Summertime, and the Living's Easy; or, Reflections on Summer 2014

School starts for teachers on Wednesday, next Monday for students. Part of the beauty of teaching is you don't really have to keep up with the day of the week, the time, etc all summer long. (And forget the date---I somehow missed that it was August until a week had passed).

Reality has set in that I will have to set an alarm clock (the same one that's been flashing constantly since a power outage---a regular occurrence---sometime before I got back on August 9).

Instead of moaning about the loss of an overall great vacation, I will dwell on some of the best parts:

Chasing Wabbits (or almost-tame bunnies):
Hung out with this little guy
who lives in my parents' neighborhood.

Family reunion time!

Went to a family reunion to see 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins and my aunt/uncle. Loved seeing my cousin who was a teacher/librarian with DoDDS many years ago. She was stationed in the Philippines and Germany. It was nice to be around someone in the teaching world who speaks the same language of RAT, LQA, COLA, etc etc. 

Watched kids grow up before my very eyes. A year in the life of a child is huge---my two nieces have grown so much, especially the youngest who was only a year old last summer. But my niece and nephew in Texas have grown tremendously in two years. So did our little friend Carolina. 

Caught lots of frogs.
Don't have frogs in GTMO---
only poisonous cane toads. 

Played Barbies with my oldest niece. I want to copyright the name "Crazy Hair Barbie" now, because she is my alter-ego.

Saw childhood friends. Made my heart very, very happy. The lengths they go to in order to see me is, well, quite humbling. 

Slept late in my childhood bedroom.

Went shopping with my grandmother. She can still outlast me any day. 

Look closely-those are beans!

Visited a dentist. This doesn't seem like an event, until you know that he was a student in my very first high school class, back in Hattiesburg High School when I was a student teacher. I'd like to say I taught him everything he knows, but unfortunately, I didn't teach him much (except Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie).

Got lots of dirt under my nails.  
Had great luck with the Louisiana Purple Hulled Beans in my parents' garden, so much so, my mom declared, "We have enough to feed Coxey's Army!" then gasped, "Who is Coxey?" That's one of the many rich Grannyisms we all find ourselves spouting from time-to-time. We didn't have much success with blueberries, but at $5 a half pint here in GTMO, the small handful for free was a treat. 

We ate snow cones. 
Lots of them. Why can't we have those here in GTMO?

Experienced New Orleans with my youngest. 
The places---St. Louis Cathedral, the Quarter, the French Market, a streetcar through the Garden District.
The food---muffulettas at Central Grocery, beignets and café au lait at Café du Monde, and dessert at the Camellia Grill.
The people---met up with my childhood friend Beth whose been a New Orleans girl long enough to call it home, and shared laughs with the Camellia Grill waiter who grew up in Meridian (and really hated it). The Quarter is the best place for people watching, and New Orleans never disappoints.

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

Last time I was in New Orleans, I was in early stages of a pregnancy with Cletus the Fetus (now, thankfully, named something a little more respectable) and couldn't deal with the plethora of smells that is Bourbon Street. This time was more pleasant. My life-long love for New Orleans started at my first visit I remember, when I was about the same age as my son (8). He looked up at the beautiful old buildings as we drove through the Quarter and exclaimed, "This is nice place! I'd like to live here!" (my first thought as a kid) and then---"Uh, do you think there is a lot of crime here?" (not a thought I would have had at his age---I just laughed. I don't want to deter a boy's dreams).

Got lost on my college campus and home for several years, thanks to a tornado that took out some landmarks, and renovations before and afterwards that changed the face of USM. That being said---it looks really great now. 

Went back to school---Monticello High School---now Lawrence County High. Had a great tour with one of my follow Red Devils, Silas, who is a few years ahead of me, and loved seeing the new additions, the updated building, and the bandhall---it smelled the same! Band geeks forever!! 

Country roads, take me home---looking out the windshield near Utica, MS.
Yes, that's a guy on a horse. In the highway. Seriously. 

*****
I am going back to my first love, teaching English, this school year. Instead of being split between 2 campuses, I am going to be at the high school full time, teaching English (all levels---yes, 9, 10, 11, and 12. That's what happens when you work in a tiny school).

So now I need advice---should I keep the url the same, or does anyone even read it (https://librarianwanderlust.blogspot.com)? I'm still a librarian, I'm just taking a small break. Suggestions are welcome. Please leave them in the comment section below! :)