The Whole Summer Off

When I, as a teacher, tell people who are not teachers what my job is, I get the same response that most teachers do: It must be so great to have the whole summer off! And today, I am not going to argue with you. I will just say that, you know what? It is great to have the summer off.

I wanted to share with you what I do during the summer. I mean, obviously, I do all of the things that I do during the school year, just at a much more leisurely pace. We go to visit our families. We take day trips. We work on the house. But what do I do during the summer? Here's a short list.

1. I read. I read during the school year, but over the summer, it's different. I read novels I'm thinking about teaching. I write in the margins. I highlight. I read inspirational teaching books. I read theology. I read my Bible every day. I read literary fiction to stretch my lit crit muscles. I read bubble gum to relax. 
2. I check out books from the library. Yes, I know this goes with number one, but see where I'm going with all of this. I check out cookbooks, tons of cookbooks. I try recipes and experiment in the kitchen. I check out books on interior and exterior design and try to improve our home. I check out books about housekeeping and cleaning, and promptly forget everything in them when the school year begins. But every summer, I make some changes that stick in our school year routine. 
3. I organize at least one space. Sometimes, I wind up doing more spaces. Last summer, I think it was the pantry. Or the junk drawer. During maternity leave, I organized our back room and bathroom closet. I need to reorganize Jonah's closet to make it work better, and I should probably organize my dresser, since I've been putting that off. 
4. I cook. I find out new recipes and try them. I research nutrition depending on what our family needs: IBS, heartburn, borderline blood pressure, lactose intolerance. I bake. I try to fine-tune our family's health and eating habits. Again, some things stick into the school year; things like that vegetarian pasta soup with whole-wheat penne and garbanzo beans don't.
5. I hang out with my husband. We watch movies while our kids nap. We play cards at the dining room table. I blog on the couch while he plays PS3 on TV. We kiss. We take the kids places and let them run around. We don't spend the entire summer trying to keep our house perfectly clean. We date. We plan our anniversary outing. 

So what about you? What are you doing this summer? Can I encourage you to use some of the extra time in this slower season to brush up on some things you've forgotten or gotten lazy about? Try to use this time to better your home, your family and yourself. God will bless you for it, and who knows? It might even stick when fall comes around. Soli Deo Gloria, friends!