Today is the final day of my "summer vacation." Where did the time go? Although it wasn't the best summer, it's still hard to see it end. Now before you start lecturing about how I have no reason to lament, how teachers have a long vacation each summer while the rest of society goes to work, please understand that I absolutely recognized how fortunate I am to have three months "off." Time off is a relative term though, isn't it? Since, June 8th, I have accomplished the following:

helped my mom with a variety of tasks as she recovered from a broken ankle and dislocated shoulder
taught three technology classes to my peers
provided personalized professional development opportunities
presented at a national conference (AATF Chicago)
installed 5 tons of stone mulch, 10 yards of bark mulch, 5 techne arbor vitae, 7 white potentillas, six boxwoods, 1 royal star magnolia, 3 wine and roses weigela, and 2 sea foam rose bushes
maintained our gardens despite the record temperatures and draught
worked countless hours in my classroom organizing, decorating, updating websites, syllabi, course materials, etc.

OK, enough justification, I know how hard I work and I am not going to feel guilty for today's plan: Il dolce far niente. For my final day before teacher in-service begins on Monday, I am enjoying the pleasure of doing nothing! I stayed in my jammies until noon, sipping tea and paging through the fall fashion magazines. I read the New York Times and caught up on my favorite blogs and social media. I participated in the Capture the Color project, reliving my favorite vacation memories. Next week, it's "back to school" for me, and as always, I will work hard to help my students achieve their academic goals. But today, I am enjoying "the sweetness of doing nothing!"