I really had this lofty goal that I would post often this summer. Hmmm...I think I made a total of 3 posts (4 counting today) over the past 11 weeks that I have been off work. I blame it all on the fact that my camera broke on the 4th of July. It has since been fixed, but I haven't taken a single picture with it since I got it back last week. Therefore, this is just a hodge-podge post because I feel guilty that I go back to work tomorrow and the neglect of my blog will likely continue...lost in the busy-ness of the beginning of the school year.
So...what have I been doing? I've spent a huge chunk of my summer reading. A couple weeks ago I tried to go back and make a count of how many books I have read this summer (thank goodness I was keeping track of mostly everything I read on goodreads) and my estimate is that I'm on book #52 of the summer. Which means I need to do a book post...and obviously not post about all 52. Some have been excellent reads, a few have been stinkers. I just started a book called
Diva, by Jillian Larkin yesterday. It's a young adult novel...and I put it on hold because I liked the look of the cover. It turns out it's the 3rd in a series, but I decided to go ahead & read it anyway. I'm not totally into the story yet, because obviously I've missed a lot of back story from the first two in the series, but what I do love is that the book takes place during the 20's & the author is using a lot of 20's slang in the dialogue. Last year, my students did an assignment on 20's slang (we were studying slang in general) and they loved it. They went around using it for weeks afterward in my class and reading this brings back good memories of how much the kids liked it. I mean when you read lines like "Yeah, you lousy piker!" (cheapskate, if memory serves me correctly) and "Have a seat, rest your gams (legs)," you can't help but enjoy it. How I feel about the entire story remains to be seen.
What else have we been doing...not a whole lot. Since our trip to Arizona, we've just stuck around KC. We were going to take a little trip, but Luke said he'd rather do some stuff around here. We took him to Worlds of Fun for the first time. It had probably been 10 years since Brandon and I had been...maybe even more. Luke had a blast...rode some roller coasters for the first time, though we couldn't talk him into the Mamba. (I was secretly relieved, because I rode it last time I was there and though I love roller coasters, it was a little too tall for my liking). Brandon and I both discovered rides we will NEVER ride again...the Sea Dragon for him and the Finnish Fling for me. We've also been roller skating, swimming, and to the movies. I've been working a lot of afternoons trying to get ready for the school year...I'm teaching 7th grade this year, and so it was a little bit like starting from scratch again. I'm feeling pretty good about what I got accomplished, though! Maybe the beginning of the school year won't be TOO stressful!
I'll end this rambling and kind of pointless blog with a funny story about Luke. He's been really into shooting his Nerf guns at things this week, so Monday evening I suggested he make himself a target. He thought that was a great idea & he started working on it. He finished yesterday morning and proudly brought it in to show me. A little later I heard him shooting away in his room. Awhile after that, I went in to check it out. When I looked at it, I couldn't figure out how he got it on the wall...I didn't see any signs of tape or sticky tack, so I asked him about it. His answer, "Oh, I glued it to the wall," then hesitated, "Is that okay?" Yep...he glued it to the wall. Thankfully, with a glue stick & only across the top & bottom of the paper. It came up with very little trouble. Then he says, "How am I supposed to know these things. I'm
only a kid!" So funny. Well, so funny because it came up...if it hadn't, it probably wouldn't be quite as funny!
So, tomorrow I return to the world of reality. Summer only lasts so long, and though I love every minute, I do admit that I am looking forward to being back at work in some ways. Summer really does refresh my attitude and give me a positive outlook for a new year, new kids, new adventures in the classroom. I just need that attitude to last me through May when it's time for another summer!
