The first summer vacation...

I have been living the easy life lately. Since school is out for summer, and my attempts at finding short term employment came up pretty empty ( I've found a few sources of income, namely unemployment checks), I have a lot of free time. At first it was full of study and work on my grad-school classes (I'm getting an M.A.T. from CMSU), but now that those are finished, it's just summertime. It's like being 16 again, without the sleeping in until noon, acne, and horror at boredom. I get up around 7-7:30, have coffee and read the paper, go online and see what's happening out there in the world, then I just pretty much do whatever. Work in the yard, go to the library, go for a walk, watch tv shows via bittorrent, lay in the hammock, pretty much anything that doesn't cost any money. I havn't had time off like this ever Through highschool I always either worked for mom and dad mowing lawns at all the properties, fixing fences and whatnot, or at the video store in town. During college, I tried to always work at least a couple of part time jobs so I could stay in Pittsburg and have fun. It's crazy to just have time open to your whims, and enough of it that you don't feel pressured about wasting it.

With Em still working her usual 60+ hours a week, I do feel bad, but I'm still enjoying it. Once school starts up for the year, I doubt I'll have much free time again until next summer. Still, what a trade-off! Sure, I'll have classes and prep, and lots of other things to do in the summers, but finally I've found a job that fits my natural rythms. I couldn't stand doing the same thing all day, every day, all year, with no break in it. It will drive you crazy and make you feel much older, much faster. The years just slide away too quickly. One of my professors talked about this aspect of teaching in class. He said that teaching is a field where we always get a fresh start. We uniquely get a chance to close up one year, tie a nice ending to the story of that calendar of our lives, reflect on it, give it it's respect, and then begin again. I can't think of many other professions where you get this great opportunity to really close down each year and think about it before the march of time forces you to already be working on the new one.

-ja