And so it goes...

My summer has abruptly come to an end...with only two weeks left before I report back to school...I ask myself, "Where did all the summer go?"

This summer is the first summer in a LONG time that I have been able to do exactly what I wanted and not have to worry about any sort of school or reporting to a job or working at all.

To all of the naysayers that chant that teachers have the easy life where they work for ten months out of the year and then get to rest and relax for two months...I say you just don't get it. Not only are you teaching up and around the likes of 180 students, but you also serve as coach, nurse, care-giver, cheerleader, mentor, structure provider, disciplinarian, entertainer, and are expected to teach bell-to-bell AND hope for the best that they learn something while trying to keep their heads up off the desk. The days are LONG...from sun-up to sun-down and so by the time summer has arrived...we have EARNED our break. My day begins at 5:30a.m, arrival at school around 6:30am, if I am directing a show or prepping for a speech tournament, I am lucky to be home around 6:30/7p.m. and then if there are papers to grade or lectures to prep, then it is a long evening with me passing myself heading to bed while getting out of bed to start it all over...so do not tell me that summers are not earned and much needed. I can completely understand why the burnout rate is so huge for teachers.

This summer has been a bountiful blessing of wonderful adventures. I will continue to blog more about my European adventures as well as the current adventures in California. Not only was I able to experience the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but I was also able to experience The Paris, in Las Vegas, and it's own version of the Eiffel Tower. Quite the sights to be assured!!!

I had lunch with a dear friend today who was telling a past student who joined us that I had had a chance to take a much needed break after working hard for 2 years to earn the title of teacher. It struck me as odd and the more I thought about this...this summer has truly been the first summer in a long time that I was able to do exactly what I wanted, when I wanted, and was blessed to not have to work and just enjoy my break. I have worked every summer, either performing, or in retail, or directing, or studying for tests and going through the Non-traditional Licensure Program in Arkansas. This summer, I think, was the first summer I was able to take off and just enjoy traveling. Summer is a definite perk that comes with this job and to have the opportunity to experience this wonderful land of ours through the car windows? To see the world through an airplane window, waiting in breathless anticipation of the upcoming overseas adventures?...Priceless and ones that I will NEVER forget.

And so, two weeks from today, I return back to the school for professional developments days and three weeks from today the students will walk through my doors with a new year beginning. I cannot say that I feel refreshed...perhaps this has been a summer of too much travel...but oh the stories I can tell...not only to my students and fellow teachers...but also my family and children!! And for this I am eternally grateful!