Summer vacation. It's the best invention for teachers. I've done work this summer, but it's been more leisurely and enjoyable. Even better, I have squeezed in an epic adventure.
Travel this year has been amazing. I've been to Denver, Miami, the Florida Keys, Detroit, Buenos Aires, and the Caribbean. All had their own adven tures and special moments. I have to say, though, that the Caribbean was my first true vacation in a long time.
It was purely meant for relaxation and indulgence. Erin, or "E Dubs," as we call her in my Tulsa circle, is a colleague from work. Non-TFA. We booked the cruise in the middle of March with the conviction that we needed an escape. And, escape we did. We escaped into the Nation of Why Not (I totally buy into Royal Caribbean's ad campaign) via Liberty of the Seas, where we relaxed by the pool, ate, napped at 2 in the afternoon, flirted with strangers, and overate. We did a ropes course through a rain forest and rode horses in the foothills of another. We got distracted on the beach and broke some rules under palm trees.
I rock-climbed at sea and we played air hockey. Did I mention the tour of the ship's theatre? It seats 1300. Yes, on a ship. We explored the clubs, the restaurants and the mall. We got airbrush tattoos as if we were fiveand we got lost on that ship nearly every night.
We did lose each other once, commencing an Abbot and Costello-like routine for the nightly pool deck crew. It was frustrating at the time but also hilarious. We met new friends and made worldly connections...and booked the next adventure. We'll be doing it again next June with our table mates from dinner and hopefully some more of our friends (have I sold you, yet?)!
We definitely made the most of our time on the ship. There was so much anticipation (that was certainly a dedicated countdown...100+ days!) and while we savored every possible moment, the time was so fleeting. It did feel like an eternity passed between our first night in Miami (where the clerk at check-in said we looked like we came in from sleeping on the beach as he looked at our disheveled, just-traveled appearances) to our last night on the ship. We spent an additional three days in Miami after the cruise and road-tripped one of those days to the Keys. It was stormy weather, but worth it. We were aching to get home to our beds by night 10, but once we got there, we felt yearnings to return to our escape. Thus, another epic countdown is in place...this time, 342 days to go. Whew.
I still wish it were the middle of summer and I were about to embark on the adventure. The thought of so much work is daunting.
But, I drafted the big goals for my students this year the other day. That was amazing. As I typed my vision and extrapolated inspiring details, I felt like I could work all day, every day, for the rest of my life...as long as it was for and with the kids that will be in room 205 this year. It was quite the feeling: completely inexplicable yet incredibly strong.
The picture of my class and I at Institute last year has a prominent place in my bedroom. I just printed some pictures of my kids from this past year. I wonder how they are all doing this summer. How they feel the last school year went and what they are thinking about the future.
Just over 2 weeks until training and preparation begin with TFA (1 more day until my pre-work is due. Yikes...I've been lost in my escape too long and need to work my way out). About 4 weeks until I am in my classroom. Just under 5 weeks until school begins again. These numbers make summer still seem very present, but I feel like it is slipping through my fingers like sand.
This countdown is not my favorite. It does mean, however, that I am closer, and closer, to being a 2nd year teacher for an amazing group of scholars. I can't wait to meet them and teach them so that one day, when they get a vacation, they can have epic adventures, too.
~MJ
Pictures from the Cruise (there are so many) are on Picasa. Highlights are available to my Facebook friends.
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