Summertime Blues: What's Your Cure?

If you asked me in September if I missed being a teacher, I would without hesitation reply, "Heck no! I don't miss having all those papers to grade and parents to cater to; That job was just not for me." Well, it is not September right now, it is July. Each day, as I am sitting staring at two computer screens in my dark cubicle within the former memorex tape factory building the government likes to call a suitable workplace for 500-sum employees, others (amy, christine) are either laying out by the pool or contemplating whether to watch Tueday night's Real Housewives of New Jersey "Extension Tension Intervention After Show" versus yesterday's Oprah from their collection of DVR'd drama.  Okay, okay... I know most teachers do not get paid in the summer and the lower salary coupled with the overload of work required during the school year might just be enough to call things even, BUT no matter how much the thought of teacher observation preparations makes me cringe, I still have a serious case of the summertime blues!!! By August, things around Unit 26 at DDS may start to become so dreadful I could turn into Bill Mader's character from this SNL skit freeze frame photo I have featured.

So, in order to avoid any ambulances being summoned for multiple paper cuts to the tongue, I have made it my mission for the remainder of the season to not let the summertime blues get the best of me. My cure?

1. Forget about the rules of traveling every now and then. Whether your on an exciting road trip to the sands of the North Carolina beaches, or just out for your lunch break on a sunny summer day, if your favorite song happens to come on the radio: roll your windows down, turn the radio up, AND no matter how much gas you may be wasting- leave your AC on full force. You don't want the 100 degree heat to ruin the joy of the wind blowing through your hair during your favorite song do you? So, leave that AC blaring and those windows down for that 3 minutes and 47 seconds. It really won't waste that much gas. Summertime blues- out the window!
2. Don't let Monday ruin your Sunday. This infamous quote can be found hanging on the walls of a local bar here in Raleigh. As I am standing at the bar on a Thursday night, in hesitance to order another round of Fat Tire, I find this quote on the wall and think- why not? After all, it is summertime! Besides, half of the workforce is out on vacation on any given Monday or Friday in the months of June, July, and August. Live it up! You'll be good as new just in time for happy hour after work the next day!
3. Wear your sunglasses at night. I mean this more figuratively than literally. To me, sunglasses are associated with being "cool" and can be used to express yourself in all sorts of ways, ask P Diddy. So keep those sunglasses on all summer long! Wear them in the grocery store as you're buying those steaks to grill on a Friday night, rock them while your taking a twilight dip in the pool, or better yet, keep them on all day while you sit in your cubicle, office, or whatever your professional territory may be. I guarantee that no one will be chasing after you with sharp envelopes if your wearing the hottest new Ray-Bans.  The summertime may be hot, but you, my friend, have the key to staying cool all summer long.