First Day of School

Freshly sharpened pencils.

Notebooks that aren't ragged and torn.

The excitement of finding out who your teachers are and who is going to be in your class.

Seeing friends again after a summer apart.

As adults there is a lot of nostalgia associated with the first day of school. As students, the excitement is certainly tempered with a bit more of "here we go again" and "can't vacation last just a little bit longer?"

This year I have two students heading off to high school today. One a Junior and the other a Freshman. They both had multiple summer assignments due the first day of school. The freshman finished his yesterday. This summer wasn't really the nostalgic break from school that I remember.

When I dropped my son off at the school yesterday evening for band practice, the place was hopping. School doesn't start until today, but the cheerleaders were out practicing, as was the football team and the soccer team -- and that's just what I could see.

For a lot of students there isn't a clear line drawn between the school year and summer break. They more or less blend together.

It seems that in books, if it's summer, the students aren't busy with school work. Maybe there's some mention of some required reading being put off until later, but generally speaking summer adventures and romances seem to happen without any interference from the real world of school.

High school is a huge part of a teen's life, even when school is not officially in session. Teens may try to wish it away, and books (when they have the free time to read them) may give them that escape, but they also might find themselves wondering, as my daughter did. "How come no one in books ever spends their summer doing summer assignments?"

Happy Back to School everyone.

Summer fun...almost done

Today is my birthday. Which means two things:

a) Yay!
b) Almost time for back to school/work

I technically have three weeks left. Which is a lot of time, and at the same time, it's not. Similarly, I am torn -- I am excited to go back to work and start a new year, and sorry to be losing all this writing time. My last semester at Grad School (which is all YAY!) will start to take up time, and I have to finish my final project which will suck time, and Boy is playing football, which...you get the idea.

I had to go and look back at what I've blogged about previously this summer, because I couldn't remember. Writing two pages a day and cosplay. So what did I get done this summer?

I don't think I wrote two pages every day. I tried, but my previous way of doing 500 words each day seemed to work just fine. As of now I have written nearly 20,000 words between a new book and a short story.

Not too shabby, but it probably could have been better. I also worked on my Grad School project, my website portfolio which is required to graduate, and other household projects, so I guess it's not that bad.

I launched a book just before summer break. Did I even mention it here? I can't remember! Agh, getting old stinks.  THE SWORD OF DANU came out from Zumaya Thresholds, in case you missed it.

We went camping. It was awesome!

I went to the gym four-five days a week. Still didn't lose any weight until I got food poisoning, but at least that weight's stayed off. Learned to Zumba and took actual yoga classes instead of just doing poses with Wii fit.

Talked to my agent a few times, but nothing new to report.

There is the sense that things are shifting, from the lazy days of summer to the hectic time of fall. I'm slowly getting prepared for back to work, planning ahead so I don't make myself crazy. School supplies and clothes are purchased, lessons are semi-planned.

Editors are starting to come back from vacation and a summer of conferences, plunging into their submissions...

Hope springs eternal with fall. But once again time will become a precious commodity. Hopefully I will be able to get it all done...

Enjoy the last bits of your summer!

It's HOT! Super Hot! Texas is on a roll!

There's an old saying we use down here in Texas - "Don't like the weather? Wait five minutes."  Except, this saying doesn't always apply during summer. Especialy THIS summer.

It's been HOT!  We're now at over 33 consecutive days at over 100 degrees. That's over a month! And there's no end in sight.

(pic from The J-Walk Blog)

I moved a lot during my teen years.  Back when I was in Junior High, we lived here in Texas. But then we moved on up to New Hampshire. We came back to Texas in 1980 and it wasn't pretty because: 

1980 holds the current record for 42 (Yes, 42!) consecutive 100 plus degree weather days!

Mind you, everyone knows it gets hot down here, but there are limits! Right? lol.  This very week, here in Dallas, we're expecting to hit 110 degrees. ONE HUNDRED AND TEN DEGREES. Mind boggling! I don't live in a desert, so these are not the type of temps I expect. (My poor yard has been so neglected. All the grass is brown!)

Luckily, one super awesome thing about Texas is the people here heartily believe in airconditioning. We have it everywhere. Not having it is the exception rather than the rule, cars included. The opposite is true for most northern states, though. And from the rough summers they've been having up there these last few years, that may be bound to change soon.

As of this week, 2011 is the 2nd hottest summer on Texas record. And there's a very good chance we will BEAT the 1980 record as Texas goes into August and the normal hottest month for the state.


So stay frosty everyone! No heat stroke allowed!


Gloria Oliver
Unveiling the Fantastic
http://www.gloriaoliver.com/

Is Summer Really Here?

Well, the calendar seems to think so. At least, it says so on mine. June 21, the first day of summer. Summer solstice. The beginning of summer.

Here? Not so much. It's only gone over 70 once this year. I am still wearing my long pants and layering with short sleeves, a sweater and a coat. It's not very summerlike here.

Still, my mind is on summer. On doing summer things. Another post here mentioned required summer reading. We didn't have that when I was a kid. We had summer. And we had three months of summer. School was out the first week of June and we didn't go back until after Labor Day. It was wonderful.

I remember quite vividly the feeling of immense freedom. Of just being. Of doing. Of peace. I lived on a military base for most of my elementary years. Tons of kids all over the place. No fences allowed between the houses. We knew our neighbors. All of the back yards connected in this one, long, beautiful stretch of green. Perfect for baseball. Or tag. Or kickball. Or watching the clouds. Or neighborly barbecues.

We rode our bikes. We walked to the corner candy store. We had sleepovers. We played in groups and alone. We wandered over to the school and played on the equipment. There was something exciting about being on the playground when the classrooms were deserted. No time limit. We could hang out there as long as we wanted to. No bells ringing to tell us recess was over.

We traveled. Went to Grandma's house. Went fishing. Went swimming in the lakes. Had picnics. Took drives for the sake of taking drives. We only had one television, and it was black and white. It was my dad's domain for the news.

When my kids were small, I tried to give them the same sort of summers I had when I was their age. Only we went more places, saw more things. The zoo. The Science Center. The beach. The mountains. Anything that would stimulate their little minds and let them have fun. That was paramount. If they learned things, it was the icing on the proverbial cake.

We had a huge yard with woods. There were forts and treehouses. Games of tag, of hide and seek. Bike riding. Skateboards. A trampoline. Lots and lots and lots of bubbles blown. Hikes in the nearby woods, on the trails. Picnics. Petting barns. And trips to Grandma's house.

All of that is on my mind right now. My kids are all grown. They work now. Only get a few days off here and there. They are responsible adults. I sometimes yearn for those earlier times. Times of shorts, and bare feet. Of sunshine and Popsicle chins. Of fingers sticky with cotton candy, of little, warm bodies exhausted from the day's activities. Of my babies sleeping with smiles of contentment on their faces. Of summer.