The final week of summer

This is it.  My final week of summer vacation.  This time next week my fellow colleagues and I will have been thoroughly inserviced and professionally developed and will be psyching ourselves up for meeting our new kids on Thursday.  When I think about what I need to do to get ready, I feel panicked. 

"Uh, Trina, aren't you starting your 19th year at Benjamin Russell?" 

The answer to that is YES.  Yes, I am about to start my 19th year at Ben Russell.  And I have 1- 1/2 years additional experience, so you'd think I wouldn't feel panicked.  Every year feels like the first year, though.  Next Wednesday night, I will have the hardest time sleeping because I'll keep going over what I might have overlooked.  Because I have a first block class, I can't have the attitude that I can just get whatever it might be done before my second block class comes in.  For the record, I've never forgotten anything that was a MUST HAVE, but I still have that fear, and there is always a first time for everything.

I have my pacing chart for my English 12 class almost complete, but I haven't even started on the one for English 11.  That is what is making me feel panicked right now.  We usually have a week after school starts before we have to submit them, so I've got a few more days.  :)

As much as I would love to simply play the rest of the week, I can't.  Dad's older brother, John, passed away Sunday night, and the funeral is Friday morning.  In October, his middle daughter Elizabeth was killed in a car wreck leaving behind her husband and three young sons (the youngest turned one just a couple of weeks after she died), and now this.  It seems so unfair that one family would be faced with so much tragedy in such a short time, but I know it happens, and sometimes some families are faced with even more.  His youngest daughter's husband is in the Air Force, and they are stationed in England.  She is supposed to be home later tonight.  Two trips home in less than a year and both for funerals.  And in between, she had a baby.  It's sad that Kathryn will know her aunt and her grandfather only through pictures and stories.

The pups and I came to the lake today.  We were going to come up yesterday, but on Monday night, I got THE email.  Football tickets were going to be delivered today!!  Football ticket delivery is one thing that I will change most any of my plans.  :)  Once the UPS guy (who was my favorite person today  LOL) made the delivery, I had to run a couple of quick errands, so we didn't get on the road until about 1:15.  I had just gotten in the car when I realized I hadn't gotten the extra gate key, but it was just SO hot that I didn't want to go back into the house for it.  Besides, I knew where one was hidden so I didn't need ours.  Or so I thought.

I got to the gate, stopped, and went to where the key is hidden.  It wasn't there.  HUH????  I know it was there when I left Friday because I used it.  (And I'm certain I put it back.)  I was going to call Marty to see if he knew what had happened to it, but I called John first.  He said he thought he remembered where another one was, so I looked and YES!!  There was a key!!  I got in and got unloaded, and we haven't done much else.  It is just SO hot!  I don't know if I'll even get out on the dock tomorrow.  I may hang out inside and try to finish my book since my days of reading for enjoyment are coming to an end.  **sigh**

Guess that it's for tonight.  I'm going to call John and then read for a while. 

Have a GREAT day!