No more pencils, no more books

Summer sun in Texas, 2004. Sony Cybershot.

Only two-and-a-half days of school left. It doesn’t feel like the end of the year. The sense of excitement for the freedom of three summer months and the bitter sweetness of another grade completed are missing for me. Roxi has been counting down with semi-enthusiasm, but I think she’s not totally into it either. I guess we just haven’t bonded with the new school yet. Or at least I’m just not feeling it. I suppose the school year was over for me when we said our goodbyes to Texas in February.

This summer brings challenges of its own. Summer lessons of what? Where do we go? Will it be good? Roxi has a friend who comes to England every summer to visit her grandparents. I hope that she will be able to visit with us a couple of times. It will be nice to have her here.

I’ve started packing for our trip home. I pulled out three suitcases and just looking at them makes me want to roll them right back into storage! Fifty pounds equals 3.5 stone. Uh huh. And one carry on per person. Check. Time to dig out the passports, the dollars, and the hot weather clothes.

And on the other side of the pond, it’ll be time for central air, freeways, and shopping in stores that sell EVERYTHING–oh wait, not just everything, but a good variety of everything. Time for Tex-Mex, Sushi, and gasoline that doesn’t cost $9 a gallon. Time for allergies, sweltering heat, and air thick with humidity and mosquitoes. Time for family, our sweet dog Trudy, and friends who are like sisters to Roxi. Time for soft Texas accents, “y’all“, and people who understand what I’m saying the first time around.

Time for being home, even if it’s only for a little while.