School's Out

This was our final work week (hurray for teachers!) and yesterday was our last day for the 2007-2008 school year.

The week was very quiet, actually. The kids came and helped me close down our room. My paraprofessional did not create the scene I had anticipated when she was placed on probation for the upcoming year. She did give grief to the principal and the head of my department, all of whom quietly protected me from letting her know just how unhappy she has made us this past year, but they kept me out of the fray. We ended the year on a nice note together which bodes well for next year. She probably won't improve her attendance or her timeliness in getting to school, but maybe she does understand that we all expect her to work when she is in the building -- and not spend the day playing computer games.

By 11 a.m. yesterday I was ready to check out. Of course, things never go quickly on the last day and I didn't actually leave the building until 2:30. But I left knowing I had a wonderful job for next year, a great group of kids to continue to work with, and a fabulous school to return to. The year ended on a very high note for me.

Two of the old-line SPED teachers are leaving, one to teach English in the school and one is moving to D.C. This assures me of a secure position at the end of next school year. I will no longer actually have to worry about staying at my wonderful high school.

Plans for the summer include:

1. Attending a couple of in-service sessions for planning my new course in the fall
2. Cooking Hubby healthy meals on my new stove; going grocery shopping for food for the nutritious meals -- I already have the One -Pot and Favorite Brand Slow Cooker books out for perusing
3. Getting ALL the wash done (I've done whites but the colored clothes have sat for six weeks or more)
4. Supporting Hubby as he looks to replace our auto -- I can no longer drive the 16 year old Lincoln because I can't rev it up fast enough to keep it running; we either need a new engine or a new (used) car (big sigh)
5. Cleaning out the computer room -- the room we seem to use the most and consequently it gets filled with soda cans, stacks of paper, used paper plates, old magazines, lost bills, pencil nubs, church programs, etc.
   
6. Building a web site for the church
7. Finding what I've got left of the church finance records and turning them over to the new administrators
8. Reading all the novels I've got piled up for a rainy day

We also may take a couple of weekend trips, to Branson and St. Louis, or we may not, depending on the car situation.

Anyway, nothing too arduous is in the works. Lots of late nights are planned with getting up mid-morning. My natural sleep rhythms have nothing in common with a teaching schedule -- to bed by 10 and up at 5. Bah! To bed at 2 and up at 10 is just the perfect schedule. That's why this morning I was fixing Hubby breakfast at 6 a.m. (ten month habits are hard to break).

Today we are having flood-inducing rains and the dogs are huddled under the computer desk praying the thunder and lightning combo do not destroy their happy home. Fritzy is shivering so badly the desk is rattling.

The first day of summer vacation, even with rain and lightning and thunder and a basement full of dirty wash is filled with the possibilities that all things will be bright and wonderful.

School's out, school's out, teachers let the . . .