School's Out for Summer!

The last official day of school was Tuesday, and I'm now spending a few days in my classroom packing away things for the summer and purging unnecessary papers. It's amazing how great it is to work in my classroom when no students are there! :) Don't get me wrong; I love teaching, but it is also really nice to have the uninterrupted time to get organized and think about what I will do differently next year.

In other news, Gram has been moved back to the nursing home from the hospital, where she spent about a week. She is very weak, doesn't eat enough, and continues to get more and more "loopy." Alzheimer's Disease is NOT a pleasant thing to watch. As Dad puts it, Gram is "circling the drain." He doesn't say that in a nasty or disrespectful way, but just as a way of describing the sad reality.

My love is almost fully recovered from his open-heart surgery. I would say he is 95% of his baseline.

What a time we have had the past six months! I have added two very gray hairs to my head, which I display proudly in the front by my forehead. Both appeared the week of Jeff's surgery. I also have two very distinct "creases" in my fingernails, which I have read can be formed during stressful times. I would like to look into how fast fingernails grow, so I could approximate the time of their formation. I could easily guess the dates, though. The whole pre-surgery, month and a half waiting period, time spent in the hospital, and post-surgery recovery point seems so surreal to me now. It was pretty shocking to me how difficult it was for ME, and I wasn't even the patient! There was so much worrying, while trying to appear calm and positive to him. On the plus side, hospitals, doctors, and nurses do not bother me in the least. I spent so much time as a child and young adult going to the hospital with my dad to make rounds and working in medical offices that I feel very comfortable. For that, I am thankful. I know some people dread even walking into a hospital, so I imagine time spent there with a loved one would be even more difficult than it was for me.

I love summer vacation, and there is so much I want to do this summer. I feel like I'm going to have to make a master plan to get everything accomplished, or even HALF of everything accomplished! A few things on the agenda are:

• Continue scanning Gram's family photos and publish on Shutterfly.com for the rest of the family
• Scan my own family photos from dad's house, since they are currently being kept in a cardboard box in his basement
• Create a website for the Springer house and tile factory history and photographs
• Refinish china cabinet from Sade and cabinet I found in the barn years ago
• Create a website for my French classes that is a thousand times better than the terrible one I have now provided by the school
• Do lots of planning for the upcoming school year
• Visit my brother in Columbus
• Visit family in South Dakota
• Knit
• Quilt
• Scrapbook
• Work in my flower beds
• Organize this crazy house
• ...

I had better stop my list, because I'm getting a little anxious and stressed just thinking about it! It's probably time for an early morning nap! :)