Summerific

Summer is soooooooo good. So far, my summer has been good and interesting. While the school year has reading, 'riting and 'rithmatic, my summer has it's own "r's":

1. Reading: I've read not as many books as I planned, but I've read quite a few!! And I did do a few 'book-a-day's!!

2. Running: Lindsay has been kicking my proverbial ass in running this summer. 5-7 days per week, slicing minutes (yes, minuteS) off of my mile time. We're prepping for a few races: Sept. 30th Livestrong 5K, and Oct Nike Women's Half-Marathon.

3. Relaxation: I've been working in the yard quite a bit, and spent one whole week lounging in the pool. Mom and Dad and the nieces and nephew came up and doubled my patio in the backyard, so now I can have the pool up and still have some seating area! My garden is growing beautifully--when I can remember to water it, and I haven't killed any plants this year!

4. Revenge/Retribution/Relief: I have a feeling that life is nearing a drama-free moment for the first time in 2 1/2 years!! Adam called me in the middle of the night last week to let me know that the motorcycle was stolen. After being up from 1:40 am-5:15 am dealing with his incessant phone calls, calls from the Springfield Police and a lovely home visit from the Keizer Police, I think he is finally getting his just desserts. Not only is this solving my problem of getting it back (I had contacted an officer friend here and he said that since I know who took it, I couldn't report it stolen and I needed to take him to court), but HE'S under investigation by the Springfield Police because they think he's LYING and that he had someone steal the bike for him!!! God is good, and revenge is His. On the plus-side for me is that the police, insurance, and bank have been more than supportive in getting all this cleared up, and according to the insurance company, all this will be taken care of in 2-3 weeks.

5. Responsibility: I did get to start my new job in June--I'm on vacation now until Aug. 21st. I am really excited about it, and actually feel confident that I will do a good job. However, I'm not getting as much work done over the summer as I thought, but I did see that it was supposed to rain the next two days. . .so maybe I'll get something done!!

6. Re-experiencing: I get to go back to camp next week! My brother called and Mykayla's 8th grade church camp needs another counselor, so I volunteered! I think I'll only have Mykayla and two of her friends in my cabin, so it should be fun--and full of soon-to-be-freshmen-girl excitement!

It's been an interesting year.

As I sit on the couch, needing to grade a huge stack of essays, wanting to make banana bread, and yearning to curl up in bed (which I need to change the sheets on. . .), I am contemplating all that this school year has brought me. I am actually looking forward to NOT grading papers every weekend and making lesson plans and being "on" for 8+ hours per day--not to mention the 50+ emails I have received from students today full of questions about their research paper. I find myself almost NOT CARING about how they do on assignments. I just want to assign them and then recycle them. Give everyone an A and call it a day.

I was qualifying for scoring Oregon State Writing Assessments today, and I looked around me and noticed several things: the majority of these teachers were severely obese (275+ pounds), had little to no personality, or were just starting out and full of all sorts of 'new ideas' for why we haven't been increasing scores--all the while they're teaching at some new magnet school that has 100 students and they are in transition to college. . .

Enough of that. I need a change. A new job or a new location. I feel like I'm in a rut and I don't like it.