One more week...

...that's how long I have to make it. Almost exactly one week from now, I will be free for nearly three months. A week from this moment, I plan to be sitting at home, quaffing a glass of Deus and thinking about the things that really matter, such as "what beer should I brew next," or "what should I serve with the tuna steaks tonight?"

Yes. In one week more, school will be out. Grades will be turned in. I will be free. And it will be good. It will be the Summer of 2006, and like its magical brethren, the summers of '98 and '02, it will be filled with sun, spirituality, and socialization.

Currently I'm feeling much better than I have over the past several weeks. And that's because, thanks to Memorial Day, I am currently at home when I should be scowling though a BTSA meeting, awaiting an hour-long battle up I-80 to reach my home. This weekend, I've finally been able to get some of the rest and recreation that I've so desperately needed over the past few weeks. Perhaps I should explain what's been happening lately...

May of 2006 has been hell. Nay, Hell. As in Satan resides there. I mean, should I suffer eternal damnation following my death, I fully expect it to consist of a constant repeat of the past month. Following Coachella, I returned home feeling energized & youthful. That, however, quickly dissipated upon my return to work. Yes, a crushing load loomed for the following month, but I wasn't letting it get me down. However, my co-workers, especially my team-teacher (we do two-hour long block periods with combined subjects - she's the English half, I'm the social studies half) seemed stressed out by what was to come. This stress wore on me, making me, quite simply, not want to be at work. Did I work to calm my co-workers or alleviate the situations causing them stress? Not really. Whatever the case, I was soon swept up in the same stress-storm as they were. With the first graduating class' "senior projects" happening, and those projects being almost universally abysmal, I began to crack. Because of the time-demands of that week - detailed here - the moot court field trip the following week, and the "Senior Trip" to Disneyland & Dana Point - which was quite wonderful, but very tiring - I went into this week rendered nearly incapable. As students worked on senior project revisions and finals preparations, I went through the week in an absolute haze. I was utterly exhausted, incapable of tasks that had once been simple. I simply could not focus, and I was so groggy that I could barely stay awake. On top of this, my allergies continued to be torturous, and the only way to effectively combat them was through sleep-inducing Benadryl... I quite literally crawled through the week. I weathered the evening commitments of "Open House" and "Senior Awards Night," managed to not mess anything up too badly in my exhausted state, and made it to Friday afternoon.

This weekend wasn't as restful as I would've liked. A trip up to South Lake Tahoe with Brenda's family was fun, but there wasn't much time for sleep, or even for sitting still. And what sleep there was was disturbed by a hotel-wide alarm and a drunk fellow in the hallway. But after a full (over eight hours) night's sleep last night, the first I've had in ages, I'm enjoying life again. Today has been good. In addition to getting caught up on sleep and some chores, I'm generally experiencing a better outlook on life. The end of the school year and the beginning of vacation is finally close enough that it is tangible. Yes, I have to go through a week of finals, graduation practices, and the actual graduation itself, but the end is in sight. Just four days of school, then a brief meeting on Monday, and I'm free...

So, in a week, I shall begin my professional recreation, which will likely include a fair bit of blogging. However, I don't expect to post much, if at all, over the intervening time. I shall continue to be busy for a short while longer, but let's just hope that I make it through it all better than I had been.