Phew! The 14-Hour Days Returned Rather Quickly & Classes Haven't Even Begun

For the last few years, I've joked that I enjoy my two-day vacation every year. When Christmas comes, I take it's eve and the day off. I really do. No work. Family, Friends, and Love.

Other than that, it seems I'm unable to get away from the projects (which I'm okay with when I find some breathing room).

But, I quickly fell back into the pace when I returned to CT (although I'm better about the gym, taking time to do something silly, and cleaning).

With classes in a week, that time schedule is quickly disappearing. Yesterday, was my first nonstop day from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.. Although I fed the dog, I looked up and realized I didn't feed myself, so ate a bowl of chili around 11.

The highlight of my day? Actually, it was on a national call planning one of the Young Adult Literacy Labs for summer '18. This year, we're continuing the Project Citizen: Flying Lessons from the Prose work with super diversity and adapting it to work with a new publication coming from Crown Publishing of Penguin Random House. This summer will be Project Citizen: Fresh Inking and Thinking  with the Prose. I'm also hoping to pull in Nic Stone's Dear Martin, because I love the perspectives the book takes.

On last night's call, though, individuals from five different sites discussed the students they had last year and who they will likely get again in 2018. We discussed a possible proposal for NCTE and next steps in our two-year collaboration. Project Citizen is unique to our summer programs in that it caught the attention of National Writing Project and they wanted to tap the work to be shared with other sites (and eventually online). All very exciting as the conversations continue to build!

I'm sipping my coffee this morning looking ahead to another 12 hour day, and thinking, "Okay, Crandall. Breathe. This is all exciting stuff and, you hope, at the core of it all is reinvesting in kids and teachers to rejuvenate the love of writing and learning.

Last note. Glamis is ready for a walk. She's been stranded in the house and has taken to pushing her bones across the floor with one paw, running up and down the hallway trying to grab it. It's become rawhide hockey on Mt. Pleasant and she finds it extremely entertaining. I, on the other hand, can't stand the sound on the wooden floor. At least she's getting exercise!