Hiking Holiday

As part of our teaching contract, we get one "floating holiday" which is a day off that we can take at any point in the year for any reason. It's not a sick day, it's not even really a personal day, it's just a free day off. 

I always savor this day and try to think of the best possible time to use it. This year I decided June 5th would be the lucky day. I feel like I have been out of the classroom a lot this year due to the Courageous Conversations team that I am on that works through discussions about racism in education. Our team attended workshops about once every month, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it still feels like I have been absent frequently considering I only took one half of a sick day this entire school year (so far). I don't want to jink myself considering some of my students have now been absent for 5 straight school days! (swine flu!??!)  I was also on the committee for interviewing candidates for the principal position at my school which took me out of class for another day. I feel kind of bad leaving the kids again this close to the end of the school year, yet deep down I know I deserve it-- and I have used the same great sub, so by now she is used to the routine and I know the kids are in great hands. 

My husband decided to take the day off as well so we can play together. We made plans to hike Dog Mountain, which is ironic because I did the same hike about a week before school started this year and now, with just over a week left, I am going for it again. 

There is a beautiful field of wild flowers that peaks just about this time. When I went in August, they were all gone, so I am looking forward to seeing them this time. The hike is about 7 miles and takes between 3.5-4.5 hours. Last time I went all alone because hubby was traveling for work, so it will be nice to have company this time. 

There is only one problem with our fantastic plan....

It is supposed to rain!

We have been having gorgeous weather lately--in the 80's and sunny everyday! The summers in Portland are fantastic, but the rest of the year can be kind of dreary so seeing sun is very exciting. Yet today, a crazy storm blew in just as I was leaving school. The sky was gray and ominous and there was serious wind blowage. On the way home there were tree branches littering the streets and the leaves were blowing around like crazy.  It was thundering and raining and nasty.

When I came home I checked tomorrow's forecast and it looks like rain all day. I am not too happy about that, but I will look on the bright side. Regardless of what we do, we get to spend the day together. We will be sleeping late (and if we don't go hiking), VERY LATE. It is amazing to me how many hours of hard sleeping we put in on Friday nights into Saturday mornings. We are like a couple of hibernating bears! I still hope we get to go on our hike, but worse case we cozy up and watch the remaining 3 Star Wars movies that are waiting for us on the DVR.

The other exciting part about this weekend is the trip to the coast with a group of teachers from my school. We rarely get to hang out in social situations, yet when we do it is always a blast, so I am pumped for some girl talk and good times.

Last bit of exciting news---we booked a trip to Germany today! We leave the day after school lets out, June 20th, and come back June 30th. I have never been to Europe before so I am super stoked and even better, we will get to spend my birthday there! I can't wait! If you have any traveling tips for me shoot me a comment! I would love to get some advice as I have never been out of the country before...