The Semi-Annual Flip Flop Day

 Today is the official last day of my summer class. If you’re a regular reader, you know what that means.

Flip-flop day is imminent.

This particular flip flop day has nothing to do with footwear -- I've been wearing those for weeks. It’s the day my schedule priorities shift. 

Unlike the summer in the pre-pandemic post below, I didn't have three weeks between spring semester and the start of my summer class (more like three days). But right now, that seems like a good thing because it means I get to flip flop sooner.

The exact day of this schedule flip flop is still to be determined, as I have to finish my grading first. But, after that, my summer class will be "in the books" as they say.

Wanna know how I'm celebrating? 

I signed up for a class.

But this time, I'm the student. It's a three-day workshop on the submissions process and it seemed like a great way to improve my skills and get serious about my priorities for the rest of the summer. And, as someone who loves to learn as much as she loves to teach, it's the perfect transition -- one that will, I hope, help me get Project #2 off the back burner and into the writing rotation.

So now, if you'll excuse me, I have some grading to do. The sooner I finish it, the sooner I get to flip flop. And, although my daughter won't be here this summer,  I will, for the first time, have a screened-in patio at the ready 24-7.

My favorite writing space. I can hardly wait.

No beach for a while yet, but I can live with that.
Photo credit: Irkata via Pixabay

My schedule is about to flip flop and I couldn't be happier. Then again, how could anyone be disappointed in something that involves flip flops?

I love teaching. And if I had any doubt about that whatsoever, it disappeared when I retired from 27 years in education only to seek out more teaching opportunities. Initially, I sought them out as an additional stream of income and as something to keep me occupied and busy. Then, I landed a teaching position at the local college -- one that grew from a single class to a full-time job. But, as the plaque my husband gave me the first summer after I retired says, "If I don't want to, you can't make me. I'm retired."

And I want to. Teaching inspires my creativity and feeds my need to connect with other people. It also feeds the helping persona inherent in my personality (some might call her bossy...) and ingrained in my identity through more than a quarter of a century as a counselor.

But I also love writing. And during the school term, it's sometimes difficult to find enough creative energy for planning and preparing lessons and planning and preparing manuscripts. And so now that the semester is almost over, writing projects are once again taking their place at the top of my priority list. I'm looking forward to being able to spend entire days focused on all of the aspects of a writing career -- submitting, promoting and, of course, the writing itself -- for three glorious weeks.

Wait. Only three weeks?

In three weeks, summer session will begin. Though it's less overwhelming than fall and spring semester (one small class, compared to three classes roughly three times the size of a summer class), it will also need its place in my calendar. In addition, my daughter will be home.

And my book comes out in June.

Never a dull moment around here. Luckily, the flip flop in my schedule fuels the writing spark much the same way as a trip to the beach recharges my spirit. Coupled with longer days and my family all under one roof again, I'm ready.

Bring on summer.