Summer Half-time Report

Today marks the beginning of the second half of my summer break from teaching. During the past weeks I've pretty much kept up with my routines, except my often neglected desk day duties. I've cleaned out my bedroom closet, my mud room entryway and my drawer in my home office desk. I thought cleaning out my overflowing desk drawer would help motivate me to work on the stuff on top of the desk. No such luck. I've made a list of some furniture and a few organizing accessories that will have me on the lookout when I'm out and about in the next month or so.  I've read a few good books (nothing great yet), took a few day trips, went to see a few movies, and relaxed  while occasionally  getting splashed in the pool. I have had several days that I really didn't do much of anything. They were days when I just did the basic, bare minimum, routines and whatever I wanted to do like catching up with my television programs, reading all day and even into the wee hours of the morning, cyber-socializing and surfing the net, hanging out with friends and family, or sitting by the pool drinking something cool and refreshing. I've also kept up with work as most teachers do, reading parts of a couple of education books, getting caught up with reading my education journals (magazines), spending a day at a workshop with a couple of colleagues, and working on plans to restructure the classes I teach and preparing for a smooth start for the new year. Planning and writing has started for an education themed blog that I hope to launch soon, and I am currently playing around with a couple of specific ideas for its name and purpose. I've spent a couple of days in my classroom getting supplies, books and manipulatives uncluttered and labeled, and at least an hour or two each week I've spent working on planning for the smooth start for the new school year.

So much for the reflection of the first half. It's done and whatever my level of productivity, I feel rested, semi-organized and ready for what is to come. Now it's time for the pep talk to prepare for a great second half. Very soon we will be on the go as my family has been planning our summer vacation for weeks. It is hoped to be an exciting trek north and west to see Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park,  the Seattle, WA area and our family living there, the Olympic and Rocky Mountains, my favorite city, Colorado Springs, CO, and everything in between. Joe is staying behind this time to work as this is the busy season for his new job. He has a long list of projects that he is hopeful to complete while the boys and I are away, and hopefully some quality fishing time. I've arranged for neighbors to take care of the flowerbeds and the dog as those are things that Joe may not have time to deal with day to day. My almost ten year old and I will be celebrating our birthdays during mid-July and when we return, we will also have an extended family party here at home. Before school begins again we are planning to see a couple of movies when they are released in theaters, a day trip to the zoo and another one to a theme park. We will do some camping on our trip northwest and hopefully will do some lake time and more camping with Joe when we return. And before it all begins I am working on getting a lot of things organized. Whew! Is that enough? I'm amped to get as much as I can out of the rest of this summer break. Ready....Set.... Just do it!!!!!

The Heat Is on

Summer is here. The calendar and the heat advisory that is now in effect shows that my favorite season has arrived. What do I love about Summer? I can think of many things. Here are my top ten.

10. Having weeks and weeks to get my act together
9. Being able to read a book from start to finish in a day
8. Cooling off in the pool.
7. Going to the lake in the middle of the week when it is not crowded.
6. 4th of July picnics and fireworks
5. Sleeping in until after 7, at least until the second week in August arrives
4. The big family vacation
3. Day trips on any day of the week
2. Sharing meals out on the patio
1. Spending hours and hours each day with my family. I can't seem to get enough hugs once school starts.

Did I ever mention before that I love Summer?!?!

Summer Closets and Novels

Summer is here. For me that means a lot of time that I can plan to do as I wish. I don't have to officially report back to work for about eight more weeks, and I have a long list of things I want to do before the summer is over and I need to go back to the schedule of being away from home about 10 hours a day, five days a week. At the top of my list, before even reading a novel or sitting lake or poolside, is the desire to get my closets cleaned out.

I have been a bit surprised with how much had been stowed away into closets over the past year. I have given each closet basic clean-up time a few times over the year, but there have been far too many items that really need to go live somewhere else. They are still inhabitants of my home, hiding out in my closets waiting for someone to call out a request, or more likely, to head to a local charity.

Over the past two weeks I have cleaned out two large closets, resulting in two large trash bags full of trash that has met with my curb. It has also resulted in many items that need to take a trip; clothes that I no longer wear, books I no longer read, games we no longer play, toys and furniture the boys have outgrown, and decorative items I no longer love. There is more. I know, it really sounds like a sad story, but you get the picture. Lots of stuff ready to leave. So while sorting through my closets, I have created a few new tasks and errands. Loading up the surplus and getting it to where it can benefit someone. Since I live in the boonies and don't go to town that often, I will have to plan the trip as I go to do other errands.

My next big goal is to tame the paper monster that is looming in my desk area. It was created with a couple of desk sweeps. You know, sweeping everything off the desk and putting it into the action later box. Well now is the time for action. I have sorted through it a couple of times in search of bills, etc. It has come in handy. But now I need to decide what needs to be filed, what needs to be acted on and what needs to be trashed/shredded (FAT). I also have drawers, closets and cabinets left to sort through. And my kitchen is an elephant all its own.

The big question is, why do I put off for summer things that just eat up my lake and novel reading time? I really need to live the "Do it Now, Girl" (DING) motto. I am setting a pace to get some productive decluttering/organizing done, but I also need to make sure there is time for reading, movie watching and playing with the kids. We still haven't planned our summer trip. Or should I say, I haven't planned it yet.

Now, I'm off to watch the boys play in the pool. Where did my novel go? Oh, there it is, next to the sunscreen. I think I may actually get to finish a book or two this summer.

Counting the Days

It is time to get it together. I have a wonderfully long Summer Break coming soon. Usually I spend the first week or so just chilling out in recovery of the school year...not this time. I have no stress from which to recover. Well nothing other than the high work load, and that will end when my contract days are done. It has been a very good year. I've been blessed at work with great kids, great parents, and better yet, great friends to work with every day. I almost don't want it to end. I am losing a teacher from my team this year. She is moving on with her military family. So I will savor her company while she is still here. The school year ending is almost always bittersweet.

So on for, "How am I not going to let the summer pass without getting out of it all that I want?" First I must reflect on my past summer habits. Five years ago, I had a very stressful year of work. I was in a contract and had to endure a very tough year. It took me the last months of my contract and the first two weeks of summer to get a new contract in a much better work environment. I spent the rest of the summer on recovery. The last three summers I have kind of fell into the same pattern...and not properly planned for the summer. I did plan a family vacation and a few trips to the lake, but I did not get to any of my summer's agenda.

This year I am going to have a much bigger and broader plan. I am not going to plan every day down to the last minute of detail, but I am going to set goals for days and weeks. So where to begin? My plans are to sleep in from time to time, but I will also rise early to enjoy the coolness that only morning brings in the summer season. Early morning rising also usual means a more productive day for me, so if I have a day of tasks or somewhere to be, I will be up as soon as the sun hits the horizon.

I am going to read a lot this year. I have no babies or toddlers to care for minute by minute anymore, no lesson plans to create, time on my hands and a very long list of books I want to read. I have the Twilight series on the top my list. I have ordered the books, so will have my own copies to share with family, friends or students after I finish them myself. I also have to read the next Shopaholic books. Enjoyed the first one so much, I'm looking forward to reading the next books in the series. I will search for recommendations when I finish with those, but have considered reading the Harry Potter books...probably a too tall order for my summer, but something I am considering. What do you think?

During the first week I am going to work on closets. I have a friend that will be working on hers as well.It is always nice to have a buddy when working on projects. We have committed to a closet a day on the first week after school is out. I also have a Twitter friend that has agreed to work on intense decluttering with me once our break begins. I think getting all of that out of the way at the beginning (and I don't see it taking more than a week or so- you do believe me, right?), leaves me time to plan other outrageously fun activities for the summer. Last year we didn't get to the lake much because it rained what seemed to be every other day until August. We squeezed in a few lake trips, but did get rained on every time we went out. The running joke last year was that I got my workouts putting the cushions off the patio furniture every time it rained and then back on again as soon as the rain clouds passed. Who wants to sit on wet cushions, right?

I have yet to even begin to plan our "get away from it all" vacation. I usually have an idea by now where we are headed, and generally when we will go so Joe and any of the older boys that are interested can arrange their schedules for time off. This year we do have family that is planning to head this way, and I don't want to be out of town when they come so I am waiting to hear when they are headed here. As far as planning the actual trip, I can usually do that within just a week or two. I prefer to drive and see the sights since we have some time off. Or, I should more accurately say Joe does the driving. I am the navigator. We sometimes reserve a room before we leave home, other times we stop when and where we are done for the day. Every trip has its own unique memories, although our trips are frequent enough they start to run together in my mind. This is definitely a great thing. I love that my kids are getting so many great experiences, and I really enjoy the chance to travel so often.

So the countdown begins. Not because I need the break, but because it is coming nonetheless. I want to spend some time with family and friends, and to make our home a place where we can enjoy each others company. I want to be ready to make it a summer that at the end I will feel as if I lived it well.

It's Still Summer!

It's still summer, even though I have had to go to work every week day for the past three weeks. The weather is still warm, I have not had to carry a jacket yet. We have been able to eat out on the patio several times this past week since it is not blazing hot out anymore. The kids have settled into school routines fairly easily, but have enjoyed playing out in the afternoons and weekends. I do love Summer, even though I don't get any more leisurely vacation days. Oh well, Labor Day is coming soon. A three day weekend sounds nice. I hope the weather is good too.