ms f's summer thing #5!

what is it?

well...it's summer!

i know, you're asking, "can 'summer' really be counted as a 'new summer thing' as it happens every year between the months of june and august?" yes. why? because i say so.

i know you non teachers are probably grumbling at me right now about how i get 8 precious weeks off from the end of june to the end of august. well, you know what? i need every single minute of this vacation. from september to june i am: teacher/tutor/role model/surrogate parent/disciplinarian/
counselor/college advice giver/cheesy joke teller to 100 emotionally unstable, hormonally-driven teenagers to whom i have no biological ties. it's exhausting. so i'm going to describe in detail why today i was frequently reminded of the awesomeness of summer.

9 am: i woke up. nearly 4 hours after my typical school year wake up call. i woke up when my body wanted to, thank you very much. and it was luxurious. i peered at the alarm clock around 8am and thought "no thanks" and slept some more until i was fully ready to face my relaxing day.

11:45 am: i went to the gym. during the summer, i don't have to have a post-work workout like the rest of the city. i got to do my work out today alongside spandex clad ladies who lunch, t-shirt clad retired ladies, and the ever so unfortunately wife-beater clad muscle men whose jobs apparently require them to spend hours on end getting sweaty, smelly and pumped at the gym. it's a whole different feel than the tense "i just left the office for 45 minutes to work out my massive stress before i have to get back to my extremely busy and important work life" vibe of the 6:30-8pm crowd.

2pm: lunch at the shake shack with a couple friends. i've been hearing about this place for ages but never tried before. do you live in nyc? can you stand for a good 25-30 minutes in line for lunch? then i recommend this place. good for the soul, probably bad for the rest of you.

confession: remember how i said i was giving up bad foods? my goal: give up meat and dairy. well, i had a moment of introspection as i examined the menu at shake shack while waiting in line. after that very brief moment, i decided that it's really impractical to follow through on the no meat/no dairy when eating out with friends (particularly at a burger joint). and anyway, one lunch won't ruin my healthy living forever. (just for 4 years until the grease clears from my arteries). so, i decided to go to (still vegetarian) town. i had a deep-fried, muenster and cheddar filled portabello mushroom on a bun. with fries. and possibly the most amazing vanilla milkshake on the planet. it honestly tasted like it was made with homemade ice cream. and love.

i sat there with my food, wondering what on earth possessed me to fathom not eating cheese.

4:30pm: i think i ate too much. so i decided to walk the 50 or so blocks home from union square because a) it was a gorgeous day and b) i was so full i wasn't sure i could actually sit down on the subway.

5:30pm: after a leisurely hour of walking and stopping into bookstores, my feet were beginning to blister because of my poor choice of walking shoes. time to catch the bus.

this is why summer is awesome. from 9-5 i did exactly what i wanted and it was amazing.

also, if you got married this summer and i attended your wedding and did not mention it on here, don't be offended. your wedding rocked. you had a mean playlist (Gene Simmons at a wedding? bold move. but it paid off), cozy ceremony, and a generally fabulous day. and personalized m&ms ( i definitely took extras that were left on the table, fyi). just ask my roommate/parents/other friends--to whom i wouldn't stop talking about how lovely your wedding was (they were all like "okay. that's enough. you're being embarrassing. go get your own wedding already if you liked theirs so much!"). ok. was that awkward? sorry.

i'm done now.