Counting

The spring of my first year of teaching, I was head down, plowing forward, gasping for air, swimming upstream, and several metaphors for working hard with out much time to think.  Then Spring Break came, and I sat up straight and remember who I was and that there was an outside world.  I sat still long enough to hear summer calling my name.  I didn't go to my school once that Spring Break.  When I got back the next Monday morning, the sun was rising through my window (I miss having a window!) and I looked out at that beautiful day and said to myself, "Hmmmm.  This won't do at all.  How long is the rest of the year, anyway?"  Then I sat down and counted and my discovery lead to great rejoicing and this blog post.  I had only eight more lessons to teach!

Ever since then, in April, I count up the days I have left to teach and expect it to be eight again.  Sadly, it never is.  There are two entire months of school left.  39 more days of school.  38 for me since I'm taking one off for Spring Break.  Four of those are taken up by state testing, so 34.  The last four days of school I'm betting will have very little lesson planning, so 30.  Which means I still have 15 lessons left.  15 is just enough to mean I have to plan meaningful lessons, but few enough to mean that I am panicking about fitting in everything I want to.

But I can also feel time passing.  I can feel time passing because my hair is getting longer.  I can feel my hair getting longer because it's getting in my eyes more, it's showing up on clothes when I shed, and it's actually started to show up on the drain for the first time in years.  But that's ok. Longer means closer to dreads.  Dreads are awesome.  Dreads are summer.  hmmm.  Dreads.  I dreamed about them the other night.  Again.  39 school days till dreads.  15 lessons till summer.  Two whole months till freedom.  Sigh.