To Do's

I am linking up with Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies with a list of things to do before school starts again :)

Since my summer holiday only really began today my list of To Do's is still in progress...

In fact, I've barely got off the couch where I have collapsed in a happy stupor, knowing I don't have to get up at 6:00, don't have to rush around like a lunatic feeding dogs and finding clothes, don't have to drive into school in the morning traffic... It's wonderful!!

Next week I'm heading to Scotland to spend most of the summer with my mom and stepdad - I haven't seen them since last year so I'm really looking forward to it but, of course, it means a lot of things have to get done fairly quickly. I can't think about school stuff until all this is off the list :)


1. Get dogs sorted out. Buy an immense amount of food so that my husband, daughter and father (caregivers while I'm away) don't have to. Will write up feeding schedule and post on fridge, make sure everyone knows where and when dogs have to be at different times during the summer... it's a bit like organizing doggy day care!!

Bear already looking sad :(

Panda - she'll be so busy getting into trouble she
won't even know I'm gone!!

2. Take The Tortoise to the Aquarium for his summer vacation - and annual weigh-in. I'll get him back in September once he's been vetted and he can return to the classroom.

The Tortoise in his summer home in my garden.

3. Clean house thoroughly so I don't feel guilty leaving my husband to fend for himself for a while.

4. Air out suitcase, find winter clothes (I'm pretty sure I'll be needing my sweaters in Aberdeen even if it IS summer!!) and pack as lightly as possible.

5. Make sure my daughter is ready for university - banking, visas etc. - since a) she is transferring to a university in Canada and b) I won't see her again until Christmas. I would prefer NOT to get an email like I had LAST summer saying that she forgot to get her visa and got slammed with a massive one-off fee at the airport which she "had to pay with my credit card"!!!

6. Get into school and clean my classroom!! I'll have a week to decorate and plan when I get back (before we have to be in for meetings etc.) but the room really needs another gutting - and definitely the boards need to be stripped and the paper cabinet reorganized.

7. Order a BioBubble - I want one for my classroom next year and would like to have it arrive before the end of August!! Look at this blog post by Christi Fultz - doesn't this look like an awesome thing to have in a classroom?!!

8. Get my hair cut!!!!

Once I'm settled in Scotland my To Do list changes slightly:

1. Start walking every day (!!!) and look into getting a summer membership at the gym down the road.

These are the hills just 10 minutes from my mom's
house. See all the heather? :)

2. Work on TpT every morning and get the half-finished projects finished and uploaded plus get all the stuff that is in my head out into reality. I am going to try and be disciplined and make myself a schedule so that I have some Ta Da! moments this summer :)

• Mental Math sheets
• Problem packs
• Scoot games - my class LOVE them!
• Open-ended Math projects
• lots of other stuff :)

3. Read the pile of PD books I have promised myself - I have a long list and am hoping to get through most of it. I'd like to contribute to some of the great book studies that are taking place this summer.

• Pathways to the Common Core
• What's Your Math Problem?
• Math Exchanges
• The Differentiated Math Classroom

4. Visit my own house (30 minutes from my mom's) and organize renovations for when my son moves over later this year. This could end of taking up a lot of my time if we're able to get contractors to go in - but it will be fun to visit home supply centers and pick out materials. :)

Our house - that one day we hope to live in :)

5. Visit some castles :) and garden centers. Walk along the river and on the beach. Collect those wonderful smooth beach stones that we don't have here.

Castle Fraser

The River Dee - a 5 minute walk from my mom's house.
Doggy heaven - tons of them play here in the evening.
None of them are on leashes and I've never seen any fights!

6. Sit in the garden in the sun (hopefully) and enjoy the fat bumblebees, lavender bushes and magpies. Watch the morning and evening dog parades from the kitchen window (EVERYONE in Aberdeen walks their dogs twice a day!)

7. Enjoy the time with my parents.

My mom, my aunt and me last summer

8. Celebrate my 26th anniversary and my parents 30th wedding anniversary on August 20th. Sadly my husband won't be with me but we will Skype :)

My wonderful husband enjoying the hills of Scotland.

When I get back home:

1. Go straight into school and re-paper boards, set up classroom, make labels for cubbies, organize binder and substitute binder, prepare and copy lessons for first week...

Hopefully I will have created all the necessary items for all of the above by August 26th :)

So yes, lots to do - but plenty of time to have fun as well :)

Get your To Do lists written and go link up - we can all hold each other accountable :)