New Years

It's funny, but for as long as I can remember, I always considered a year to be from September to August, not January to December. My mental calendar looks nothing like the Julian calender so used in most of the world (if not all). For 13 years, I was a public school student, then a college student for 5 years. For 3 years, I wasn't a student, but as management in Starbucks, our fiscal year began in October and ended in December, which is pretty close to my normal schedule. Finally, I've been a high school teacher for 5 years now, and thus the September-August calendar continues.

So while many consider this the end of summer, beginning of fall, I think of it as the beginning of a new year.

So, what do I hope to accomplish this year? As always, I hope to grow in my profession as a teacher - both in terms of relationships with students and lessons that are relevant to society, and yet along the district and state curriculum. I also am beginning graduate classes in three weeks (eek!), so I hope to earn A's in those classes and write papers that may guide me in my thesis-seeking and writing. I hope to travel more this year - the only places I went last year were San Antonio and Memphis - neither really worth great celebrations (although I enjoyed, relatively, both). This year's travels will take me to Philadelphia in the fall for a convention, followed by a drive through New England, where I will end up in Vermont for a few days. Then, hopefully a trip to NY will occur, so I can visit with my dear friend Christine and, depending on when I go, either see her in the end of her pregnancy or meet her new baby! Next summer will hopefully consist of either a cruise or a trip to Europe (although I might save and wait for Europe the following year, which will coincide with my thesis-writing, and maybe I can do some primary source research while I am there).

I went to my classroom today to begin getting it ready, although I do not go back for over a week. I felt my heart soar when I walked into the room. I didn't quite enjoy pushing the heavy furniture around and relocating my desks, filing cabinets and bookshelves to their normal places, but it felt good to just be in the room. Tomorrow I'll go back and begin unpacking. Next week I'll go in for a few days and work as well. My goal is to have everything done before I have to, so that I can work on lessons and such during our work days. Knowing me, I might even have my lessons done by then!

Over the past couple of years, I've suffered some injuries. Almost three years ago I messed up my knee. I've acquired impingement tendonitis in both of my shoulders and I have cartilage damage and tendonitis in my left ankle. Finally, almost two weeks ago, I busted my knee again (and the bruising is just now going down). Those injuries have really brought me down. I used to say I am a runner. Now I say I WAS a runner. My orthopedic doctor told me I'd never run a full marathon again and he doesn't recommend the successive training I've put myself through. But I am going to work with that. I'm signing up for the Surfside half-marathon in February and I'll walk it. And once I've dropped the weight I've gained this past year, I'll start jogging slowly and smaller distances. And eventually I'll jog half marathons again, but I'm going to walk for a while.

The heat is on - I will complete my 6th half marathon in February, followed by my 7th in March. And eventually, I'll complete a 4th full marathon - even if I'm walking it.

Cheers!