By the completion of this school year, I actually felt pretty burned out. And that rarely happens to me with my particular profession. I love teaching history to teenagers so much. It feels my cup, and scratches my itch for creativity, social interaction, and hyper energy. But due to numerous snow days, this school year went on a bit too long - and I was tapped out by the second week of June.
We followed the end of school with Jessica's working an extra week at school (though she was equally burned out - hats off to her) - and my hanging out with the kids all week (Camp Graham). We followed that with my teaching four days worth of games at Marketplace (the Presbyterian/Episcopal Bible School for most of Asheville). By the end (last Thursday), I was almost unable to engage in a conversation with another human - and can not even think about making any type of plan (lesson plan or otherwise) for at least a month. I was socially, professionally, and physically exhausted. I was out of balance. And I knew it. I needed to do something totally different than what I had been doing.
So we went camping with some good friends this past weekend. We packed it up and headed to James Island (Charleston, SC). We got poured on, hit a water park, slept in hammocks, went to Folly beach, and ate like kings. We were dirty, sleep deprived, and covered in bug bites. Tents were blown over by a storm, frogs were everywhere, and the kids ran free. It was wonderful, and was just the thing to hit my reset button.Having an adventure in the outdoors is often the thing that tips the scales for my personal equilibrium. I returned home with new eyes - looking forward to just being in our house, watching the World Cup, and spending comfortable time with my family.
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