Spring Break has Sprung!

As one of my friends recently stated in her blog, I have been in the land of blogger drought. It's not really because I haven't wanted to write or because I have had nothing to write about, I have just been so busy! Life sometimes moves at breakneck speed, and the last little while has been one of those times. I am pleased to report, however, that it is now in slow motion.

Why, you ask? Because Spring Break is here! Hurray! I often state my feelings on being a teacher. I claim that it is the best job in the world, and I truly believe that. Every day is different, I get to watch kids' minds grow and develop before my very eyes, I have a real opportunity to try to make a difference in their lives, I get to be silly and laugh with them but I also have the opportunity to try to give them some knowledge. I love watching the light come on in their eyes when they truly "get" something for the first time. I especially love watching my Spanish 12 classes at the end of the year. It's so amazing to see them writing entire essays in Spanish and able to converse enough to get what they want and to know that I had something to do with that. It's a very rewarding career.

There are some other benefits though, and those are Spring Break, Christmas Break and summer holiday! I know that some people believe that we teachers have an insane amount of time off, and they are probably right. I can't complain about it one single bit, but to their complaints I say, "You could be a teacher too!"

I am thrilled that Spring Break is finally here. I find myself desperately needing a break. In the past week I found myself at school past 7 p.m. several nights and in the desperate attempt to get all of my marking and planning done before Spring Break I found that I had little free time. All of that simply does not matter now, for I have a two week vacation stretching out before me.

Throughout the last week I probably had 20 different people ask me where I was going or what my plans were for Spring Break. Although I went away to California last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was equally pleased to reply that I had no plans this year. Absolutely none. Zip. Zero. Zilch. My plans are to read some good novels, sleep in every day, take some naps, get to the gym, deep clean my house, meet up with friends for coffee, and simply relax. I have no school work to do. I have nowhere that I need to be at a certain time. Knowing myself, by the end of the first week I may be slightly bored and stir crazy, but I'm going to do my best to avoid that feeling.

Kevin has the first week off with me, and we are planning to head down to Seattle at some point for an overnight getaway. I always look forward to those. I think some of my favorite times with him have been in the car on various trips to different locations. We always manage to laugh a lot and when our schedules have been as crazy as they have in the last month it is also a good time for us to simply catch up. We're planning to do the Seattle Underground Tours. I've been wanting do this for awhile now, as I love learning history through experiences like this. I'm not one to sit in class and learn about it but if I can see it firsthand and hear stories about the past, I am transfixed.

So, today is my first day of Spring Break. I started it well. I slept in until 10 a.m., since we were able to go to church last night, and I'm still in my pajamas now, at 11. I'm hoping to get changed into my workout clothes and head to the gym and after that? Who knows! My day is wide open!