Fin de Aestas.

Summer is dangerously nearing it's end. Fin. Read: teacher goes back to work. The first sign: professional development tomorrow and Tuesday. 8 hours sitting in a conference room being schooled on the new teacher review techniques. Joy. Ha. The new evaluation system is ironically call "RISE." Joy again. It is my duty, as well as five other colleagues and my principal, to bring back to our peers, what we learn in the next two days. It is the first red flag that summer is nearing it's end.

At the start of the summer, I struggled to find my groove. Big Red and I had just brought home Olive, our puppy whom we adopted from Animal Friends. While I grew up in a household with pets, I was never the primary care-giver. My parents were. As a kid I was oblivious to the responsibility, time and money that went into having a dog or a cat. I will admit that Olive is a huge responsibility, but the love and laughter she's brought into our home is undefinable and irreplaceable. Her presence outweighs her burden of care. She just the best little pooch ever and we love her to death.

I completed 12 sessions of a boot camp with two other girlfriends. I lost inches and a few pounds, but quickly erased those efforts with a two-week vacation to California. I'm happy to report I'm back on the wagon and am now down 4 lbs. again!

Big Red has been struggling with his career/work/job again. He finally got himself exorcised of the lousy dealership he'd been working for, and found work at an independent shop. All seemed well. Fast-forward a couple of weeks and he was coming home beat and long faced. I saw the black cloud above his gray eyes once again. The new job, while not the dealership, keeps him away for 12 hours, and he's not working on the imports he so loves. In an effort to cheer him up, and remind him of his dream of opening up his own shop, I gave him an early 34th birthday gift: a Dell laptop. I found a great deal at the Dell outlet. You can purchase refurbished laptops for a fraction of the cost. He was thrilled.

And just when he needed it, another little beacon of hope. While at the douchey dealership, he made friends with this kid, R. R busted out a few months ago, but took Big Red's name with him to his new boss. New boss is now opening up his own place (he's breaking away from an ailing silent partnership), and remembers Big Red. Big Red gets an offer of a little side money by helping New Boss and R out in the move to the new shop. That was yesterday. Big Red said he had a good conversation with New Boss. New Boss actually said that in a few months, he'd be looking to hire someone, and Big Red was first on the list.

My hubby came home a hopeful man. May not mean much to some, but Big Red doesn't often use the word hopeful. Meant a lot. Perhaps this little light is enough to get him through the next few months, and I'm keeping everything crossed that New Boss, really does turn out to be one.

Tonight I will charge my work laptop and get my backpack in order, as it is clearly nearing the fin de aestas.