Today is August 1^st, 2014. Seven months of this year are over; meaning that just as quickly as those disappeared into the annals of history, the next five will follow and it will be 2015 when I blink.  Then it will be summer 2015 and then 2016 will be here. And so on.  Many of us middle-agers shake our heads and wonder if time seems to be going faster because each year is a smaller percentage of our time on this planet (1/53 is a LOT smaller than 1/20 after all).  I’m not sure that fact explains the feeling that the years are passing faster than you can rip off a calendar page (for those of you not in middle age, a “calendar” used to be made of paper bound together with a pretty photo for each month and it hung on the wall.  We used to actually either rip off each month or fold it over to expose the next one.  Now it’s just an ancient and quaint metaphor…oh never mind).   The reason I am not sure that it has to do with mathematical explanations is the fact that even my kindergartners despair at how fast the school year goes.  When I was five, I was not aware of things like time- each school day dragged on forever, but so did each glorious day of summer. It is a bit astounding to me that someone who has only been on this planet for a few years can sense time slipping away and moan about it.

The thing is, when I look back over these past few months that I have not sat down to write a blog entry, a LOT has happened in my personal life and in the lives of those I love.   We hosted a wedding celebration for our daughter and son-in-law; our other daughter completed year one of an incredible and incredibly challenging Master’s degree in Marine Biology; our son moved halfway across the country; our fifth grade ballroom dance team took first place in New York City’s Color of the Rainbow competition; we bought a new property as an investment and completed renovations on our current project; my first summer school job in twenty seven years is almost over; I had a wonderful long weekend visit with an “old” friend and two of her children; and lots of day trips and nights out.  My calendar (the one on my iphone- I am not a complete Bohemian) is full of those little grey dots that mean I have been very, very busy.

I have to kvell a bit about the wedding so forgive a proud mother, please.  Our backyard, which was transformed in one month from a muddy, recently-frozen mess into a serene and beautiful showcase by my amazing hubby and his crews, made a gorgeous flower-filled backdrop for the one hundred close friends and family who made the trek from all over the county and from as far away as Spain to witness and celebrate the union of two very loving and loved young people.  It was a glorious day, with rain falling all around our town but never daring to dampen our doorstep and providing us with a brilliant sunset as we ate, danced and drank our way through the night.   In short, it was perfect. Sigh.  I will admit to being a bit proud of myself for helping to put this event together.  Having it at our home meant my daughter and I had to put all the pieces together: caterer, DJ, jazz band for the cocktail hour and ceremony; drinks (I made mimosas all day long for the bridesmaids as they prepared, and ten gallons of sangria for the evening), tent rental.  I can’t even remember anymore all that we put into this; hubby and the other two kids and their significant ones also ran around like headless chickens in the hours before it all began to put the finishing touches together.  It was certainly worth it, as everyone seemed to enjoy the night.  As usual, hubby and I along with our college friends who traveled long to get here to celebrate the first wedding among our ten kids, closed down the night with memories and laughs as the sun came up.  What a good time.  Okay, kvelling over.

The summer is zooming by.  In just two weeks, I will be heading to Spain for an amazing nearly three-week journey.  I will meet another old friend and do a road trip around the northwest part of the country, then meet my daughter in Madrid and trip around for a few days before picking up hubby at the airport in Sevilla.  We plan to explore Portugal and enjoy the south of Spain where the kids live now.  I promise some cool photos and stories after the fact…and four days after we return, a new school year begins- my thirty second year in the classroom, adding approximately twenty more kiddies to the hundreds who have passed through my door.

Yep, time is slipping away at a rapid and scary pace.  But each day is a new adventure, an open door with the promise of new possibilities, when even mundane activities or quiet times add to the list of things I ponder as I drift off to sleep each night.   Maybe the truth is that the years seem to be passing so quickly because I am so busy.  I don’t have time to think about that…on to the next thing!