Pat Benetar Makes Good End-of-Year Music.

...as in "Goodbye To You." Oh yes, one might think that the song refers to a nasty breakup, but stick any kid's name at the end of that line of the chorus, and it makes the perfect song to blast at eardrum-crushing decibel levels on the last day of school. Not that I did that, mind you. Nor any of the preschool teachers. Nope. Nuh-uh. I'm just thinkin'.

Yes, it's done. School year is SO over, save one inservice and one workday. The most brutal spring of my tenure in the public education system, and a caseload that was a little more than I bargained for, both in numbers and severity. A year of pregnant co-workers, a move at the holidays, and changes upon changes.

Tonight is the second best night of the year...second only to Christmas Eve. It's going on 9:00 and still light as day outside. The whole summer stretches out for the next 2.5 months or so, with vacation smack in the middle. I will not set the alarm clock. I will not rush out the door with breakfast in my hand. I will drink my coffee from a real mug, not a vaccum-seal travel mug. I will take my kids to the zoo and the pool and to visit our new cousin when s/he makes his/her arrival. I will enjoy our house and our yard and get a decent tan.

Anyone who doesn't do this school gig is really missing out.