New Beginnings

{Kaylee and Greg}

I've learned to love the phrase "When one door closes another will open" even though it has taken on new meaning for me as I've grown older.  I used to think the door was closed on you and I now see it that sometimes you can be the one to close the door.

We've had a few recent and exciting changes in our family. My stepdaughter Kaylee recently graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio and we made the trek across three states to attend this monumental event.  My in-laws and my brother- and sister-in-law with their young daughter, Sophie made the trip as well. They came from the opposite direction to meet us.  We not only celebrated Kaylee's graduation all weekend but also honored Allen, my father-in-law with a family dinner, a craft-beer tasting and many unique cards for his 80th birthday.

As Kaylee closes the door on her last four years of school she is open to new possibilities of where ever her talents will take her.  She is spending the summer in Bar Harbor, MA, working at a local brewery with a group of young people.  Over the graduation weekend I watched her explain her choices and stand by her idea that she was seeking adventures that would lead to writing opportunities and not just taking a post-college job.  She is an excellent writer and my husband and I feel her stories are strong enough that she will sooner rather than later be paid to write creatively.  I look forward to watching her develop even more as a writer as she immerses herself in unique experiences.

And I need to find a way to get to Bar Harbor for a visit.  I've never been to Maine and I've heard it is absolutely one of our prettiest states.

As for myself I've recently been hired by a new school district to take the place of their retiring teacher-librarian.  I'm very excited about this new opportunity but also scared and thinking "what was I thinking..."  Even interviewing was a challenge for me but I made it through.  It will be frightening to get to know a new staff.  I'm comfortable with the staff at Highland and know the expectations of students, staff, and administration.  Getting to know a new place of work, student's names, reading ranges, and likes will be a big hurdle.  I did want to push myself professionally though and to do that I had to close the door on the known.

{Groovy Girl and friends after talent show performance success}

Groovy Girl faces her own doors as she graduated out of her beloved elementary school and is now a 7th grade student at one of our local junior high schools.  She is excited for the adventure right now but I know once we hit August her anxiety will build until she walks through those new doors and finds she is capable.  Luckily my new elementary is just across the parking lot from her school so we'll be able to give each other strength as we open the doors on that first morning and the second and the third.

Lots happening in this neck of the woods...
How about you?  What new challenges are you tackling over the next few months?