school's out for summer

...which means I am left gazing out over a welcoming expanse of free time and having no clue what I'm going to do with it all. Every year during the last week of school, whilst sitting at my desk proctoring final exams, I inevitably begin compiling long mental lists of the fabulous and creative things I plan to accomplish over the summer. My track record for actually bringing these ideas to fruition over the past five summers of my teaching career is about 1 of 8 ideas. One of last summer's undertakings was to create a personal blog. One measly handful of posts later we see how that went! Here are the vacation aspirations I've come up with so far for 2012. Let's check back in this August and see how I've done.

1. Actually post new blog entries. Is once a week too ambitious of me?

2. Read approximately 1200 pages of rhetorical theory in preparation to teach rhetoric to high school juniors this fall.

3. Get some concentrated vitamin D a couple of times per week.

4. Read at least four fictional books purely for pleasure. Any suggestions? The last exciting and no-brain-power reads I devoured were the three Hunger Games novels.

5. Start and successfully complete the workout DVD I purchased today: Jillian Michael's "Ripped in 30." She does look pretty intimidating! I think she'll frighten me into submission!

6. Choose the next play I'll direct at school this fall (this one's not really an option).

7. Cook some of the 256,347 scrumptious-looking meals I've pinned on Pinterest.

8. Go through all of my clothes and make an extra special trip to GCF.

What summer endeavors are you planning?