Are we there yet?

Okay, I gotta go on a mock rant. Today was crazy! It’s like the students know we’re close to the end of the year or something! They are so checked out. And then, last night, I was all pumped to grade papers while watching The Big Game (USA v. Mexico soccer in Mexico City), when I discovered that with all the TV channels I get with my internet package, I didn’t get the game! I thought I got Univision and could watch it in Spanish, but evidently I only get Telemundo (which had “How to Train Your Dragon” dubbed in Spanish on, and that’s cool, but not nearly as epic as The Big Game). First world probs! Seriously. I mean, the developing world probably had that game on the local networks on their TVs.  Because the REST OF THE WORLD knows that soccer is awesome. Oh, well. I got on the internet later and found out the game was a tie. Go USA! I mean Mexico! I mean USA!

Okay, so all this pent-up “anger” really just means that I am SO ready for school to be out! I love my students. But I need a break. And a massive change of scenery. And I’m going to get it! I’m going to be doing some different things at my school next year, and I’m excited for that. For one of those things, I’ll be getting trained in a couple weeks in Seattle, and stay with my grad school best friend. After that, I get to take my Southern Oregon best friend’s children home to where they live now in Montana and hang out with all of them there. So excited to be Road Trip Auntie for a couple days! I’ll stop for scenic vistas and roadside curiosities (okay, ice cream) and listen to cries of “Are we there yet?” and “He crossed the line!” from the back seat. Then I’ll get some time to relax (and prepare for the new classes/stuff for next year) at home and bum around Oregon for a couple weeks. And hang out with friends and family here. Later on, I’ll be driving Salem friends to a writer’s conference in Nevada and visiting my high school best friend there. And after that, who knows? The sky (okay, the budget and the calendar)’s the limit. Last but not least, I’ll visit friends in Madras and see the eclipse before returning to work. So ready for adventures! Plus, this summer I get to host my friend’s daughter and show her around her future college town. Super excited for that.

So if I can just survive the next couple weeks (with no other parts falling off my new-ish car), I’m good to go. Next week we’ll have our last few days of classes and then our Iron Cadet and Iron Company competition, which are really fun. Then I’ll wish my students a wonderful summer, cry for the ones who have tough home lives and don’t look forward to summer, shake the hands of my seniors that are off to the world of adulthood whether they’re ready or not, and know that I’ll miss them all. But for now, I’ll just ask: Are we there yet?