School's out...the kids are home for the summer...the teachers have filed their final grades...WHY AM I STILL HERE?

You'd think I would be thrilled to sleep late, start my mid-morning time with a cappuccino and a magazine, then plan a relaxing day of - Oops! Relax? Actually, it's time for all the things I haven't done...cleaning bathrooms, changing sheets, washing dishes...(sigh)...

Is that why I am STILL going to the school even though the only people left are the administrators (filing their final reports and setting schedules for next fall) and the janitors (deep-cleaning the rooms for next year's onslaught)????

I tell everyone that I am just "finishing up" projects that I can't do when books are circulating. Partially true...but there's something calming about quiet. No bells. No kids. No phones. No conversations...

So what do I REALLY do? QUIET? Who's kidding WHO??? I slip the first CD into the computer, crank up the volume...then B. B. King starts ROCKIN' !!! What's next on the agenda? ...how about "Phantom of the Opera"? ...how about Patsy Cline? ...how about Old Blue Eyes? (I know...I know...my taste in music IS eclectic, but that's how I was brought up! ...with a dad who was a jazz piano genius, a mom with a love of classical music, a husband with country through his entire soul, and two daughters who run rings around me musically...)

Anyway...I do have work to do at school...but I won't spend my WHOLE summer there...just a few weeks (or so I tell myself). Listening to music, singing to myself...and making my school-world a bit more organized.

What's after that? Probably several trips to Houston. The grandkids need me...don't you know?