T-28 (a.k.a. first post of the Branson Summer Travel Blog)

The countdown began before today for me, but today, it's been realized in days, not months anymore. Awesomeness. Thinking that year four of my assistant principalship (Is that a word?) would be easier than the first three was flawed thinking. This was one whirlwind of a year--and it's not over--summer school starts Monday. Guess who's in charge? Yeah, that would be me. I love my middle-schoolers, I do. But I'm ready for a vacation. (Did I say we'd be leaving on June 30? And yes, that is the day after summer school is over.) Within the four weeks of summer school, I'll be attending a workshop, conference, institute, and academy...whiiiiich of course I'm very excited about...no really...I am...they are all good learning for me...just lots on my plate...still.

For the next twenty-eight days, when I'm not at school, You'll find me here:

...not a very flattering picture, but you get the idea. It's a ridiculously beautiful day in St. Louis to be sitting out on the deck in a sweatshirt. If the weather continues to be like this, I'll have a hard time heading to our destinations...okay, not really, but it's gorgeous! Tim snapped the photo of me after I got my camera out to take a pic of the hydrangeas that have bloomed this year:

I don't know the first thing about them...some years we get nothing, some years we get this. I'll just enjoy them while I can.

So this year, we'll be touring Texas and parts of the Southwestern United States. The itinerary for now takes us to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin (and surrounding bbq joints), San Antonio, west Texas, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, San Diego, then a different route home that we haven't...ahem...Tim hasn't...planned yet. Of course, we're always looking for suggestions.

Join us on our adventure!