Morning Thoughts: One Day More

 There's only one day until Thanksgiving break. 

Things have been hard lately, and painful almost all the time. I'm in the middle of a bunch of projects (as always), the biggest of which is one I really, really don't want to do, and it's wearing me out. My back is a constant problem, in some ways getting slowly better and in others slowly worse. I'm barely sleeping at night. I'm exhausted in every way. 

But after work today, I'm done for nine days. I can stay home. I can rest. I can be with my family. I can put aside certain projects for a while. I am sooooo looking forward to it.

I know the ability to take a whole week off at Thanksgiving is a huge privilege that few people, including other teachers, have. My school gives us a week here and at one other time instead of just a few days, and we make up for it by starting a bit earlier in the fall and ending a bit later in the summer than other schools. I'm so grateful for that. I need the time off much more in the middle of the year. It's a huge blessing. Especially this year. 

I'm looking forward to being home when my kids wake up in the morning. I'm looking forward to not having to drag the oldest two out of bed at 5:30 every day so they can (barely) get to school on time. I'm looking forward to spending that lovely last hour of the night's sleep lying half-awake in bed, comfortable and aware of my wife beside me (and, let's be honest, usually a kid or two as well), instead of pushing my limits every day until I drop unconscious on the mattress only to be forced back from insufficient rest by a blaring noise calculated to be so obnoxious that it can disrupt even that dark slumber. I long to be awakened by the gently lightening sky instead of by the panicked remembrance of an artificial schedule and unpleasant priorities. This time of year I usually leave home before the sun is up and get back after it's down. I'm eager to not do that for a while.

I'm looking forward to cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my wife, to having a good meal at home and then going to visit family. It's our oldest daughter's last year before adulthood, and we're opting to eat at home for that reason, in addition to pandemic ones. While we love eating with extended family, we also want her to have memories of things like that happening in our home.

I'm hoping to knock a few movies off my very long list, and to spend some time on home projects instead of work ones. I'm planning to play with my kids a lot. 

Also, I'm really excited to spend some time with my dad testing out a sweet vintage camera I found at a local thrift store. 

He seems just as excited. I haven't done film-based photography since I was a kid, and this interest is something I got from him. I probably won't be very good at it to start with, but I've been practicing compositions in a more traditional aspect ratio to get ready for it. Of course I'm going to shoot black and white on this thing. But that's a subject for another post. 

The point is that this break will be much needed, and I hope it's full of good, restful, rejuvenating things. I know it won't all be that, and there will be plenty of work to do, but it will be different work, done with the people I love most in all the world. And hopefully there will be plenty of blessed sleep. 

Anyway, that's about all I can think about this morning.