End-of-summer Checklist

I head back to school bright and early tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues again and to getting settled into my classroom.  Still, I always feel a bit melancholy as this time of year approaches.  To fend off the blues, it helps to think about how productive (relatively speaking) I was over the summer:

1.  Visited Minnesota?  Check.  For two whole weeks!  It was like we were living at home again.

2.  Visited Las Vegas?  Check.  (Though this city is not nearly as great while one is pregnant)

3.  Visited local museums?  Check.  And two of them were new visits!  Thank you, Groupon.  It's always a treat to visit a new museum, especially in this part of the country.

4.  Cleaned every inch of our house?  Check.  As a bonus, I completely gutted the closet in Franny's future room.  I'm sure s/he appreciates that.

5.  Canned like a Little House on the Prairie cast member?  Check.  Our pantry is stocked once again with hand-picked vegetables, homemade marinara sauce, jams, pickles and other goodies.  After we make a trip to the apple orchard in the fall, I'll finish it up with some applesauce.

6.  Read several books without thinking about character analysis or literary criticism?  Check.  Realizing that I won't be able to continue reading at this pace once school starts is always the hardest part about saying goodbye to summer.

7.  Napped daily?  Double check!  This was a delightfully lazy summer.  Thank you for that, Franny!  Mommy loves you already.

Back to School

Preparing to go back to school is much like the grieving process.

First, denial: "What? It's August already? No! It can't be!"

Second, anger: "I had SO much to get done this summer, and I've done none of it. None!"

Third, bargaining: "Okay, if I get some work done now, maybe I can enjoy the last few weeks of summer."

Fourth, depression: "Only two weeks left. That means only ten more weekdays to sleep in. Only ten more days to do what I want. Ugh." Much like traditional grieving, this stage seems to last the longest.

Fifth, acceptance: "I get to see my kids again. I get to have more of a purpose again. I get to feel the satisfaction of a tired brain again. Fine, yes, I'm also getting a bit bored."

And while I hate (loathe, really) the Target back-to-school displays that pop up right after the 4th of July, I come to enjoy the commercials by this time of year. This one especially helped me move to Step 5.

Back to School

I'm well on my way to a drastic pay decrease and a career in which I will garner significantly less respect. Yes, I'm officially one step closer to a career in teaching. I was accepted to College of Notre Dame of Maryland's accelerated certification program this week:

The best part is that the sister who signed this acceptance letter is one of my nuns. As if I needed another reason to love them!