This summer, I worked a job I hated that paid very little money.

This summer, I worked for a supervisor who wants to be a forensic criminologist where she will earn, according to her, approximately $300 an hour.  Even though she doesn’t like science.   And blood makes her squeamish.  (Stop laughing, Emily!)
This summer, I learned to sleep during the day time.  Thank you God for aluminum foil and my apologies to the neighbors who think we are afraid of an impending alien invasion.

This summer, I spoke more Spanish than English for the first time since the summer of 1994.  I still shock people when I rattle off a long statement or they see the face who talks to them on the other end of the phone.  I’m not anywhere close to fluent but no one expects the tall blond American to speak Spanish so well.

This summer, I learned to love my husband even more than I did before.  He handled everything.  EVERYTHING.  The dishes. Dinner. Laundry. The animals.  All the bills.  The car. The yard. On occasion, he even dusted.  And ran his business.  I don’t know how he did it but I am continually amazed at how dedicated this man is to me, to us.  If I’d known marriage would be this good when life was so hard, I wouldn’t have bothered with any of the trolls I dated before him.   He rocks my world.

This summer, I started to move past my teaching career.  I don’t know if it’s totally over and done with but it’s on hold and I’m ok with that.  I keep thinking about all the things I want to do and I’m excited by the time I have to do them.  The list is long but there’s nothing holding us back from knocking them off, one at a time.

This summer, it started to get easier.  All of the bullshit from the previous 7 months seemed to sting less.  It’s not been easy.  I’ve worked 32 days without a break and even then, I only got one day off in the last 55 days.  I’m exhausted but there is time to refresh myself.   I’m weary but tomorrow will be the beginning of the rest of the adventure.

This summer will end tonight when I go to my piddly graveyard job at the cannery for the last time and say good-bye to new friends, old acquaintances, and the never ending nemesis who is on first shift.  One day I will write about her but for now, she’s a character in the ongoing saga that has been the summer of 2009.  I’m glad it’s over.  It feels like shedding an old skin, one that needed to be sloughed off.  I’m ready for something new, interesting, exciting.

I’m ready for the autumn to come, for the leaves to start turning, the nights to become cool and crisp.  I’m ready to change the clocks back, to build a fire in the hearth and enjoy the dog’s sighs as he tries to get closer to the warmth of the crackling logs.  Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year and this year, I will be home with my husband, doing things I love.  Writing. Baking. Sewing. Riding bikes. Traveling.  Seeing friends and family.  Working in the garden.  Reading.

I didn’t think it would feel right to be home and not teaching but for some reason, after this wretched year, it all seems ok or that it will be very soon.