24 hours from now I will have finished my first school day of the new year and be sitting patiently in a union meeting. I always get to this point during a long vacation and wonder what exactly it is that I did with all of that free time that retrospectively seems so frittered away. That holds true even for this vacation, with our long journey south and back. Oh well, such is life. I also find a bit of eagerness to get back into it during these moments. My teaching life is such a large part of my life and such a huge focus of my efforts that I always look forward to getting back into the environment of my building, where I am easily the most effective version of myself. I imagine that these two, somewhat conflicting feelings are felt by most teachers who like what they do.
My AP students return to me replete with evolution papers. Historical trends indicate that my chemistry students will return in the vast majority having not taken advantage of the two extra credit assignments that I gave them for this break. I'm not a huge extra-credit kind of guy, but I had a few projects from the recent unit that I didn't get around to doing this year.
So, it's back to the daily routine. Before I know what hit me, June will come rushing up to greet me (or punch me in the face, depending on the outlook).
For all of the readership returning to the workweek tomorrow, especially those of us who teach children, I wish you a good day.