~ The Summer of Michelle ~

I love the sitcom Seinfeld. Maybe that is why, as I was thinking back over the summer, the episode “The Summer of George” came to mind. For many of us who work in the schools, we do have summers off, as did George in this particular episode. Each summer, I tend to make lofty plans of what I will accomplish during the break. My plans usually revolve around the deep cleaning and organizing of my house. Hmmm…not this summer J

For me, this was the summer of “firsts.” Several of them in fact…

I have the ultimate blended family. My husband blessed with me wonderful step daughters, who in turn, blessed me with wonderful step grandchildren. I actually became a MeMe at the ripe age of 31, two years after my youngest son was born. This summer, we all spent five glorious days at the beach…minus my oldest son (working) and a couple of grandkids (church camp). This was the first vacation we took together since the girls were grown. What a wonderful time we had. Below is the view of our “backyard.”

Despite the near drowning of my husband (God is good, and my son-in-law will forever be a hero in my eyes) and the blistering my son and I received the first day at the beach, our week was perfect. We laughed, played, relaxed, ate, and enjoyed the grandkids. On our last night, we went to my favorite restaurant at PCB…Dirty Dick’s…and celebrated my birthday.

My second “first” was a girls only trip with my sister to a quilt retreat at Gruber’s. It’s hard to believe, that at my age, I have never had a girls weekend, not even with my sister. Boy, have I been missing out!!! I cannot begin to describe (although I tried in an earlier posting) what a special time this was for me. Rene’ and I had almost four days of togetherness to visit, quilt, and just enjoy being with each other. One of the most special relationships is that of sisters. Once again, I am so blessed… God is good!!

And my third “first” was meeting a group of special ladies at the retreat, who after only a few days together, I feel such a friendship with. I can’t wait until next year’s retreat, but in the meantime, I enjoy keeping in touch through blogs, email, and Facebook!

So…The Summer of Michelle draws to an end, as I return to school Monday. But I have so many special memories to draw from during this upcoming year to hold me over until May. God bless my wonderful family and friends!!

Have a great weekend!

Michelle