Today is my last Friday with students. The yearbooks are here (they look great!) The 8th graders are rapidly unraveling. A camp will be in my classroom this summer. I have to teach a bullshit class on the 6th grade elective wheel because there weren’t enough 1B students to justify two classes. My first child turns 16 this Sunday. Just a couple things on my mind right now. June started fast and furious and it won’t really slow down so I’m trying to enjoy the ride.
End of the school year. My kids were supposed to be done on Wednesday, but because of the strike, they added five days to the end of the year. The end of the grading period was still this Monday, and very few students are going to my kids’ schools right now. We decided that today could be our kids last day and they are very excited. I have one more week of school. My last day with students is next Thursday and Friday is a staff day (to pack up rooms, etc). I found out a summer camp will be in my classroom so cleaning up will be a little more fraught than usual. Boo.
Big birthday. The 15yo turns 16 this Sunday. I can’t really believe it. She’s not interested in driving so we haven’t done any of that yet. Her big birthday present is getting PADI certified in open water diving and all the gear required for that. She finished her pool training last weekend and we’re doing our certification dives in Monterey later this month. The grandparents came over today for her family birthday and we’re hosting her friend birthday at the beach on Sunday. She is very excited.
Appointments. I had video appointments with my Endocrinologist and Psychiatrist earlier this week. I love my Endo and don’t love my Psych. Endo says my labs all look good and kept repeating how healthy I am (cholesterol, blood pressure). I was struck by it because lately I feel like I have to take so many pills every day, and I’m only 45 which means that number will only keep going up. Her comment helped change my mindset. I’m supposed to keep taking meds to manage my thyroid (they keep reducing the dose) until late 2027, at which point we’ll stop and see if I’m in remission. I decided not to talk too much with my Psych about how the Strattera is not as effective as Ritalin in managing my ADHD symptoms, because not having to deal with filling a controlled substance still outweighs the negatives. I have a PT appointment this coming Monday, and I hope to do my first 12 minute mileage + 10% run on Sunday. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to track these kinds of small distances, maybe I can do it with time instead of distance?
Weekends this month. This Sunday we’re hosting the 16yo’s birthday party, on her actual birthday! Next weekend I’m driving her to her overnight marine biology camp in Bodega Bay (a 1.5-2 hour drive one way). The next weekend I’m picking her up from Bodega Bay and we’re driving all the way to Monterey Friday night, for our Monterey Bay dives on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The final weekend of June we’re flying to St. Louis. And that’s just the weekends in June.
Summer fun book. For the first time ever, I started the photo book of our family reunion at the farm the summer of, which means it’s already half way done! Except I’m kind of having a hard time figuring out how it’s organized. I’m really glad that I only have half of the book still to make, but I’m realizing that leaving it half finished was not a great call. I hope that once I find a productive way to jump back in, it will be done quickly. Luckily I don’t feel burned out from the yearbook, so I’m ready to tackle this project sooner rather later. And I have a coupon that will make it affordable and isn’t creating a time crunch. Hooray!
I started this post over 12 hours ago and it’s not even Friday for most of you anymore, but I’m just going to press publish and be done. I think this is what June is going to look like, at least for another week.
