Blather-- Limping towards the finish line.

Today is the last day of school. There are twelve books still out, but after mailing notices home, calling and talking to or leaving messages for parents, giving repeated notices to children and hunting them down at the end of the day, looking in their eyes and saying "You do realize that you will be with me in the library instead of going to field day, don't you?", I will still not get the books back. I like to have five or fewer books still out. I have given up keeping track of books checked out to students who leave the district.

There were about 14 books that came up missing in inventory; these were just stolen. That hurts. There's never any rhyme or reason to the titles, either. Farewell, books 8,11, and 12 of Shan's Cirque du Freak manga. We'll miss you, Arnie the Doughnut. So long Toft's The Twilight Circus. Goodbye, Gilman's The Devil's Breath. At least it was the third copy of that title. Some I will replace; others I will just mourn.

The annual Flocking of the Overheads is now, sadly, outdated. Now, it's collecting LCD remotes and the various pieces of Mimio equipment. Most of that will happen on our teacher work day tomorrow.

There are always students that I will miss, but I try not to think about it. There will be staff who leave as well. There will be new people next year. Maybe I will like them even better.

It was hard to muster enthusiasm this year, but I did come to school every day (Well, there were two days I had to take my parents to doctors, I went to Sacramento for Kidlitcon, and I accompanied the 8th graders to D.C., but I never woke up and called in sick!). I was always completely dressed, USUALLY in a skirt and not in jeans.

This is going to be a summer of regrouping. Cleaning, reading, getting a lot more sleep than usual. Then, come August, I will be back to my old level of annoying enthusiasm. I even have a theme for next year; those usually last about two weeks, but my rip off of an old Ohio tourism slogan makes me happy.

So does this:

From http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2012/11/everything-looks-better-in-underpants.html

Many, many thanks to Deb Nance at Readerbuzz for the following picture. I'm not entirely sure I could get through the day without the thought of Dav Pilkey and Jarrett Krosoczka with underpants on their heads.