In the Midst of Back-to-School...

Today was the one-week mark of the back to school countdown.  I started the day early, as I am planning to do all week, in order to get my body used to waking up and getting out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5:30am.  Not that I got up at 5:30am today...you know, I have to adjust slowly to the new routine!  6:35am was good enough.  I took Ava to daycare, had my last Monday morning bagel and coffee at Panera, and completed the grocery shopping by 9:30am.  I never thought I would say that I'm going to miss these early morning grocery trips.  It really is the best time to go - the shelves are being stocked, it's quiet and smells of freshly baked bread, and there are no lines to check out.  But I digress.

After putting the groceries away at home, I started a roast in the crockpot, cleaned up the kitchen, got on the computer, checked my email about five times within a fifteen minute time period, and finally decided I couldn't put it off any longer...it was time to go to school and start getting my classroom ready.

Of course it was one of those situations where it's really not so bad once you get into it.  I unpacked boxes of new workbooks and stacked them on the shelf, opened fresh packs of crayons and markers, organized my desks, dusted every last surface, and hung up a poster that had fallen down over the summer.  I love the way everything is so fresh and shiny at the beginning of the school year.

This is the cleanest my desk will be all year!

It was a welcome site to enter my classroom and feast my eyes upon the bulletin board I started during my first year of teaching.  It is filled with cards from parents and students, drawings and letters, pictures of former 8th graders and other random memorabilia.  The board has gotten full, but how could I ever take anything down?  It's a daily reminder that there are many bright sides to teaching.

And in the meantime, in this last week before I become a full-time working mommy again, I am soaking up every last bit of summer: eating huge bowls of freshly cut fruit, making lunch dates and pool dates and appointments for mani/pedis, sipping glasses of wine out on the deck in the evening, and staying up later than I should to watch trashy reality TV and read Us Weekly in a tub full of bubbles. 

But most of all, I'm enjoying Ava just a little bit more this week.  Her giggles and silly moods.  Her constant chatter as she runs all over the house, darting from one toy to the next.  The way she waves bye-bye, gives kisses and hugs, and says her daddy's name over and over: "Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada..."  How she wants to eat Cheerios ALL.THE.TIME and knows what shelf they are on in the pantry.  Her love of books and being outside no matter how hot it is.  Oh, how I love this little girl!