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Summer – 1/2 Gone July 29, 2008

Posted by alwaysjan in Teaching.
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It’s official.  Summer Vacation is half over.  My friend Christine told me yesterday and didn’t even bother to try to paint the glass as half-full.  That leaves only five weeks to cram in all the wild activities I’d planned for this summer.  Oh, make that four weeks, as I’m doing a week-long math training in August.  I might as well start ironing the clothes I’m going to wear the first day back.  And where did I put those student name tags?

I can’t really complain as many of my colleagues fought the good fight and taught Summer School, which is now referred to as Intervention, as when they’re done, they WILL require some sort of professional intervention.

It used to be that when teachers were asked what the best part of teaching was, they gave three reasons; June, July, and August.  Seeing as how my school lets out the third week of June, that no longer flies.  Also, In my district, we’re not paid over the summer, so between July 1 and Oct. 1, I’m performing without a net. Time to dip into all those canned goods that were stockpiled in anticipation of Y2K.  

I spent the first half of the summer preparing for and entertaining my friends from England.  But now the lawn is long gone, as are the houseguests, and sadly, the summer is half gone as well.  From this point on, every minute counts.  I remind myself of this when I’m lying in bed at 10 a.m. or contemplating taking a shower and getting dressed before “Oprah” airs.

Last summer I packed up my car the last day of school, then drove around all summer without ever getting around to unpacking it.  In September, I carried all the same stuff back up to my classroom.  At least this summer I’ve unpacked the inside of the car, but the trunk is still fully loaded.  I’ve forgotten, however, what was so valuable that I had to bring it home in the first place.

We were inundated with new curriculum last year, so I did bring home all of the Teacher’s Editions to get a head’s up over the summer.  Now if only I could find them.

So. tomorrow I’m going to get up early as I’ve got a lot to cram into every day from now until Sept. 2nd.  Just don’t call me before 10 a.m., okay?

Wrangling Dust Bunnies June 20, 2008

Posted by alwaysjan in Home Front.
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Summer Vacation is here, which means I have nine months of deferred housework to catch up on.  During the school year, I can make excuses for these lapses in basic sanitation, but come June I’m out of school AND excuses.  

The vacuum cleaner has been artfully positioned just inside the front door since the Christmas tree came down.  Think staging.  If anyone just stops by, this gives the illusion that they just interrupted my frenzied cleaning.  To sustain this ruse though, you have to remember to dust the vacuum cleaner itself and drag it around by its leash from time to time.  I have a friend who leaves her vacuum cleaner out so after a family member trips on the trip wire, I mean cord, they’ll become so fed up that THEY do the vacuuming.  I call that a plan.

You have to understand that we have two dogs.  Petey, the one we think is half coyote, sheds fur like a snow blower in Detroit.  Vacuuming, therefore, is our bedrock of home maintenance.  I do get around to vacuuming eventually, and isn’t it really the thought that counts?  

Years back,  I asked my then 13-year-old son, Ian, if he could tidy up the house and vacuum.  We came home and couldn’t believe what a fantastic job he’d done.   When his OCD kicks in, he’s a hard one to beat.  But the next day I started noticing there were cumulous clouds of dust on top of all the lampshades in the living room.  There were also dust drifts on the window sills.  Later, Ian confessed he’d gone out to the garage, gotten the electric-powered leaf blower, and taken it for a quick spin through the house.  The wooden floors looked fabulous, but for the next few months, I felt like I was living inside a snow globe as gravity took its toll. 

So, what am I doing right now?  I’m sitting on the computer with my back to the vacuum.  I’m snubbing it.  It’s not like it’s going anywhere without me, and with Edison urging people to cut back on the consumption of electricity during peak hours, I’m exercising restraint.  I will get to the vacuuming later, as soon as I finish cutting those crop circles in the overgrown lawn out front.