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42 Days

Yesterday was the first official day of "summer" for me as a 12 month employee. There are the usual deadlines to meet for July 1 (reports due to State Ed) but I was finding myself especially anxious yesterday. 42 weekdays? That's it? That didn't seem like enough time to do everything I had hoped to do.

I printed (yes, old school) a calendar for July and August and started sketching in all of the commitments I had already made. NTI in Albany, check. NYASCD with Vicki Day, check. Two STLE workshops, one in July and one in August, check. CNYSEA with Shawn Hunziker, check. Those events already took 9 of the days I had for weekdays!

A dear college friend of mine, Michele Simonetty, has her children create a summer list of to do events. Some are a big deal and some are smaller but still define summer. I've started a list with my son Sam. It includes at least 2 trips to NYC. We also hope to visit Cape Cod one of the long weekends of the summer. We will also spend some time at camp up north. If I am lucky I will also squeeze in a road trip to Alabama or Boston to see dear friends from college.

Yet, I still have some personal goals for the summer. I will need to be deliberate with my time. There is a lot to do (always is) but I want to scale back some of the juggling I usually do in the summer. I need to find a way to have more time with my son Sam before all other work. I also need to learn how better to make time for myself. I am pretty good at taking care of others, a school, and my Sam. But, I could use some summer school in taking care of me.


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