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childlike joy at a "grown-up" age

over memorial day weekend, i had one of the most relaxing mini-vacations i can recall having in my long history of vacations.  ocean isle beach has always had a special place in my heart but this weekend was just absolutely perfect.  we had the most ideal combination of everything i like at the beach: beach runs, good coffee, good books, great weather, delicious food, and excellent company.  i felt incredibly rejuvenated and ready to face the last 14 days of the school year with all my strength.  

while on this perfect mini-vacay, i spent a lot of time in the sand.  well duh, i was at the beach.  sunday afternoon, especially, i was sitting in the sand at the edge of the water making drippy sandcastles (you know the ones that look like la sagrada familia in barcelona) on my legs, covering myself entirely in sand and salt.  i was the most content that i have been in a very long time.  i looked over to my friend and said, "i am just having so much fun right now." and we talked about how unusual it was for me, a 25 year old with a career job, to be having such a good time playing in the sand.  i didn't fit in with the other beach-goers building sandcastles; they were 20 years younger than me.  it's rather unusual to see a 25 year old covering her legs in sand castles on purpose and loving it.  why is that?

when do we stop wanting to build sand castles?  and why?  does the decision to cease sand castle production correlate with growing up and the onset of adulthood?  and what does all that mean?  i know that being an elementary school teacher affords me many childlike privileges (such as wearing very bright non-business attire daily and telling corny jokes) but are these things actively avoided by other people my age?  i have grappled with this question before - what it means to "grow up" and to "be an adult" - but i just don't understand why a person can't have a good career job, be responsible with their finances, and know how to cook a solid meal (all qualities that i feel adults should possess) while at the same time, enjoy building sandcastles?

life isn't all work, work, work and i just don't think that everyone knows that!  especially living in the dc metro area, i can almost feel the stress vibes emanating off of a majority of the population.  if all of these adults took some time out of their stressful lives to act like children (by having simple fun, not by throwing temper tantrums), i'm pretty sure the world wouldn't stop spinning and they might remember what it feels like to not be stressed out.

i hope to never lose sight of the little things that make me smile (like a really terrible joke or blue nail polish) even as i grow into a more responsible adult (what that means, i've yet to learn...)

x!

it's summertime and i'm bouncing around.

ahhh. the school year has ended. and i have relocated again.  

while i am beyond excited to spend summer 2k12 in richmond, va, the constant moving around is beginning to really wear me down.  as i was moving out of my most recent apartment, i realized that the last place i lived in for longer than a year was my parents house - more than 6 years ago.  and a for a lot of those 6 years, i lived in more than one place.  like 3rd year of college when i spent 5 months in siena, italy.  that year i moved into the sorority house in august, home for december, to italy in january, and back to charlottesville in june.  that is so many moves in one year!  and you shouldn't be surprised to hear that i had many years that looked like that during my past 6. 

so i'm exhausted from moving hundreds of times in the past 6 years but the thought of actively deciding to move somewhere to stay is terrifying to me.  

so we'll see what happens.  all i know is that i am very thankful to have a summer vacation and i don't know what i would do if i had to enter the real world where summer break (and spring break and christmas break) didn't exist.

i'm going to spend most of my time this summer in richmond getting to know the city (as much as i can in 2 months), reading, writing, and thinking.  hopefully i'll clear my head and relax about where i'm going to go and what i'm going to do because deep in the back of my head i am certain that everything is going to work out wonderfully!  and i don't need to know exactly how, i just need to sit back and enjoy the things as they come.

x!