Monday, July 21, 2014

Summer Version 2.0

     It's summer again. Actually it is almost exactly half way through summer for me. I used to love summer as a kid. All kids do. We used to get three entire months off for summer vacation; beginning in the early days of June and lasting until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Now THAT was a summer. Now we get out in mid-June and return to school in mid-August. Of course we now get three weeks off for Christmas (excuse me...it's called Winter Break) and an entire week off for Thanksgiving (which they still call Thanksgiving Break) and a week off for Easter (which of course can't be called Easter Break but Spring Break) that , at least in our district, includes an additional day off for Good Friday. But, I digress...back to summer.
     Last year in May I wrote a blog called "Summer"    http://stitchinglifetogether.blogspot.com/2013/05/summer.html
In that post I recounted all the things I had on my list of things to do during the summer. As a teacher, I think this is a fairly common thing for us to do. There is just not enough time in the school year to get done, all the things we want to do. Looking back at that list, I had a lot of things I wanted to get accomplished and I did get some of them done but not all of them. (To be truthful, I really didn't expect to get them all done; too much pressure!)
     I don't know what happened this year. It was a very stressful school year. We had a lot of issues with negotiating between the CTA Union and our district (I try not to get into the politics of it all but it does reflect on our daily teaching, and I think on the kids also.) This brought up conflicts between the staff. I eventually just had to back away from it all, close my class room door and teach, which is what I am there to do. One of the main issues in dispute (beyond the issue of a pay raise which is always at the front and center. Come on... we hadn't had a raise in 7 years!) was the district's action of taking away the ability of us choosing our own schedule, which we have been doing every other year for as long as anybody can remember. We ended up going from our lovely block schedule to what is called the 5 and 2. A 6 period day where one teaches 5 periods with a prep during the day and an additional prep before or after school. This necessitated revamping all the curriculum and ancillary lesson plans. And we didn't have much time to do it all. A very stressful time, indeed.
     Which brings me to the list making for the summer.
     As one can see from the list, I didn't take this year as seriously as I did last year. As a matter of fact, I didn't even come up with a list until my husband, Doug, bugged me about not having one. (Yes, he makes fun of my summer list because it is usually, o.k. always, over the top with expectations, and he knows me well enough to know I will not get them all done.) So, here, in all it's glory is THE LIST FOR SUMMER 2014! Items in no particular order, certainly not in importance!
  • Clean my keyboard (I actually got that done this morning!)
  • Sleep late as many days as possible. Check! (How about all but one so far?)
  • Leave stuff where I've been. Check! (This is called Jody happenings)
  • Not do the dishes Check! (If I leave them for any longer than a couple of hours the kitchen fairy does them: Doug.)
  • Drink more than one cup of coffee in the morning. Check!
  • Try to make Biscotti again. (Nope.)
  • Play in my sewing room. Check!
  • Clean out bathroom medicine cabinet. On my list for tomorrow!
  • Read. Check! On my 4th book.
  • Go out to breakfast. Check!
  • Go out to lunch. Check!
  • Go out to dinner. Check!
  • Play with cat. Check!
  • Harass Doug. Because I can. Check!
  • Work at quilt show. Check!
  • Change toilet paper rolls as needed. Check!
  • Write blog and novel when I feel like it. Check!
  • Swiffer floors when I feel like it. Check!
  • Visit with friends. Check!
  • Go to garage sales. Check
  • Not think about school. Well, mostly check but as all you teachers out there know, this is virtually impossible. I have done some research and some new lesson plans.
  • Stay up late. Check!
  • Finish all the episodes of Breaking Bad. Check!
  • Go to the movies. Check!
  • Eat popcorn. Check!
  • Get the mail. Check!
  • Check email. Check!
  • Play "Words with Friends." Check!
  • Play "Hanging with Friends." Check!
  • Play "Chess with Friends." Check!
  • Get my nails and toes done. Check!
  • Check my Facebook and post pictures. Check!
  • Visit Melody (my Acupuncturist) Check!
  • Go shopping with my Jennifer. Check!
  • Talk with my best friend, Nancy. Check!
  • Miss my David. Check!
I think it's great that this year's list has been so successful! I have three weeks of summer left and really, don't have anything to do except make Biscotti and clean out the medicine cabinet. Yay!




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