School's Out For Summer!

As is the trend with my blog, this post is long overdue.

After a long, exhausting, challenging, rewarding, and validating year...school is finally out! Kids finished school on May 31, and we finished working last Thursday the 6th. We got our test scores, and because they are still embargoed I can't share them in writing, but let me just say I am incredibly proud of our kids. More to come.

The last week of school was one of the shortest we've had all year. We had Monday off for Memorial Day, and the rest of the week consisted of half days (for kids - we stayed to do work until 5 pm). However, as I'm sure you can imagine, it felt like the longest week of the year.

To get us through and celebrate the end of the interminable week, we did lots of fun "summer" things, like a Nashville Sounds baseball game, Brew at the Zoo, and our end of year staff celebration. Pictures below.

I spent my first full day of vacation at the Country Music Festival downtown, hopping between the many stages set up for rising country artists with a coworker and friend. We saw Julie Roberts, Sarah Darling, Andy Gibson, Brett Eldrige, Hunter Hayes (he was a surprise performer!) and Jo Dee Messina. Unfortunately, a storm rolled in and forced Jo Dee off stage early, which was really disappointing. She was by far one of the best performers I've ever seen! I guess that means I'll just have to track her down at her next local concert.

My next order of business this summer was to road trip to Enfield, North Carolina to see my old babies "graduate" from the 8th grade. Along the way, I stopped in Greensboro and Wake Forest to see two good college friends. It was great to see my students, but I was definitely more excited to spend time with my co-workers. As luck would have it, my car was due for a state inspection, so I used it as an excuse to make a trip up to Richmond before heading back to Nashville to see family and high school friends.

After the whirlwind road trip, I am finally back in Nashville, alternating between being productive and being lazy. It's exciting to finally be in a place that I enjoy for a summer, and where there is so much to do! I still have 3 weeks left of vacation, and ambitious plans for those 3 weeks. (Note: Yes, I am trying to stay positive about the fact that I have half the amount of vacation time as most teachers, if only because I have twice the amount of vacation time as most other professions.) Plans include devouring "fun" books, weekly trips to the library, as much pool time as possible, some professional development reading, learning to cook a few new dishes, and reorganizing my place.

Probably my most ambitious and ambiguous goal this summer is to "learn how to sew". I use that phrase loosely, because I'm not really sure how to quantify that. But I took the first step when I picked up my old sewing machine in Richmond, so we'll see how it goes.

I'm finding it quite hard to be productive right now as I sit on the couch, bathed in sunlight from my giant windows and eating breakfast. In fact, I'm not sure how I'll ever get off this couch.

Oh wait, I have a meeting at 12:30 today...at the rooftop pool. Where I can continue being lazy and soaking up the rays. With a friend, a magazine, and an ice cold beverage (water, obviously).

Happy Saturday!