The fastest hottest summer

What's been going on, what it's like.

First, I want to remind you that today is not Monday like I thought. In fact, it’s Tuesday. Which can be both good and bad, depending on how you look at it, and what you have on your plate this week.

I have processed a lot of the summer, particularly the stuff that made it difficult, and here it is in comic form.

Yeah, we have one kid, and up until this point, every growth moment has been a treasure and happy thing to witness. But something sits different about entering high school. It’s the milestones are no longer small building blocks, but giant leaps into adulthood. And our best job is to sit back and watch it happen. There’s a lot of unplanned showing up when they need it, and chaos where there was once structure and security.

And no one likes change, so there was a lot of processing of it for me. And when things get hard, I get overwhelmed, and I burn out very quickly. I then retreat or hide, whatever you want to call it, until I can mentally step out again, and take a deep breath and get back on the ride.

As I pulled back to regain control of the chaos, all of the fear and doubt filtered in, and I spun my wheels. Also, it was hot out. I like the heat, but this was different. The humidity was so high that your pores filled with water the moment you set foot outside. It honestly felt like my skin could no longer breathe freely, which meant neither could I. I would walk the same route I always did, and now I felt breathless. This always triggered the negative self talk about body image, which then sent me right back to feeling overwhelmed. I felt like this summer, my best friend was the air conditioner.

All of the outdoor things I longed for: skateboarding, bike riding, walking, walking the dogs, swimming, laying in my hammock, sitting on the deck…all of it felt so awful, so uncomfortably hot. So, I stayed in.

As I spent time resting and regularly fighting off my own pet monster, negative self talk, I completely abandoned both my morning and bedtime routines. I know, I sound like I am a very young child, but I’m a sleepy person, and getting good rest is something that makes my body work properly, and when I don’t. You guessed it! I get overwhelmed and shut down. Why am I telling you all of this? Well, believe it or not again, to tell you that it’s okay to take a break in life, but it’s not okay to be mean to yourself about it.

Join me as I hop into the next level, and enjoy my comics. Thanks for all of your support, and kind words :)