Summertime!

A different feel this summer. Ending a chapter will do that.

Cleaning out my room at Watkins was strangely euphoric. I was anticipating sad. It was good to go through most everything and toss the totally useless, pass on the useless to me but useful to others, and keep everything else. I am really excited about the coming year now.

The summer schedule looks about the same - swim team, baseball, softball, and house stuff. Getting ready to gut the upstairs bathroom and do some other needed repairs and updates, as well as some major cleaning out of closets and kids' rooms. Fun fun fun!

We actually have a vacation planned to Tennessee that involves only a little sports this summer! It actually involved a fair amount of softball to start with, but Catherine got traded and then the Knoxville team moved to Nashville. So as it is we will see the Pride in Nashville for a couple days, then vacation in Knoxville. We will also make the yearly trek to OKC for World Cup. And possibly a trip to Sulphur, Louisana for NPF championships.

And before I know it, August will be here!

Another First Day

Tomorrow is the first day of school, my 46th over all! Thirteen for grade K through 12, five in college, and twenty eight in teaching. As always, I am nowhere near ready, but as ready as I can be. Kind of like having a baby. It happens no matter how much more time you think you need. It finally just gets here.

I spent all day yesterday (yes Saturday) in my room, 8AM to 4PM, trying to get things in some order. We had rooms reassigned at the end of last year. The room I was assigned to was left a huge mess, so I had to clean that before I could even move my stuff in. We had renovations over the summer, so we could not unpack stuff until renovations were done. Any guesses when that was??? Yes - Monday of this week! So in the middle of all the inservice week meetings, we have scattered hours here and there to get settled in. Fortunately, the work is still not done, although done in the classrooms, so the building was open. There were way too many teachers there for a Saturday, but it was nice to know I was not the only one behind the 8-ball.

Took Chris and 3 buddies to Comedy Sportz for his birthday last night. They had a blast! Getting ready to get breakfast ready for them this morning.

So I enjoy the last official day of vacation doing a mountain of laundry and maybe watching a movie. Also messing with a first day PPT and a lab safety PPT. Got some new software to download video clips from DVD's we own. Make things a little more fun for me and my kids. And then it begins again, another year, year forty six. And I am still loving it!

If Things Don't Work Out...

Last year at this time we were in China. And we had 2 dogs.

We came back from China on a Sunday. Monday Craig left for Abilene, Gary left for work as usual and Chris and I started back to school. I missed all of the inservice week - darn it! Just started the first day with the kids. At least jumping back into school helped the jet lag issue resolve a bit quicker.

I have one week of vacation left - sort of. I have a district DC meeting tomorrow, and a meeting at school Wed for a couple hours. But Monday our inservice starts. I start year twenty eight! I am eligible to retire this year, but won't. I still have lots of work to do.

In the past year we lost Abbey, daddy, and Duke. But we welcomed Rowdy. Life goes on. Different, but it goes on. Put one foot in front of the other and take a step. Then do it again. And again. And again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

A friend of mine shared this video with me, ercently. I have been a recipient of an e-mail with the text of this many times, but had never seen the video. I will make a point to watch it often. I like it! He says what I often think. I like his other stuff too. Check him out.



I have yet to get the whole house cleaned on one day this summer. I guess today is that day. Better get to work. Have a great day all!

Still At School

Well, sort of! Many teachers are changing classrooms for next year, so I am still going up cleaning and packing. The new room I am going to was not cleared out before the teacher left, so I have been working on cleaning it out, while my room still looks like a Cat 5 tornado hit it! :-) I hope to be able to get all of that cleared up this morning and start moving my stuff in.

I really wanted to use the move as an excuse to go through my things and throw stuff away, but having to spend time cleaning out the new room has pretty much forced me into throwing things in boxes in my room. Much of what was left in her room I either threw away without really sorting through it, or just shoving it into one of the cabinets in her new room. But the room was also a mess - rodent droppings and dried pee puddles in the cabinets and on the counters and stuff the kids did. We are getting new countertops in our rooms this summer, so we can not put stuff in the lower cabinets until they are done. So it is boxing day today! I guess I will try to go up early in August and sort through stuff.

After that - getting things at home in shape. Then Michelle and I leave for Chicago at the end of the week. Time to get things rolling!

Twelve Days

Five days next week, four the following week, and three the week after that. That is all that is left of this school year. Twelve days - but who is counting? Me! This was a week that seemed to have eight days in it rather than five.

Last night was 8th grade recognition night. I had to be on stage to shake hands (one of the jobs of the dept chair) but I also got a chance to give a certain 8th grader a huge hug as he received his accolades! ;-) It was quite funny today at school, the teachers and the girls in my classes all thought it was sweet that I gave Chris a hug. The boys all stated that they would be embarassed if their moms did that. Yeah, I know guys! But Chris was OK with it, and that is all that matters. So we close one more educational chapter as a parent - no more middle school. And as Chris pointed out on the way home - he gets to move out to college in 4 years! Geesh! Who's counting now??? And he asked how soon he can apply for his permit too. Help!

The end of the year is always sad and sweet. I started to take stuff down in my room tonight. The room starts to look a little more barren every few days as I take a few more things down. :-( But, it means summer vacation is around the corner. Sleep a little later, go to Chicago and see parents and friends, get some things done around the house. :-) The kids start to get really squirrely and annoying, but then during the last day or so will act like you are the best thing since sliced bread and be all sad to leave you! Many of them give us their phone numbers and implore us to call them. Yeah - I'll call you and we can discuss Mendel's experiments in genetics, OK?

I also like ending the year planning for next year. The nice thing about teaching school is that you have 3 new years, so you get to "start over" three times! I always strive to make the next year better, no matter which new year it is!

So here is to the next twelve days - go fast when kids are in my class but slow down on Saturdays and Sundays please. Summer vacation - here we come!