School's out for summer!

Go ahead and sing it in your head because I know you want to. I'm shouting it out loud. This has been a rough year to be an educator. We were furloughed for 7 days this year. That meant no planning days at all and for those of you who think you should be able to plan and do all that we have to do in an hour's planning time...get real. It also meant a reduction in pay which came at a time that Brandon was entering the fire academy and taking HIS reduction in pay. At the end of the day we are both blessed to have jobs and that's really all that matters. A little couponing here and there and just being smarter with our money really helped us out and taught us a lot for the future.

It is also weird to think that I will never have to spend another summer (or fall and spring for that matter) at grad school. Finishing my master's degree was definitely a huge accomplishment and I am so glad that I did it. But I am so glad that I am done. For 3 years I drove 2 hours each night, 3 nights a week to Athens, Georgia. You can imagine the money we are saving not having to pay that gas bill anymore.

So onto summer. I have lots of plans for this house and all the crap shoved into closets for the summer. I also want to finish up some of our remodeling projects by fixing up the office area. But mainly I will enjoy some time to concentrate on all the things that I have let go by the way side while school has been in session. It is time to concentrate on me for a little while. No more school, no more grad school, just me time. Life is good.

So...bring it on summer. I'm ready!