Summer Vacation!!!

I am officially off on summer vacation! Woo Hoo!!! I am, however, teaching summer school and that starts on Monday. I am looking forward to it though. My co-teacher is taking an actual summer vacation and not teaching so I will be working with a teacher who normally teaches special ed. at an elementary school in the district. Between the two of us we will have 24 students. I have split the kids up so that I will have the 11 (yes, 11) incoming freshmen along with my two more high profile cases (meaning parents have a history of breathing down our necks) and she will have a dream of a caseload of students who have all been at the high school for at least one year. I think summer school is a great way for the freshmen to get accustomed to their new environment, teachers, and classmates. We have an interesting mix of kids coming to us next year. We have students coming to us from the class that typically feeds into ours, students from a class that is typically a step below ours, and students from two different classes that are each at least one step above ours. We shall see how it all pans out. As far as I know, though, none of them are biters! ;)

As you know, since Hurrican Dean paid us a visit while we were on our honeymoon, we are heading to Jamaica for free in July. We booked our flights yesterday and cannot wait to sip banana coladas on the beach. Mmm... We'll be flying a red-eye to Montego Bay on my birthday and coming home on the 22nd of July.

After summer school lets out on July 24, Mark and I will be heading to Michigan. We had originally planned on driving and camping cross country with the dog in tow. Then we decided not to bring the dog and to drive Mark's little convertible all the way there. Now we are thinking that it may be more cost effective if we don't drive at all but fly instead. We're trying to figure out the best deal for a cheap rental car. Nobody has a spare vehicle laying around, do they? We'll gladly take it off your hands for a few weeks. :) Yes, you read correctly, a few WEEKS! We're thinking of flying in on or about the 28th of July and flying out on or about the 20th of August. We're thinking of flying in and out of Chicago since we'll be heading back home after Karen's wedding in Madison. Busy, busy, busy.

Bygones...

I received a letter today from a friend with whom I had a huge blow out recently (as huge of a blow out you can have via email, that is). I was referred to as an e-Bully which, had I not been so angry, I would have found very funny. Anyway, I got a letter today that indicated this person was aware of their recent upsetting behavior and that they were willing to forgive me for mine. (sigh of relief) I think the strongest of friendships have had to endure some struggles. I'm hopeful that we can move forward again as friends.

It's a boy!

And a girl and another boy...King's a daddy! Mark called me today when he got the word that Pookie delivered 6 healthy puppies on Wednesday. We can't wait to go see them. I think Mark's sister is trying to convince his dad to let her keep one. We shall see...