How I Spent My Summer Vacation

School started today, but I slept in. I read the paper, drank my coffee, then went swimming at 11. There was no one there. Well, there was a small party of 80-somethings, but they were chill, and I had the pool to myself. I'm getting better at butterfly--the key is to not lose my skills like I did last fall. I am subbing for someone Friday, but generally, I'm enjoying this new chapter in my life. I get better sleep, get to see more of my friends, have more energy in general, am making more out of my workouts, and can actually dye my hair weird colors if I so chose. I probably won't, but it's nice to have the option. I am reminded of one October back in '00, when I got laid off from Keen and spent the fall at the pool and the beach. I lasted three weeks before I got bored. Clearly, I'm getting better at using my free time. :)

There are things I will miss about teaching--my friends at work, obviously, but also being around kids and hearing their thoughts about politics, music, fashion, which celebrities are cute, what they think about various social issues--it keeps you young. At the same time, I felt like I, myself, had no sense of fashion, and I exerted myself so much at school and meetings that I wore myself out before I got home! It was sometimes hard to feel like I had a full life outside of work. I know many others, in other professions, have felt that way, and it wasn't a massive problem that would keep me from ever going back to teaching, but--I was ready for a break.

So now, when people ask me what I do for work, I say that I am a writer. And I do feel like one, again. I am doing my own work (novels, short stories, and of course, this wonderful masterpiece of a blog--ha!), doing PR and writing for Stanford and for Heather's Studio Picotee, and enjoying how comfortable it feels to be doing what I did for quite a few years before I became a teacher. I always thought it would work to maintain a writerly life while teaching. However, as I gained leadership in my school district, I devoted time to those things--and to the writing of curriculum, and discussion of student writing, and didn't spend time doing the writing I enjoy most--copywriting, PR, fiction. I edited a lot, and enjoyed that very much. And it's not true that "those who can't do, teach." That's ridiculous. Being able to write well helped me teach other people to do the same! However, it's nice to have time for myself.

I've also been traveling all over the west coast. There will be two trips to Hawaii, and I did go to Boston, and also went to LA, the gold country, and plan to head to the coast to see Big Sur, go to the Steinbeck museum, camp in luxury at Costa Noa, hit Half Moon Bay, maybe go up to Mendocino and Eureka and head home via Ashland, Shasta, Trinity Alps, and Lassen (and heck, maybe Redding!). Basically I am having the AAA Magazine summer. We found a fabulous French restaurant in Pasa Robles, on our way down to hotter-than-heck Calabasas for a family wedding in July. Heather and I discovered the town of Murphys on the way to Arnold last weekend, and also enjoyed seeing the giant sequoias at Calaveras Big Trees. The fam and I will be heading to a wedding in St. Helena over Labor Day weekend, and I certainly plan to spend more time in San Francisco as summer turns to fall.

Having time to see more of California is serving to prepare me for the move to Delaware in October. I'm excited to move to a small blue state, enjoy seasons, buy some cute winter clothes, meet some new people, and experience life in a new place. It's about time I did that! I'm already planning my trips to New York City, Baltimore, Philly, Washington, D.C. and the beaches and Chesapeake Bay towns. There is, of course, no small measure of stress involved in all of this, but I am trying to focus on my excitement. Having the good fortune of a flexible schedule this fall, I know I can come back to Cali whenever I choose to. I'll be looking for writing work so that I can continue to pay my bills while enjoying a flexible schedule, and hoping to adjust quickly!