5 Days?!

So here I am - just 5 super short days before I will have students in my room for year 5 at Palmyra Area Middle School ...

... and I am FREAKING out.

Today is Wednesday (although my days are all sorts of crazy messed up right now), and I spent 10+ (voluntary) hours in my classroom both Monday and Tuesday with several items still living on my to do list. Today I spent the day in meetings and working on documents for the first day of school - completely ignoring my classroom. I anticipate tomorrow will be similar to today - leaving few precious minutes for work time in my room.

Please don't get me wrong - I LOVE this time of year - new school years bring new beginnings and new students with new personalities and interests. 

I remember when I was younger someone telling me that if I thought life was flying by then, just wait a few years and it would be even faster. Whelp, whoever that was certainly had their facts straight because I cannot tell you another summer that flew by as quickly as this one did. I am amazed to know that in five (yes, count them, FIVE) days I will be welcoming brand new classes of 7th graders into my language arts classroom.

The feeling is wonderful and nauseating all at the same time. I don't know if I want to laugh or puke, but either way, here we go.

Life has a funny way of giving you a gushing waterfall or a mirage in the desert - never just a steady babbling stream in the forest. The end of the summer has been a whirlwind of emotions with new friends, new adventures, new responsibilities and new classrooms - all crammed into the last 2 weeks before school starts. It is an interesting case to be sure. 

I am sure that looking back many years from now, I will have had several more weeks even crazier than these past few, but right now, in the moment, I can't imagine life getting any fuller or busier than it is right at this moment. 

As I sit here and write, with my comforting Star Wars blu-ray playing in the background (complete with the gorgeous Han Solo alive and well in his younger years), I finally find myself breathing normally and taking a second for myself. These past 3 days have felt like both an eternity as well as just a few fleeting moments, but all the same, they are here and gone and never coming back.

So here is to making the most of these last 5 days - getting the rest of my classroom organized and prepared for its coming inhabitants, spending time with my dear precious family, and adventuring with new friends - these days will never be here again, and as someone just recently told me, it's best to make the most out of life. Grab life by the horns and do all you can to hang on for the ride. 

Summer's eve and new beginnings

For years, I have spent the eve of summer in one place that is extremely special to my heart. It took me all 27 years to realize this tradition; as I lay here resting on this last day in my retreat - it finally dawned on me.

Most years, this last little trip before preparing for school coincided with the family reunion - a gathering of my grandmother's extended family to celebrate and reminisce together. Recently, attending the reunion has been hit or miss with busy schedules and changing dates, but I seem to always find a moment to escape here for a bit before the craziness of back to school begins.

My grandparents' have lived in the same house for my entire life - settled on who knows how many acres of land that makes up the church property. Wildlife unseen beyond mountain trails or bird books find its way to the back yard for spectacular shows of color and sound. Fruit trees on green grass and a perimeter of brush make up the landscape as we sit and swing on the back porch.

As the swing creaks back and forth, I hear the minutes of summer clicking down in their rhythmic daze. While the morning and afternoon of summer seem to lazily stroll by, the evening pace quickens - if only slightly at first. Each minute becomes slightly shorter, each day concludes fractionally quicker and the sun starts setting.

Despite the desire to relax and enjoy the last days, I feel my heart begin to quicken with the minute hand - my knee bouncing to the shortened rhythm of the day. While I relax, thoughts of schedules and lists begin creeping into my conscious thought, but the landscape provides a happy melding.

It's never really back to school until I've spent, even just one day out here, relaxing, taking in the sights of my childhood, adolescence, and now adulthood. It's the one location in my life that has remained standard. Moving houses, schools, changing churches, friends, whatever the difference may be, this place has always been my summer get away home. It has granted me the opportunity to transition in peace - not forcefully or all at once, but slowly, like the summer breeze.

Now as I lay here reflecting on all of the past summers' eves I have spent enjoying these last few lazy days, I look joyfully ahead to the new school year. Most people think years run January to December, but any teacher will tell you that they really run August to July. So, with the flip of the calendar, a new year is just beginning. Who knows what marvelous adventures await with this new beginning.