Sudoku, Back Roads, and Carried Underwood: Good for the Soul

Today was teacher report day. All morning I did random jobs, like make a bajillion copies for next year for some teachers, help the secretary do some filing, and scrub down every surface of our classroom. By about 11:30, there was nothing left to do. After grabbing a quick lunch, I praised the Lord that I had remember to bring this with me:
I spent the rest of the work-day working on those puzzles, and actually stayed 30 minutes late because I got so engrossed in it and couldn't make myself leave! Pathetic, I know.

But at 1:30, after I had successfully completed 12 Sudoku puzzles, I left B.L. Miller Elementary School for the last time until August. Or maybe for the last time ever, I'm still not sure yet.

When I got in my car and drove out of that parking lot, I expected to feel giddy. I expected to smile and joyously drive home. But that was not the case. I got in my car and started feeling a little down. Before I knew it, a tear or two trickled down my cheeks. The weird thing was, I couldn't quite put my finger on WHY I was upset. I'm still not sure. But there are three things that might have contributed my mood: 1. I am nervous and still unsure about next year. 2. I may be leaving that school and that town for the last time. I didn't expect to be upset about that, but I guess I was! and 3. (This one's a little pathetic and immature) Last year on my last day of work, I was looking forward to my bridal shower the very next day. I was excited about my wedding and honeymoon coming up in a month, and I just knew it would be the BEST summer of my life. And it was....This year feels a little anti-climactic after that.

So anyway, I knew I HAD to turn my mood around. It's officially summer, for goodness sakes! I shouldn't be crying! So I took the long route home. I drove down some back, country roads. It probably doubled my drive-time, but I only have about a 12 minute drive anyway. I turned Carried Underwood's Carnival Ride CD up as loud as I could stand it, and I just embraced driving through those country roads. It was just me in my little car and the cows out there :-) Seriously, when I go the back way home, it's nothing but farms, open fields, and trees. And the occasional big farmhouse or log cabin. It was very therapeutic to drive through the country while listening to songs like "So Small," "Get Out of this Town," and "Crazy Dreams." By the time I pulled into my driveway, I had a smile on my face, and I just might have been singing along at the top of my lungs :-)

It's summer! I'm not going to waste a minute of it being sad.

When I got home, it was obviously time to play with my new camera. It was raining, but I wanted to take some pictures outside anyway, so I just took a quick few of some flowers in our yard. Addicted much? Yes, I am :-P

I love the raindrops in the next one
Of course I had to get at least one daily Max pic in there. I just discovered the B&W and Sepia settings on my camera, so I was playing around a little bit :-)

Now I'm excited to get my hands on this house. After 9 months (well, 7 if you're counting from when we moved...but things weren't totally in order in our old apartment, either) of trying to keep up with it, I will finally have time to get EVERYTHING done that I want to! I'm not sure where to start. And it's a little daunting. But I'm just going to organize and clean little by little so I don't get too overwhelmed by the big picture.

I'll be cleaning for the rest of the day until our friend Jared's birthday party later. Wish me luck, somehow in the past week I've kind of let things go around here. I barely recognize the place!