Four Years of Teaching & First Weekend of Summer Vacation!

If you look closely, you will see the hand of one of the 6th graders, waving to me through the bus window!

This past Friday marks the conclusion of my 4th year in teaching, as school let out for summer vacation. The past 3 weeks have been so hectic, chaotic, and insane- rush, rush, rush- that I actually have slept very little. Despite being on "vacation" a whole 48 hours, my sleep schedule has been very out-of-whack. I slept most of the day yesterday, and awake most the night last night. I hope this crazy no-sleep thing gets kicked back to normal and very soon! It poured rain all day yesterday, as well- which is extremely unusual for northern Arizona. I had the windows open, and the cool air was so refreshing & peaceful. Still wish I'd have been able to sleep better...

I've been thinking a lot, these days, about what I want to accomplish with my immediate future. I don't want to allow another summer to go by, and be as unhappy as I was at this time last year.

• Priority - finish up the last details on paperwork at school. Need to turn in laptop by Fri.
• 2nd priority - gather up school materials so to prepare for new carpeting put into classroom. Already boxed, need to move above floor level.
• 3rd - gather up garage-sale-worthy items. My parents' neighborhood is having its once-yearly, 'hood-wide sale next weekend. Can't argue with an excuse for extra money! I know that I have waaaaay too much extra stuff that I simply do. not. need!
• 4th - establish a summer budget. I don't want my lump sum paycheck to taunt me into shopping sprees! I also want to travel someplace new & have an adventure this summer!
• 5th - finish paperwork to send off to Flagstaff. Inquire with the necessary people & hopefully do some observations.
• 6th - Schedule appointment with NAU's Special Education / Assistive Technology Program. I really want to find out more about their Graduate program.

This list is plenty long enough to start out with!

As a side note, I peeked into a blog titled "The Beautiful Cayman Cindy." Her mother shares the life of her beautiful daughter, Cayman, who was born with Hydrocephaly. I remember learning about the condition briefly in my "Low Incidence" undergraduate SpEd classes @ NAU, but haven't come across the condition since those years. This little girl has come soooo far from where she began, and is making leaps & bounds at her own comfortable speed. She has an amazing cast of supporters helping to ensure that her "film" is the best show that it can be. Mostly, this blog left me wishing SO. MUCH. that the students I've worked with had such a supportive cast behind them every step of the way. What a lucky, amazing little girl. I'm awed, truly. (I'd link to her blog if I knew how- but I'm illiterate when it comes to linky tricks like that! Ha!)

I'm hopeful to get some of that paperwork accomplished today. Nothing difficult, fortunately, just extremely time consuming... I may also start a load of laundry. Sleeping on freshly washed, fabric-softened sheets is sure to guarantee a sucessful night of sleep, right??