The countdown.

Probably exactly one year ago today. Father's Day in Frankenmuth.

Five weeks left of school. Five weeks left of school. Five weeks left of school.


Five weeks is nothing, but when you were bred in the American school system where having enough time to fit in multiple sessions of sleep away summer camp is a national priority - it still feels like too much.

Despite my eagerness for the summer holidays, it also feels so strange for this school year to be coming to an end. Just five months ago I was walking into my very first day there with (let's be honest) no real idea what was about to come at me. Now here I am, five weeks away, saying goodbye to the ones that taught me how to do my job and thinking about how I can transfer that to the ones that I will have next year.

Five weeks looks a bit daunting from my current perspective, but I know that it is going to fly by in a whirlwind of final exam papers, prom dresses, enrichment day activities and weekend school trips. Then there is the extracurricular stuff - summer parties, wedding events, family gatherings - and Netflix has just released the new season of Orange Is The New Black, soooo there's that.

On top of all of this, if you didn't know, the Euros are on at the moment - which basically means that all things come to a screeching halt at random points during the week in the name of football. 

There was a big England-Wales match on Thursday at 2pm and in order to accommodate this our school shortened all lessons by ten minutes, so that we could finish the school day early and put the match on a projector screen in the main hall. It was a bit chaotic and the students were difficult to control. A group of Year 8s stormed the stage at the end when England scored the winning goal in the final two minutes. 

To be fair, it was a good match.

Five weeks to go and a lot to reflect on. This time last year I was: 

- taking the kids that I nannied for to play at the splash pad in the park
- desperately searching for a day coordinator for the wedding
- trying to figure out whether or not my husband would be allowed into the country in order to attend said wedding
- spending Father's Day with my family in Frankenmuth, Michigan
- borrowing books from the Grand Blanc library and making regular stops at Ziggy's for ice cream
- lying out by the pool in our apartment complex for probably one of the most dedicated tanning seasons I've had in years
- enjoying life...


...just like I am now and yet so much is so different.


Five weeks to go and I am going to do my very best to make the most of them. 



Love.