Weeks 68 The Places I've Bounced To and Fro

After living with Chris & Christine, I spent some time with my friends Tina & Todd. I found this to be another fun experience in very different ways. Tina and Todd have a very busy household. Two boys (ages 17 & 11), three cats, one dog, and various other creatures that consist of hermit crabs, an ant farm, and caterpillars galore. With all of the energy, bouncing around the house, there was no time for being bored.

Being a teacher and not having children of my own, I’ve often wondered how teachers with children were able to go home and have enough energy to give to their own kids. I know that when I walk out of school in the afternoons, I am absolutely drained, and for the life of me, couldn’t imagine having to go home to take care of more kids. I found the answer to this question when living with Tina & Todd. I realized that after I got out of school, I was actually looking forward to getting back to their house...Mitch was away for the week, but Cole was home. We had a lot of fun together...hunting for caterpillars, eggs & cocoons; taking walks to

Indian Brook; playing board games & video games; or simply chatting about the days events. There was a lot of laughter heard throughout the house. Yes, there was the day to day mundane stuff that needed to get done, but when it was cushioned with the fun stuff, there was no time for being tired.

The mornings were quiet...I had to get up earlier than Tina and Todd did. I’d take about 15 mins each morning to sit out on their back deck sipping away at my coffee. During that time I enjoyed watching the sun’s rays bouncing off the flowers in the flower/vegetable garden while also listening to the chatter of the birds greeting one another. I also found solitude in the late afternoon early evening in their back yard. I’d take my camera outside, capturing the beauty of the gardens through the lens. Again, this was another way for me to have some alone time, even when the house was full of happy, fun, energy.

Towards the end of week six, I moved my stuff over to Shannon and Benjamin’s place. They were going out of town for a week, so I house and dog sat.

This was the first time that I really had as much alone time as I did when I had my own place...It was rather interesting to say the least.

It took a few days to adjust to not sharing a house with anyone. It didn't help that the weather wasn't the best...it was pretty gloomy. Then to top it off, it was my first week of vacation. I needed to create a new routine for myself. When I had my own place, it was pretty easy. There was always something around the condo that needed to be done...some project I wanted to start or finish. When you don't own your own place, all of those projects go away. I decided to take 2 days off...just chill out and be spontaneous. After that I began to fill my days with various activities. I still needed to clean all of my personal stuff out of my classroom, so that filled a good chunk of time. Before I knew it, my entire week was packed with "Things To Do". I had my daily walks with Stella (the dog), bike rides; a hike with Mike; a trip to Shelburne Museum; dinners with friends;

and the icing on the cake was going to the Grand Points North Festival that Grace Potter put on.

I ended my time at Shannon and Benjamin's, transitioning back to Tina and Todd's. I went from one house & dog sitting gig to another. It was a good time at Tina and Todd's...Ryder wasn't that fond of me walking him...so I didn't. Instead we played a lot outside, and took a lot of car rides, visiting friends. The rest of my time was planning and prepping for a trip to Maine...That'll be my next blog entry.

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