The collective conclusion seems to be that this summer went by way too fast.

Today was our first teacher work day back.  We had many meetings, naturally, and just enough time inbetween to create a massive To Do List.  I congratulate myself on stopping for five minutes to eat half a sandwich for lunch (“No!” I told myself sternly.  “You will NOT start the school year off by working through lunch on your very first day back!”) and for leaving at the reasonable hour of 4:00.

I was not as effective in reviving my school sleep habits last night.  Due to fretting over the afore-mentioned To Do List, I didn’t fall asleep until near midnight and I woke up a little after 4:00 AM.  Remarkably for me, there was no going back to sleep at that point.  But at least I got to school early enough to get some things done before the first meeting!

My summer was really pleasant.  As you saw, there were many travels.  Many, many travels.  Three continents, five countries, and enough nights on the road that when I pulled a load of laundry from the dryer last week it felt really weird to just put my clothes away in the closet instead of in a suitcase.

I purged my closet and dresser and passed on 3 trash bags of clothes to Goodwill.  I potted the vases I bought in China, read several thousand pages of just-for-fun reading, rewatched Season 1 of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and fought an ongoing fight against the fruit flies that snuck into my home.

Sigh.  It was nice while it lasted.

Farewell, summer 2015.  I hardly knew thee.