Start of Summer

Today is the 5th day of my Teacher Summer, and the third weekday where I did not have to wake up to an alarm. Sometimes, I make overzealous plans of all the things I will accomplish over the summer. I don't think I'll do that this year. 

So far, summer looks like: 

- long walks on the rail trail
- reading books
- digging holes and planting things
- waking up when I want to (which is often the same time as usual, but then I read and hurkle-durkle, which is lovely)
- afternoon naps
- sitting outside
- doing puzzles

Sooooo... a whole lot of recovery activities and giving myself permission to be goo for a little bit. I did not have a particularly stressful year, but it still takes a lot out of a body to be "on" all day, to not laugh at middle school double entendre jokes when you desperately want to, to not be able to pee when you need to, and to have way more stuff to do than you have time to do it. Not to mention doing all that in extreme heat. I am so so so grateful for both my home air conditioning and the cooler weather these past couple days.

However, I cannot just step away entirely, as evidenced by my delight in receiving a package today that contained... my NEW PLANNING BOOK for next year! And it is a thing of beauty. I used to make my own in a binder, but last year I decided to treat myself to a pre-done one that is beautiful and organized and might actually motivate me to get what's in my head down on paper, and it worked. But this year? I discovered you can CUSTOMIZE the COVERS: 

Front

Back

Now, when I look at my planning book, I will see my lovely husband, my adorable kitties, my flowers, and my best friend. They will be with me, silent and stationary, all day. I couldn't wait, I put all the holiday stickers in and marked all the places where there are Superintendent's Day Conferences and breaks and such. 

So, still relaxing, but also a peek into things I can do to make my next school year, which unfortunately is foretold to be much more stressful, more pleasant for myself. Ahhhhh.