another new beginning

so today . . . is my last day of summer vacation. i am sad.

usually by the time school starts in the fall, i am feeling ready to go back to work. usually i have spent my summer doing projects. usually i've spent a lot of time alone, recharging.

this summer, none of those things have happened. i am not ready to go back.

but tomorrow i go back to work anyway. in a different classroom. for the third year in a row. i haven't been able to get into the new classroom yet, so it is not ready. i have never started a school year in this state of chaos! but it is what it is, and it will be ok. i just have relax and do what i can do, and then not worry about it. the kids in my class will be fine. and in a couple of weeks we will be up to speed.

BUT...

now that school is starting again, i do need to make some changes to my summer lifestyle. none of these are earth-shattering, and if you have read my blog for very long, you have heard me mention these things before. because i talk big, but when it comes to actually making lifestyle changes, i am a wimp. and yet, if i am going to survive the next nine months until summer vacation 2011, these things have to happen.

1--i HAVE to go to bed earlier! i am a night owl. i can easily stay up until 2 a.m. and then wake up at 10 a.m. the next morning and feel pretty good. but if i go to bed at 11 p.m. and get up at 7 a.m. i feel tired. it is still 8 hours of sleep, but it is a different 8 hours. the problem isn't the amount of sleep i get, it is having to get up at 7 a.m.! i am just a zombie at that time of the morning. ask rollie, my morning person husband. he has learned to pretty much ignore me until i come downstairs on my way out the door. but when i am working, i can't sleep until 10:00! so, whether i am tired or not, i am going to have to go to bed by 11:00. which means i am going to have to plan to go to bed by 10:00--because once i head that direction, i always seem to find a hundred little things i have to do...

2--i HAVE to walk the dogs. i am going to start doing this again. really. i am! (rollie is rolling his eyes as he reads this. he has heard me say this so many times before, that he never really believes it--even if he sees me walk out the door with a dog on a leash. i think he thinks i just walk around the corner, sit on the curb for 45 minutes, and then come back.) i am going to do this because i need the exercise, and i failed at being a gym rat. i am going to do this because the dogs need the exercise--milo is an 18 pound roly-poly, even though i now feed him diet dog food! and while mia is still her sleek and beautiful self, she has enough energy to power several four year olds. so we need to get out there. next week. really.

3--i HAVE to drink more water, less soda. i know, you have heard me say this so many times, but i just like soda and i get tired of water. i was going to work on this during the summer, but it didn't happen. i did make sun tea, so that i would have an alternative to soda. but once again, i left it outside for a few days, and then on the kitchen counter for several more, until it got moldy... but i think i will be more successful when i am spending most of my day at school. i have water in my classroom, but not soda--unless i bring some from home. so i expect that in a few months, i will have this one under control :) of course, i have thought that before, so we will see...

4--i HAVE to read more. i am busy during the day at school. and when i have a few free moments, i have kind of fallen into the trap of spending them on facebook. but i love to read! and now that i have a kindle, there is no excuse--i will always have several books with me!! i love my computer, and facebook, and the internet, but books engage my mind. and my poor mind needs something...

today, i didn't read, i didn't walk the dogs, and i drank soda all day--no water. BUT it is only 10:30, so if i stop writing right now and head to bed and don't get sidetracked by more than a couple of things, i think i might at least be able to accomplish one of my goals.

i'll keep you posted on the rest of them...