Don't Hate Me Kelly - Brady

I was reading Kelly personal blog today, and she posted the following comment:

All I have time to do these days is ride the train to work, work, and ride the train home. I finally fit in a (pathetic) run today and a trip to Wal-Mart to buy some stuff for my new kitchen, but that is seriously it.

The good news is I only have 15 days until I get the keys to my apartment (11 of which will be spent at work, 2 at a wedding, and 2 at a Bachelorette party!).

Thank.God.

I love staying with my parents, but this commute is killing me!

I have been experiencing the exact opposite this summer. I'm continually amazed that my daily activities add up to 8, 9, 10 hours. When people ask me how I'm spending my vacation, I either have trouble remembering or say, embarrassed, something like, "Well, I'm reading a lot, I guess, and doing stuff around the yard and...you know...puttering around. Oh, I do tutor a kid. Yeah, yeah...4 hours a week..."

For example, today I:

- Got up at 6:45 and made breakfast.

- Checked email.

- Read nytimes.com and chicagotribune.com for about an hour.

- Somehow spent the rest of the morning finding someone to fix loose tiles we have and schedule a Verizon repairperson to come out to fix our phone.

- Ate lunch

- Worked in the yard

- Had a snack

- Checked email and Facebook (oh yes, all my Facebook friends, I am extremely well-versed in all of your lives right now. I haven't missed a new photo album in WEEKS) and created this blog post.

And it's 3 p.m. How does that stuff add up to almost a day?

I know all you working people out there probably hate me right now, Kelly especially as she has a full work day with a two-hour commute on each end. However, although I'm really grateful to have this time to get things done before my life gets crazy again, I would not want to do this for long. I get kind of weird and moody when I'm at home all day. Plus, I am not a person who loves house and yard work. I'm more of a sit in the office, drink coffee, and work on my computer kind of gal.

BUT, I am definitely enjoying a little (big) break for now and trying to just absorb myself in whatever activity I'm doing so I'm not wishing away my last real summer vacation. And it can be pretty calming and satisfying to put on music and just organize a room or put NPR on our portable radio and weed for two hours in the sunshine.

Last Day of School! - Brady

Wow. I am DONE as a high school teacher. I thought I might have to go back tomorrow, but I finished everything early.

I feel good! The kids were crazy today. Understandably so, I guess. It was the last day of school, but I was still kind of annoyed. They left at 11. Then, I spent the afternoon frantically trying to finish everything.

It was only when I was done, gradebooks and keys turned in, that it hit me. I spent a little more time in my room, half because I wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything (Definitely forgot something. Ha ha.) and half because I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. I got a Pepsi and kind of sat and started at my empty, dusty room as the clock hit 3:10 - the time I was officially done with my last day of school. I cleaned up a little, read some stuff on slate.com, gathered up my things, looked around my room, turned off the light, and closed the door. I looked back at the school as a drove away because, honestly, I don't know how often I'll see it again! Weird. Then I took my regular route downtown to get Kevin, down Lima Road - a road that I HATE because of all of its strip malls and chain restaurants - away from the Northwest Allen County School District. All afternoon I felt good about forgoing a career as a high school teacher for grad school.

THEN, I went to Kevin's office to check my email. He had some orange and yellow congratulations roses waiting for me:

AND Kelly had sent me some great apartments to check out online. THEN, I went and had dinner and drinks with some very good teacher friends from school. We probably spent three and a half hours at Columbia Street West - my favorite bar in Fort Wayne.

And the best part is...I got to meet a local NPR host that I listen to every morning! She's the neighbor and friend of one of the teachers who was there. Here's a picture of our meeting.

Great day!