School's Out For Summer!

School's out!  The children have all gone home and the classroom is strangely quiet.  I have one more teacher work day at school and then I am off to enjoy my summer vacation.  An extended summer vacation, no less. 

Last year, my school district decided to send us back to school two whole weeks before Labor Day, therefore we were supposed to get out a week earlier than usual.  But, since this was also the school year of no snow and the county didn't use any of their five snow days, we are being let out a few days earlier still.  Now add to that the fact that the school district decided that two weeks before Labor Day was too soon to start the school year next fall and I am looking at TEN WHOLE WEEKS OF SUMMER VACATION.

The blog below is a slight departure from my norm, but I think it works.  Instead of writing about my hopes and plans for my summer vacation, I'm going to do a photo blog.  Let's hope that a picture really is worth a thousand words.

 

1. First, I'll need to find my zen. 
I have 10 weeks to forget all about last year
 (which wasn't an easy school year for me)
and mentally gear up for the next school year.

2. My honey has decided that our first order of business this summer is to get outta town!  So, two days after I'm done working, we will be heading back to "The Sweetest Place On Earth".  This time the amusement park will be open, so we will be enjoying all the merriment of Hershey Park, in addition to Chocolate World.

My honey and I both have a love of roller coasters.  I find this confusing since my honey also claims to be afraid of heights.  Don't all roller coasters go high up into the air before twisting, turning, and racing back towards the ground below?  I'll be seeing how he handles the heights while still enjoying the coasters soon.






I have already warned my honey that a photo similar to the one seen to the left will be occuring during our time in the amusement park.

3. I am going to further find my zen by getting comfy with my couch.  I can't wait to lay on my couch and read a book.

All year, as I sit at my dining room table grading paper or averaging report card grades, I look over at my couch and dream about summer when I'll actually have time to nap there.

I'm really looking forward to hanging with my honey on the couch.  Whether we are watching T.V. or he's playing his video games while I watch or we're fooling around, I'm excited about getting to spend quality time with him at home.

At some point this summer, I hope to teach my honey how to swim, so that he's ready to go to...

4. Ocean City, Maryland: My honey has never been to Ocean City!  As my family goes there every summer without fail, I was shocked to learn of this gap in his life experience.  I thought it was required by law that all Maryland parents take their kids "down the ocean" at least once a year, but apparently it's not.  My mom and I have a plan to remedy this later on this summer.

5.  Hopefully, I will be going back to the beach with my girls at some point this summer, too.  I'll be the one under two beach umbrellas (or better yet that tent) with Mrs. Mynd telling me to rotate further into the shade every time the sun so much as kisses my skin.

6. Then, there is the chore that awaits me every summer after school lets out. Cleaning my house! All year, I let my house get messier and messier as I get busier and busier at work. Now that summer is here, it is time to pay the piper and give the house the thorough cleaning it deserves. It shouldn't be that bad this year since my honey's parents came over to visit on Mother's Day, which kick-started a spring cleaning of epic proportions a month ago.

7.  And, of course, there will be some time being a lady who lunches as I catch up with my college roommate and other friends I haven't seen nearly enough of this year.  I'm especially looking forward to catching up with my dear friend, Gertie, and finding out what interesting things have been going on in her life since the last time we talked.