The Student Affairs New Professional

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Learning to Fly - Post 26

Quote of the Day:
"That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom."
- Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean

Summer used to the be time for adventure, the time to celebrate your freedom. I remember the excitement of the last day of classes. Not so much anymore....

Okay, I'm once again being a drama queen. Summer's still pretty nice. First of all, it's nice out and that always puts me in a much better mood. Then, there's work but not as much. Now, when I get home at 5 PM (I don't think I've ever gotten home that early during the academic year), I'm actually done for the day and don't have three more evening meetings. Okay, there's still my to-do-lists (getting things ready for my living learning community for next year, taking care of some RHA stuff, preparing for Training Sessions for the Fall) and then, of course, the move. I haven't made it through one summer in the seven years I've spent in this country without having to move. Crazy, huh?

I've spent this weekend organizing/cleaning/packing. I doubt this'll be a surprise to anyone, but I have a really really hard time letting go of some things. I still have a bunch of door decs from undergrad, have my two favorite bulletin boards saved (even though I'll never be able to use them again) and lots of postcards, old calendars, pictures and and and. And of course that doesn't make moving any easier.

It is kinda nice though to come across all these old things when you're packing and to remember all the fun I had. Still, I'm not looking forward to next weekend when I actually have to move. Well, this weekend was somewhat productive and if I get a few more things done this weekend, it shouldn't be too painful.

So last year, I came up with this fabulous list of goals for the summer and I did a decent job at trying to accomplish them. So here we go with my list for this summer:

* Re-read all the Harry Potter Books and mentally prepare for the release of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. I know, this may sound weird, but seriously, Harry Potter's played such a huge part in my life these past few year that the release of the last book will be a quite emotional event for me. So I'm allowing myself to really get into the hype around this Harry Potter summer; from the countdown for the movie and the book on my computer to checking Mugglenet.com on a daily basis to reading all the books again (I've actually spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out when I should start reading them; because I don't want to get done too early but I also can't afford not getting through all of them...so maybe 6 weeks before the release? This is a tough decision!).

* Get in shape again. I'm going to try and set some more realistic goals this summer though: I'm planning on working out at least three times a week. I can do three times. Sometimes, I'm just too tired at night after work; and there's no way I'd ever get up early in the morning; but three days a week are doable.

* Organize some of my old files and documents; preferably even type some up, so that I can keep electronic copies instead of all those papers. Hey, that'd even make moving easier in the future! ;)

* Get ready for next year: I'm working on this pre-test that I want students in my living learning community to take, as well as a newsletter (that will include the link to the pre-test) that'll be sent out prior to them coming to campus, a type of residential curriculum for my living learning community, a leadership portfolio program and and and. Yeah, I won't get bored this summer.... But hopefully all the hard work will pay off and maybe even make next semester a little less stressful.

* Have some fun and treat myself to something once in a while. I'm thinking about a Carvel ice cream cake...hmmmm...for some reason I've had a craving lately...lol. But I also want to do some other fun things...maybe just lay out in the sun one afternoon or drive somewhere and do something. We'll see; but I clearly don't want to spend the entire summer locked into my apartment.

I think that's it...at least everything I can think of right now. And it's also way past my bedtime (since office hours start at 7:30 AM here in the summer...CRAZINESS!!!).
Hopefully, next time I post, I'll be able to report that I have finished moving and have managed not to break anything. And hopefully, I'll also ahve seen the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie (I'll definitely take a break from moving for that...lol).

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