A little bit of this and that

Today is the last day of school for the Boy. Which means that I am now the mom of a second grader and a kindergartener. Where has the time gone? The Hubby and I were talking about that this weekend. It almost seems like we blinked and it was ten years later. He was feeling like there wasn't anything accomplished, but I beg to differ. We have two fantastic kids that I wouldn't trade for the world. We both have good paying jobs with flexible bosses that pretty much will let us come and go as we please, so long as we get our work done. And have we grown? You're damn right we have! When I read things that I wrote even a year ago, it sounds like a different person. And I really like who I am now. It's taken me a long time to get to that point, but I do. Once I started pointing out things other than the fact that he'll be 30 in about a year and a half, he realized how far we've come as well. So it ended up being a really cool conversation.

This morning, The Boy asked me to go to the Public Library a lot this summer. I can't tell you what this did for the bookworm inside of me! But on the other hand, it makes me kind of sad. I remember when I was growing up in California, you almost had to make a day trip out of going to the library. It was two huge floors chocked full of books, and the children's section took up THE ENTIRE SECOND FLOOR! I remember getting butterflies every time we'd make the climb up to that floor. Would there be any new books that I haven't seen yet? Maybe there would be someone there reading for all of us! And I would spend hours upon hours just looking at the books, reading some and just glancing at the pictures in others. When my mom would finally tell me that it was time to go, I would want to take way more than my limit of books home, but would finally decide on just the right ones to bring with me.

All of this makes me sad because the library in Podunk is nothing by comparison. The entire library is maybe 1/8 the size of *my* library. The children's section is just one tiny little corner and I don't think they've updated their collection in years. Not that I really mind that last part. There was something really exciting about my kids picking out Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for us to bring home and read. It was my favorite when I was little, and I still say I'm moving to Australia when I have a rotten day.

But where Podunk doesn't give me the knowledge experiences I want for my kids, it does give them way more than we could have ever gotten in a big city. There are a lot stronger values out here. I love that I know my kids can be found within two phone calls, should they ever take off without telling me. I also love sitting outside at night and being able to look up and see the stars. Everything dies down around 9:00 every night, so if you're sitting outside after that, it's almost like you are camping. You can hear the crickets. And when it's a clear night, you can sometimes see the Northern Lights. I never got that growing up. Plus there is a lot more history around this area than there was where I grew up. Yeah, there are the missions out in California, but there are actual battle fields not five miles away from our town. And there are huge monuments to families that were killed during the Sioux Revolt. It's fascinating, really.

So while we've spent the past few days reminiscing about the past, today I'm focusing on the future. I'm so excited to watch my kids grow into the people that they will become. I want to know what they are going to be when they grow up (The Boy says he is going to be the new host of the show Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel while The Girl says she is going to be a rockstar.). But most of all, I'm just excited for this summer. I'm glad that I get to stay home with them a couple of days a week. I get to watch The Boy play baseball and take The Girl to dance classes. And that's enough excitement for me.

Today anyway.