7 More Weeks!

33 Days to be exact (not including the weekends)...not that anyone is counting. Ok, everyone is counting; students, parents, and teachers alike and probably all for different reasons. And when you are a parent/teacher you are counting doubly, like a couple times a day just to make sure you didn't miscount.  Some parents are counting with apprehension wondering how they will juggle the new summer schedule with their work load, some are counting with joyful anticipation knowing soon they will finally have a more flexible schedule and won't have to pack lunches every day.  I count with a giddy and impatient fervor. With the joy of a parent whose schedule will be freed up to live at our own pace, and begin a summer of new experiences.

I am so blessed to work where I do. To have the same days on and off as my kids (with the exception of Sam) and to be able to enjoy the summer almost as a kid does. I am blessed to work with three nuns who have dedicated their whole lives to the Catholic education of children and who care about them as though they were their own. Three nuns who I am proud to call my dear friends. I am blessed to be able to attend daily Mass and to have my children receive the sacraments with me.

It's easy to get caught up in the tedium of our day to day work and long for the weekend or spring break or summer, but the truth is I have it made. I have to stop every now and then and remind myself of that fact. We went back to school today after a ten day break and even though it was hard (boy was it hard!!) to get out of bed at the crack of dawn, it was great to see my students again and my fellow teachers. In each of them, however, I could sense excitement that we are in the final stretch.

A highlight of my day came when I first got to my classroom and the older sister of one of my First Graders brought me a sugar-free vanilla latte, on it she had written with a Sharpie, '7 more weeks!!☺'
Many times prior the same kids' dad had purchased myself and his daughter's teacher a morning coffee and while it's always such a sweet surprise, several times I had to pass it off to our secretary on account of my sugar-free diet....but not today.  I am thankful.

sometimes we do this for our staff meetings ☺