Monday-After-Vacation Blues

Folks who don't teach think it sounds ridiculous when a teacher says they dread going back to work after a break. After all, don't teachers get large amounts of time off? Every federal holiday, winter, summer break: these are large quantities of time that teachers have outside of the classroom. (This time is not all free, however; the first four hours of Sunday morning I graded essays on the couch. Stircrazy, I had to stop to go do other parts of my life. But I returned to that couch for three more hours in the evening.) I know I am lucky. I know once the kids come in and start their laughing and jibing, I'll be happy. I'll be happy when I get the kid who turns in a paper he's spent break revising, and it shows real writing growth. I know this.

But, darn it, I really don't want to go back to work today. 6am wakeups. So little daylight to myself and my garden. Driving there. Driving back. Grading papers. Grading papers. Grading papers. It feels like it never ends. At heart, I'm a very selfish person, and I just want to spend time doing only what I want to do. Which brings us to the truth about going to work today: thank God I have 200 kids waiting for me at school to remind me there is life outside my own head.

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I'm horrible at staying on top of online projects in which I involve myself, but this one may be different. With luck, I'll be able keep on this one, Harvest Mondays, hosted by Daphne's Dandelions. Each Monday, I'll post pics of what I've harvested in the week.

A salad spinner of arugula.

This past week, I've harvested plenty o' arugula for salads. As well, the Owari satsumas have finally sweetened up. Most of what I've eaten so far, I've eaten right next to the tree, tossing the peels on the ground.

An Owari satsuma segment. Say that three times quickly.

Two Owari satsumas and one Meyer lemon.

And the Meyer lemons are good and plenty. This week, I've made lemon curd and these lemon cookies (thanks for the suggestion, Ann), with and without poppy seed. I've made this salad dressing, and today, I'll be infusing some olive oil with Meyer lemon peel. As well, I need to make another big batch of preserved lemons since I'm beginning to run low and I can't have a preserved lemon free refrigerator. With many more to come, I can continue to dream of ways to use them.

That is, when I'm not grading papers.