Soon to be put to the test

It's a gray and rainy day today, and I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and drinking some tea for the first time in months. It's easy to see that the start of school is right around the corner. Living only steps away from a college campus makes this hard to ignore too--students have started moving back, there are more people and cars around, and you can hear the football team up at the stadium in the afternoons. It makes me want to sharpen pencils and get a new pair of shoes.

It's been fun to get Evan ready for school this year (aside from the usual disaster that is trying to find slim jeans). He's got some school clothes now, and yesterday we picked up a big kid bookbag and a new lunchbox. They actually make metal lunchboxes again, which I haven't seen in years. Ev picked out a Diego one, and he's very excited about it. We have kindergarten orientation on Thursday, and then he has a meet and greet with his new teacher next Tuesday. I'm not nervous or worried (yet), I'm just going with the excitement thing because Evan seems to be leaning that way. I can't believe he starts his "official" school career in just 8 days. I'll have to warn him about his permanent record.

As excited as we are for school to start, I'm almost sad to see the summer go. There's always 10 more things I'd like to do with the boys, and never enough time. Maybe I'm feeling it more keenly this year because Evan's going to be gone 5 days a week, all day. There will be no time for playdates or day trips once next Wednesday arrives. Luckily, little G will still be around to keep me company and make sure I don't get too much done around the house.