See ya later summer

Today is my last day of summer vacation.

Oh yeah, school doesn't start for a little over a week, but between now and the first day with students I have a full schedule of working in my classroom, as well as in-service offerings to gear us up for the school year. Part of me is screaming that I need at least two more weeks of nothing, but another part of me is wanting to get it all started and over with so I can get back into the groove.

And you would be amazed how much work goes into getting your room ready for the beginning of the year. However, this year we're doing the happy dance because for the first time in four years I am not changing classrooms. Long time readers may recall that last year I started out in a temporary upstairs room (without any functioning air conditioning in August, in the South) due to a construction project that was behind schedule. In October I finally moved into my "real" room, which is where I'll be again this year. So, in a three year period I had four different classrooms. What a pain that was.

However, I have been informed by the Guidance Goddess (who Mrs. Eagle and I rain into last night at a free "jazz on the lawn" concert) that the new air conditioning unit in that part of the building is not on. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 90's and it's incredibly humid. I may have flashbacks to last year if someone doesn't get that chiller going.

The best part about school starting here shortly is that I'll get to see my kids and I'll get a whole crop of new ones. I really miss some of my kids from last year. Okay, I don't really miss Poop Boy or Kelpto Boy, but most of them I enjoyed having in my life. Face it, middle school is nothing if not entertaining.

So Mrs. Eagle, Mr. Music and I are done, done, done with graduate school. The comp exams weren't that bad, considering how much we all studied for them, they shouldn't have been. We treated ourselves to a wonderful lunch (with adult beverages) at a very cool and funky restaurant where we toasted our perserverance in finishing the program without completely losing our minds. Mr. Music treated us both with CD's which he made (the man is an incredibly talented musician as well as a fantastic teacher) which was a treat. However, for me the highlight was after lunch when we wandered through the mall into a music store and he treated us to an impromtu concert on guitar and mandolin. It was a very nice end to the afternoon.

I'm going to go enjoy my last day.