Summer Coming to a Close

Even though it doesn't officially end for a little while, my summer vacation is coming to a close and so, by very definition, summer is coming to a close for me. Today I am doing that final load of laundry with a dryer (I don't have a dryer in Turkey, so the luxury of soft jeans is pretty amazing) as I am packing. I've become genius at fitting a maximum amount of things in a smallish space. I did purchase another bag for the return trip (I bought a ton of classroom things that I missed last year, treats for my teaching team and myself, some clothes, 4 pairs of shoes and I went through some of my stuff in storage and tossed that in too). So far one bag weighs in at about 42 pounds and the other remains to be seen as those last pairs of jeans are getting their dryer time right now.

At this time of year, I am usually stressed with packing and making sure that I am not overweight in my bags (as it is, I will most likely need to pay for the second bag) and that I have what I seem to feel is absolutely necessary for me to be successful in the coming year. Typically this leads to at least one spaz attack and a few tears (depending on the time of the month, of course). However, this year I feel blessed to have more than I thought I could take back in my bags already. I feel relaxed and organized. I'm super pleased with my purchases and with my packing. I am sure that once I get to Turkey I will realize that I've forgotten one of the most important items, but for the moment, I feel like I have it in control.

So that is the first sign that vacation and summer is coming to a close, the second is putting myself on the scale. Five whole pounds have been added to my weight as I gorged myself on all the things I don't typically get while in Turkey (REAL maple syrup, BACON, meat - I tend not to buy a lot of meat- Coffee Crisp, KD!!! and the list goes on). So I know the end is near when those dryer dried jeans feel a little (HA, try A LOT) tighter than they did when I arrived in Canada.

The next sign that summer is coming to a close is that I begin to get excited about the coming year. My brain begins to go crazy thinking of all the things I could be making and prepping for my students and fellow teachers. And I start to get bored with my endless days of reading, sun bathing and chatting with friends. (Don't worry... I am aware of how WEIRD that is.)

With that said, I need to get back to laundry, cleaning and packing... in 48 hours I will be hanging out in Turkey again (takes more than 24 hours to get there... you lose 10 hours with time change alone)! Look for start of the year blog posts coming soon...