he still judge SYTYCD? I don't watch that either, but the few times I've seen it, I'm always impressed with how amazingly classy he is. Dude is just kind. And well spoken. Big loss if he goes.)

10. School supplies. I love them. I watch the ads for them starting in June. Is there anything better than Post-Its and pens in colors of sherbet? No, there is not. Sometimes I buy office supplies I don't even need just because they're such a good deal in August. A 2000 pack of rubber bands. If I ever meet Willie Nelson I could give them to him for his hair. Twelve boxes of jumbo paper clips? If my students and I get trapped in my classroom during a fire, we can make a rope and crawl to freedom. Never mind that I don't have a window in my room, the paper clips were twenty-five cents each. Back packs for five bucks? I'm not ashamed to bear the face of Justin Bieber on my back in the name of economical book toting.

And what about you? What exciting things are you doing before you head back to school or say goodbye to summer?