The First Day of the Rest of My Summer

It is 9:30 on Saturday after my last day of teaching school for this year.
I'm still in my pajamas.
I pulled back the shades to let daylight into this house.
My cat is sitting in the window looking out at the world.
I hear birds outside sweetly singing. (probably because my cat is behind glass)
The best part is I don't have work from school looming in my bookbag ruining my day.
Life is good!

I love summer vacation. But this year I love it more than most. I'm not sure why, but I was particularly looking forward to this time away from school. The older I get and the longer I teach (I have 25 years service with this district and two with others...yeah, I'm old.) the more I really need these summers.

However I think the big reason I've been looking forward to this summer is because there is no major move to be made. Three summers ago I packed up my classroom I'd taught in for 13 or so years because the whole school was moving to another building. I must have packed 200 boxes of mine and the schools things for that move. You should have seen the pile I left for trash. That school building has since been demolished. That was the same summer that my oldest son graduated with his master's degree from ACU...the weekend just before the movers were to take my school boxes to the new building. (which wasn't new at all & another story) I started work the Monday just following that weekend. Oh and my son and his wife were packing and cleaning out their apartment in Abilene to move to Michigan. So while we were there for graduation, we helped them finish that task and we watched them drive away on that long journey.

The next summer, my husband and I moved from our house in Pinehurst where we'd lived 23 years and raised our three boys. We also moved my middle son and his wife to Baytown. In fact those poor people were moved three times in two months. Yet another story. So I packed box after box after box and thought it would never end. The week just before we moved to the new house, Kim had to be in New York for a week. So guess who packed and packed and packed? But the good thing about that move was about three days after we got into this house, we turned around and left for a Florida vacation. Well I don't know now how good it was because we left a lot of work here. The good part was that we got away with our son and his wife and had a lot of fun seeing Disney World. It was all the work when we returned that was tough.

Then last summer I packed more boxes and moved to another school building. I couldn't stand the "new" school building of my old job. So I repacked my teaching things (some had never been unpacked from the first move) and in about two moves with our van, drove them over to the new building (which really is new). I loaded my van by myself and unloaded and carted all of those boxes at the new building by myself. I've enjoyed my new school building very much since it is only 3 blocks from my new (to me) house.

So I'm happy about NOT moving or packing boxes this summer. Well that is not entirely true. It is our second summer in this house and I still have a garage full of boxes that need to be unpacked or moved or trashed. I'm leaning toward the latter. I'm going to take my time with it though because I know that I will have to do it all by myself. I don't care though because I'll do it my way and no one will complain. No one else wants the job.

So I'm keeping plenty of Bud Lite in the fridge to cool down with and I'm making that garage my summer project. The best part is I don't have to move in or out of any place this summer. It is my ambition to be a bum every day or so and do nothing. So if you're planning on a visit...come on...we'll go out to eat and may even take you to play on the beach. Just don't ask me to pack or move you anywhere. I'm done!