Is it spring yet? I’ve reached the point where I’m tired of pulling on ten layers to go outdoors. I don’t want any more warm beverages. And those boots that I so love to step into in November? Well, let’s just say they aren’t looking as cute as the sandals I saw in a store the other day.

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I recently started taking a drawing and painting class. Now let me be clear—I have reasonable fine-motor skills, but no one is going to confuse my work with Monet’s anytime soon.

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I have a secret to share! First, let me clarify that this secret is 100 percent about me. It has nothing to do with teaching, teachers, or students. It’s an all-about-me secret. So what’s up?

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Don’t you love it when kids add humor to a day? Last night was one of those times for me. I was watching my daughter, Grace, play with her toy kitchen. She sported glittery silver dress-up shoes; purple polka-dotted sunglasses; and a long, shiny beaded necklace. She “cooked” some tea, handed me a plastic teacup, and then gravely warned me to be careful because the tea was hot.

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Does this happen to you too? A few Saturdays ago, after running errands for several hours, I decided to pick up dinner on my way home. I’m sure I was looking fairly tousled. I don’t remember exactly what I was wearing, however my usual Saturday attire this time of year is tennis shoes, an oversize sweater, and some comfy pants. Oh, and on weekends I usually keep my contacts in their case and sport my spectacles. Anyway, I was paying for my takeout and making idle conversation with the cashier—a pleasant twenty-something male with a big grin and a few piercings—when he asked, “Are you a teacher?”

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While I was watching TV last week, commercials for a community fair reminded me of the county fairs I grew up with. The county fair is a pretty big deal in my hometown. Everyone goes. As a kid, going to the county fair was the highlight of the fall.

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If you're a regular blog reader, you know how much I love teachers. Usually, when I meet someone new, I can tell within a few minutes whether the person is a teacher. Teachers are just special like nobody else I know. What can I say? Who else can appreciate a teacher's job the way teachers do?

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Do you tweet? Do you post? Can't stop taking those crazy quizzes on Facebook? I know I answered yes to all the above. I must say, within the last year, I've become hooked on Facebook and have recently spread my addiction to Twitter.

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This is a photo of my cat, Newton. She is my baby. (She would like you folks to know that the camera adds ten pounds and the photo was taken at an unflattering angle.) For the years when teaching was my profession, I would leave school and come home to Newton. In other words, my home life was pretty mellow. (I was working on my goal of becoming a crazy cat lady.)

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It’s hard to believe that an entire month of the summer season has come and gone. Each year I make a mental list of the projects I hope to accomplish during summer. This year’s list includes painting the living room, purging both the attic and my closet, giving my car a thorough cleaning, and tackling the tool shed once and for all. I’m quite certain there were additional items on the list, but that’s an important benefit of a mental list for summer—it’s flexible!

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