Hello, second half.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll say it again: This is the first day of the best half of the year. July 1. January through June are over…the most pointless months of the year. Done. Over. Finished. BYE.
July 1 means:
Independence and American pride, tropical vacations, golf lessons, summer birthdays, college football season is almost upon us, and the pumpkins come out on the first day of school…and then it’s my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. What else could you possibly want in life other than this second half of the year that brings with it so much joy?
July 1 is like New Year’s Day for those of us with fall-scented candles and very little self-control. I’m ordering new ones. I’m rearranging the candle cabinet to bring the fall scents forward, but I’m not lighting them until the pumpkins go out on the first day of school in August.
Probably.
So long, first half.
Final exam for the kids and taxes for the adults and school schedules and graduation events and sports seasons that seemed absolutely endless…it’s been a solid 5.5 weeks since all that ended for us, and I’m still exhausted (and perpetually hot because what the hell is this August heat two months early???). The first half of the year is dumb. Yes, I said it. I meant it. You won’t change my mind.
The second half is where the magic lives. The first half is survival mode. The second half is where there is joy and happiness and magic and endless memories to make. The fact that it is officially the first day of my favorite half of the year? You can just move right along because this is where I shine.
But first…summer.
All right, I’m not knocking summer. It’s still, admittedly, my least favorite season. You guys…it’s fucking HOT all the time and I’m constantly sweaty and it’s unbearably humid. WHO LIKES THIS??? And what kind of monster are you???
That said, I’m having a fun summer. We kicked it off with five days in our favorite beach town (we call it 30A…perhaps you’ve heard of it?) in a gorgeous beach house on our favorite street on our favorite beach. It was truly a magical vacation. We came home to unwind for a week before taking off for St. Pete Beach for a few days (I’m going to say this here, and it’s going to be an unpopular opinion, but the vibe, the aesthetic, the restaurants, the people…it’s not for me. Take me back to 30A) with the kiddos. We got to go see my two favorites (Thomas Rhett and Morgan Wallen), too.
Throw in a week of head colds in which we did absolutely nothing with our lives but try to recover, and now we are back to feeling good and keeping busy. Lots of time with friends enjoying our pools and our homes.
Addy officially turns 18 this month. We have a gorgeous vacation coming up that’s half a graduation gift for Addy and Riley and half an 18th birthday celebration for our almost adult (we say half because this is a BIG trip). We get a little weekend away with the big girls while they go to the Megan Moroney concert, and we enjoy date night NOT at the Megan Moroney concert.
In a few weeks, we will be soaking up the sun in a private villa in the Caribbean, pretending calories don’t count, and ignoring our emails and real lives for a week. Our firstborn daughter turns 18. The kids go back to school a few weeks later to start their sophomore and seventh-grade years. Addy moves into her dorm a few weeks after that, and we will officially be the family that no longer all lives under the same roof.
Am I ready for this?
Absolutely not.
But I’m so excited for our girl and her new adventure.
And I’ll be all right because I can pop down to visit her on a whim (she’s going to be so tired of me), she’ll be home often, and I’ll have college football on Saturdays, pumpkin spice stuff, and my NFL bracket to keep me busy.
I might have to move my baby out of my house and into her own (and I’m begging time to slow down between now and then), but I’m sprinting toward fall decorating, books that feel better with a cozy blanket, fireplace nights, mornings that are actually cool and enjoyable, and the holidays. The twinkly lights. The music. The ambiance. The memories. The moments.
Maybe that’s why I love the second half of the year so much. The whole season is less about checking off boxes of things that need to be done and more about making everyday moments into lifetime memories. There’s more enjoyment, more activity, more fun, more traditions. Somehow, random Tuesday nights this time of year offer a little more magic because of what they mean.
So…here’s to July 1. Here’s to the adventures waiting on this side of the calendar year. Here’s to family vacations and college and watching my daughter become an adult and football and cooler weather on the (distant) horizon.
Here’s to the best time of the year.
Tiffany Raiford 