It’s finally
HERE! That magical time of the year for teachers! The final countdown!
In just two short
days, I will be officially in full-time writer mode for the rest of June, all
of July, and most of August. I will not only pretend to be an author. I will
eat, sleep, breathe writing. Every day. All day.
In tank tops and
shorts and bare feet.
The Outdoor
Writing Office will be in full swing, my favorite Adirondack chair getting used
on a regular basis and carrying me from page to page in my latest manuscript. Birds
will cheer me on, butterflies will applaud my ideas, and squirrels… well, they
might try to steal my ideas, but The Werewolf won’t let them. He's always on the lookout.
I. Can’t. Wait.
Like, I’m
seriously giddy. No more sitting down to my laptop at 7:00 p.m. after a day of
teaching and trying to squeeze in at least four pages before bed time. No more
chewing up writing time with schoolwork that has to get done. No more falling
asleep while staring at the blinking cursor as it mocks my tired brain. No more
having to pass on reading great books because I’ve only got so much time to
write my own.
Just two more days…
In three days, I’ll bound out of bed at a
time of my choosing, most likely 8:30-9:00 a.m. I’ll slip into comfortable summer
attire. I’ll throw my unruly hair into a ponytail and forgo the makeup regimen.
Maybe I won’t even put on deodorant or brush my teeth. Who knows how crazy I’ll
get?
All I do know is
that the number one item on my agenda for the first day of Summer Vacation
(yes, both of those words deserve capital letters) is to write. Anything else I
accomplish is frosting on the cake, peeps. Frosting on the cake.
I’ll of course
have other Summer Vacation plans, such as traveling, hanging out with my pals,
landscaping/gardening, bicycling (just bought new bikes and a bike dog leash
that The Werewolf LOVES), going to concerts (got tickets to Lindsey Stirling in
July which I’m psyched about), household chores, reading book after book from
my favorite authors, and a boatload of preparing-for-the-next-school-year work
especially because I’ll be teaching reading and science, which I haven’t taught
in years.
But writing is
top priority—my summer job. One I absolutely love.
What are your
Summer plans?
Toodles,
Chris
The Maple Leaf Series, Books One through Six,
available now! Book One, More Than Pancakes, is always FREE in ebook!
7 comments:
Summer? Is it summer?
I have to just say I'm always a bit jealous of those in the teaching profession this time of year. I know you face many, many challenges I don't (like screaming parents) and deserve every minute of the break. Putting aside my jealousy, I wish you a wonderful, restful/recharging and productive(!) summer. I'll be at work. :-)
Well, Wooooo-Whooooo! Let the good times begin. Retired (unless I sub for some admins at our local school district, which I do now and then) and an empty nester, I've had many, many days of 'all the time in the world to write'. FINALLY. It is good stuff and then some! Enjoy!
PS - Absolutely LOVE your werewolf. Makes me miss my own sweet girl who looked a lot like him.
Chris, I taught high school English and was a high school principal at the end of my 30 years in education. Nothing better than the promise of summer break. The problem was, we only got paid for 181 days of work; many educators had to work in the summer or get more schooling get salary raises. How I wish I'd started my writing career earlier like you when summers of writing would have been a delicious contrast to evaluating student essays. I'm so glad you're juggling both careers and you love writing like you do. In my next life, I'll be you!
Enjoy! I love the thought of an outdoor office. We are in the midst of selling the farm and have no idea where I'll be all summer. I hope it's somewhere with an outdoor office!
Winters I work part time at the rec center across the street from my house. Summers, I tack on days at the boat ramp to that. I actually work twice as much, which means more productive writing time. As I've mentioned, my paycheck jobs aren't mentally challenging, but they give me plenty of time to write. At home, I'm distracted by dog walks, the laundry, kids (now that you teachers have turned them loose) wanting something, etc. etc. Thank God for my day jobs!
There's a reason why I only taught for 10 yrs. Frightful parents and unruly kids to name a couple. I did love my summers, though. Being retired means I can write any time. The bad news is I can write any time--and don't buckle down like those of you who manage 2 careers. I so admire you! You squeeze in writing time between everything else.
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