Here I Am, Summer Break! I'm Ready (Now)

The last day of school and work was last Friday, but I've needed to nap, avoid chores, stealth-shop for groceries, do laundry, nap some more, and enjoy the rainy weather through the walls of windows in the new my apartment. Yes, for the past six days.  Six days of on-again/off-again raindrops pitter-pattering, six days of no timers, six days of simply walking the dog, feeding both pets, watering the plants, and napping. These days of rest have been necessary. Charlie and Tish-Tish have been very supportive.

If you've only been following me here at the blog, then I should probably catch you up.  My spouse and I separated over winter break.  It was the worst birthday and Christmas I've experienced so far in my life.  I hastily moved into an apartment hours before Snowmaggedon hit, and once the "holiday" was over, I was back to work and busy during the weekdays, and unpacking fifty-five years' worth of belongings, spending February through the beginning of May sorting, selling, donating, and tossing each weekend.  I sold my wedding gown (which actually turned out to be quite a sweet event) on Saturday morning, and then the naps began. Almost five full months later, I'm mostly unpacked and situated, but a lifetime's worth of belongings requires re-evaluation, reconsideration, and decisions.  All of it takes time.

On the work front, my fourth year as our school librarian was successful. More readers (colleagues and students) browsed and checked out books. The books and stories I selected as read-alouds were well received by all listeners. I was able to support speedy readers and students who missed their class visits by having a twenty-minute window each morning when any student could return, quickly browse, and check out books, which is a need that often gets overlooked as there are no data-producing apps, quizzes or screeners that identify when students become voracious readers or are bitten by the literacy bug thanks to a newly experienced genre, author, or theme.  Offering more, not fewer, times for every reader to immerse themselves into our collection makes it likely that students will explore their interests through literature, at their own pace, making their own decisions, in charge of their own learning.  

Two Literati fairs funded most of the books I wanted to add to our collection, and knock wood, aside from my marriage, there were no catastrophic events from which I had to recover or punt through within the walls of the library. I left the library ALMOST every afternoon with empty book carts and all book holds delivered before readers were dismissed for the day.  There was a percentage of lost books that didn't need to be replaced thanks to their publication date, and quite a few books that were returned after being missing for a few months.  Only three books were returned in holy-heck-what-happened condition (they were quickly discarded), which is really saying something.  I greatly appreciate that work was a calm environment for me during my twenty-ninth year in education. 

My summer plans include more fine-tuning of my apartment, creating resources for my library lessons, students, and colleagues, crocheting, enjoying the sunshine and slower pace, and the company of my youngest son, who has been coming over once or twice a week for dinner since winter.  Today, I made a new brownie dessert (not the cake in the photo below), some potato salad, and put two bookmarks aside for  A Cup of Silver Linings (by Karen Hawkins) and When Women Were Dragons (by Kelly Barnhill), which is how I know my brain and body have downshifted into summer mode.  Comfort food and books to read, yes please.

It's raining again.

Read well, be well, and I'll check in soon.