Sweet Summertime

Dear Summer,

Welcome. Your presence has been long-awaited. In these past few weeks, as I have been crying my eyes out in exhaustion, your very presence has kept me on the brink of my sanity. And now you have arrived. Of course, not completely officially, but close enough. I'll put in my last hours, post a few grades and put away my classroom for eight weeks, and then you'll be waiting for me.

And we will have some good times, oh yes we will. I will pull out my cute new dresses and wear them every day. I will sleep late....and stay up late with my cute Smooch. I will enjoy my garden and flower beds. I will drink cold Diet Coke (with lime!) and lemonade and enjoy all sorts of vegetables in a variety of combinations. I will eat my new favorite spinach salad until I am sick of it. I will sneak tomatoes from the garden, and get excited every time I see new produce popping up in my garden. I will read for fun (let's see how quickly I get through those six books I picked up at the library this afternoon). I will work on school stuff, but only a little bit at a time. I will go to the pool and get my first sunburn of the season and I will just lie outside in the sun and I will finally get myself into a workout routine. I may even join a gym.

I will vacation--not once, but twice. I will see Philadelphia, NYC, Washington DC, and part of Delaware. Then I will go south to the Dominican Republic and enjoy a sweet resort vacation with my husband. We will miss the fireworks and parades this summer, which makes me so sad, but next year, summer, I will return :) I will spend time with people who are my friends, people who won't make me want to pull out my hair or walk next door and say, "I need to say something to you, and I need you to know that it will be completely innappropriate."

I will get my house cleaned up. I will finally take the boxes of things I want to get rid of to the Goodwill. I will try harder to become a domestic diva. I will begin browsing for new furniture, and repeatedly harrass my husband about it until he caves. I will paint my house on those afternoons when it is too miserable to be outside. I will enjoy some time with my mom, and my dad, and hopefully my sister.

I will see my sweet college roommate get married. I will try my hardest not to cry during the ceremony, because she doesn't need pictures of weepy bridesmaids. But it will be hard. Because I'm just so stinking excited for her....and for him :) That's one lucky man. Oh summer, I know just how excited they are for you to be here. I remember how sweet the anticipation of becoming Mrs. Insertnewnamehere is....oh, what wonderful times.

Oh summer. Do you know how excited I have been to see you? You can't even begin to imagine. Let's have some fun, summer. And get some rest. Let's slow down. Let's figure out what our playlist will be (summer, would you mind terribly if we skip the song about taking a ride on a disco stick? I'm not a huge fan....it gets stuck in my head and then I get agitated about it).

Sweet summer. Welcome.

Your BFF,
Ashley