What I Did I'm Doing Over My Summer Vacation
As soon as many of you found out I was a teacher, you turned green with envy, telling me I was LUCK-EE because I have not one, but two months off. Now don't get me wrong. All of you are partially right. I am very lucky to have all of this extra time on my hands that most adults don't normally get to have. But then again, I'm not most normal adults. I'm a creature of habit. I also realized something important about myself in the last few years; I thrive on being busy. So sometimes I fear that no work will make Janet a dull girl.
So in anticipation of the long, hot summer, I didn't plan any exotic getaways or fanciful mambo lessons. Instead, I put my name in the ring and applied to teach summer school, mainly for the extra dough. But this year was the first year some applicants to summer school unfortunately did not make the cut due to the trimming of the budget.
Guess which group I fell into.
Believe it or not, it was all quite scandalous, or at least as scandalous as things at the elementary level can be. It would seem they had to make cuts somewhere and that the natural place to do it would be to start with the new people. But they didn't go the traditional route. Sure, many of the people working are people who have been working it for years, but not all the people who got positions were seasoned veterans, and not all the rejects were newbies like me. And so it goes. Some people got their panties all in a bunch about this, but honestly, after having another friend just call me the other day in a panic after not having a position again after being a maternity replacement this year makes me thankful to have a job at all, period.
But back to the original question that caused me to write this post in the first place. Many of you asked me "What are you doing with your summer vacation?" So I sat down and compiled a list of just that. So here, without further adieu, are the things I hope to accomplish this summer: (in no particular order)
1. Read good books.
2. Read teaching related books (not that these can't be good too, I'm just saying)
3. Take a walk each day. Maybe every other day. Whatever. Take more walks.
4. Eat more fruit.
5. See and hear live music.
6. Meet new people.
7. Meet old people. (not necessarily of the geriatric sort)
8. Blog AND make the "acquaintance" of 5 thought provoking new bloggers each day.
9. Enjoy more of one of my favorite summer foods, italian ice.
10. Walk the boardwalk and of course, eat boardwalk french fries.
11. Organize my mp3 collection (over 4,500 songs, and counting!)
12. Work on making the AOGB transition to a dotcom.
13. Set up my classroom again/get ready for next year. (it's here before you know it.)
14. Substitute in summer school.
15. Catch up on my Tivo recordings. (damn that thing records a lot of suggestions!)
16. Catch up on my VCR recordings (my cable movies, another animal entirely)
17. Drink more Corona Light because no, regular Coronas are not good enough Mr. Obnoxious Bartender Man!
18. Learn more Spanish. (a constant on my to-do list)
19. Get some color.
20. R-E-L-A-X.
So there you have it. I'm sure there are things on the list that I'll procrastinate and just not do (see #18), while others I'll simply do too much of (see #17). So I guess I should say that this list, just like life, is subject to change at a moment's notice.
The best I can tell you is that no matter what I do or don't do, I probably will be blogging about most of it here.
So in anticipation of the long, hot summer, I didn't plan any exotic getaways or fanciful mambo lessons. Instead, I put my name in the ring and applied to teach summer school, mainly for the extra dough. But this year was the first year some applicants to summer school unfortunately did not make the cut due to the trimming of the budget.
Guess which group I fell into.
Believe it or not, it was all quite scandalous, or at least as scandalous as things at the elementary level can be. It would seem they had to make cuts somewhere and that the natural place to do it would be to start with the new people. But they didn't go the traditional route. Sure, many of the people working are people who have been working it for years, but not all the people who got positions were seasoned veterans, and not all the rejects were newbies like me. And so it goes. Some people got their panties all in a bunch about this, but honestly, after having another friend just call me the other day in a panic after not having a position again after being a maternity replacement this year makes me thankful to have a job at all, period.
But back to the original question that caused me to write this post in the first place. Many of you asked me "What are you doing with your summer vacation?" So I sat down and compiled a list of just that. So here, without further adieu, are the things I hope to accomplish this summer: (in no particular order)
1. Read good books.
2. Read teaching related books (not that these can't be good too, I'm just saying)
3. Take a walk each day. Maybe every other day. Whatever. Take more walks.
4. Eat more fruit.
5. See and hear live music.
6. Meet new people.
7. Meet old people. (not necessarily of the geriatric sort)
8. Blog AND make the "acquaintance" of 5 thought provoking new bloggers each day.
9. Enjoy more of one of my favorite summer foods, italian ice.
10. Walk the boardwalk and of course, eat boardwalk french fries.
11. Organize my mp3 collection (over 4,500 songs, and counting!)
12. Work on making the AOGB transition to a dotcom.
13. Set up my classroom again/get ready for next year. (it's here before you know it.)
14. Substitute in summer school.
15. Catch up on my Tivo recordings. (damn that thing records a lot of suggestions!)
16. Catch up on my VCR recordings (my cable movies, another animal entirely)
17. Drink more Corona Light because no, regular Coronas are not good enough Mr. Obnoxious Bartender Man!
18. Learn more Spanish. (a constant on my to-do list)
19. Get some color.
20. R-E-L-A-X.
So there you have it. I'm sure there are things on the list that I'll procrastinate and just not do (see #18), while others I'll simply do too much of (see #17). So I guess I should say that this list, just like life, is subject to change at a moment's notice.
The best I can tell you is that no matter what I do or don't do, I probably will be blogging about most of it here.
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