Back to School Preperations, Part II

Believe it or not, teachers have to do a bit more than decorate their classrooms and run a bunch of copies before declaring themselves "ready" for the first day of school.



Teachers also have to prepare emotionally and spiritually to start the new year.



Some teachers prepare by spending the weekend at a spa .



Some teachers prepare by spending a day at the temple.



And some teachers prepare themselves by watching and re-watching the first ten minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" over and over and over.
Over the last five years, I have established a kind of routine for getting my self "ready" to go back to school. I spent this last weekend savoring the final moments of summer, and preparing for the always exciting adventure that is a new school year.

I reread some of my favorite books (If you haven't started reading "The Ranger's Apprentice" series, shame on you! The honors kidlets got me hooked two years ago... thank you, honors kidlets! I apologize for every time I made you sing silly grammar songs to the lunch ladies. Really. I do.), I ate a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendys, I sang along with the "Newsies" soundtrack as I did my laundry, watched my DVR-ed episodes of Top Chef and Project Runway, and I went to the $2 movie theater where I saw Star Trek... and several of my former and future kidlets.

I also straitened up my apartment so that I would have a nice comfy nest return to after Monday's marathon first day. My couch has been fluffed, a Vin Diesel DVD is in the machine ready to go, the remote control is at arm's reach, and my fridge drawer is fully stocked with Strawberry-Peanut butter M&M's.

I spent Sunday afternoon making key lime pies to give away in return for sweet boating-related service I have received in the last few weeks... and to keep here to munch on as a reward for returning to my 4:45 a.m. wake-up time.

Then a major rain storm rolled in. As I sat on the front steps, listening to the dripping and splashing and tinkling, I remembered perhaps the biggest "back to school" change of all:

I will no longer be able to go to the bathroom whenever I need/want to. All of you teacher-folks out there in blog land know what I am talking about, right? That is what I will miss most about summer vacation. My bladder aches just thinking about.

But I was eventually able to put my aching bladder out of my mind and focus on the beautiful downpour.

It was as if the rain was cleansing my cute little cow town in preparation for a bright new year. I sat on my steps, legs stretched out, and let the rain beat down on my feet. I breathed deeply (the wind was coming from the west, so the air was wet horse manure scented instead of wet cow manure scented... always a nice change) and enjoyed the zen-like moment.

And when the streaming rain turn back to a drizzle and the thunder and lightening had moved on to the far end of the valley, I took one last deep breath, stood up, walked back inside...... and went to the bathroom.

Not because I needed to, but just because I could.

I'm gonna miss that most of all.