Today was the last official day of my summer vacation. This is kind of weird, but I actually caught myself thinking several times this summer that I wish I worked at a year-round school.

I think summer kind if stresses me out because I'm always thinking, "Am I having the most fun possible?! Is this a great summer?!"

However, I know I had a great last day of summer today, hanging out with my sister, getting my hair cut, buying shoes, and playing with the children. I also watched Shef's day camp performance, in which he sang and danced to "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. Obviously, that was awesome.

Tomorrow we move way closer to school and work, which will greatly increase my daily quality of life.

Maybe I'll even have time to blog again. I hope so! I really do.

So, I finished that dumb race. In the end, I'm glad I did it; but man, it's kind of dumb.

You run for awhile, you cheer on your van-mates for awhile (I taught my van-mates a cheer AND gave them Silly Bandz), you "rest" for awhile (I think I've slept for about 2 hours in the past 37), and then you do all of that two more times.

Liz explained that the reason for increased safety policy at this year's race (we were all required to wear reflective vests and blinking lights and headlamps and use crossing guard flags) was that someone in a different Ragnar in another state got hit by a car.

"Yeah," I said. "That's because this is actually DUMB. It's DUMB to run in the dark on the side of the road."

But anyway, here's the elevation map for my second leg, which was 6.7 miles.
I started this leg at about 11:00pm on Friday night.



As you can see, I encountered quite a few hills, including a 2-mile incline at the beginning of the run. I'm certain this is the biggest hill I've ever climbed while running. Later, at the end of the leg, there's an even steeper incline that lasts for more than a mile.

Let me tell you, this particular run was really flipping hard.

So, Ragnar! That was an experience! Let's do it again sometime later in the future, maybe.

We'll see.

This may have been the longest blog break I've ever taken.

Here's the problem: the summer was absolutely insanely busy. And tomorrow, I do maybe the dumbest thing I've ever signed up for, ever in my entire life: a 12-person 191-mile relay. 10 of the 12 people are strangers and this is not even for a good cause. Also, one of my legs will be at like 3:30am.

Hmmmm.

And now, the summer, busy as it has been, is coming to an end. I'm both looking forward to and dreading going back to school. I think my motto will be, "Get it done." Also, I will sprinkle in some, "I did it!s"

This will be a great year, I'm pretty sure. As long as I stay hidden in my room.

I was so excited when I saw last week's Runway premiere because it sort of seems like that show might be back. It was edgier, and the contestants seemed better. I even took out a paper to write down a quote to use as a blog title.

Sadly, I lost the paper, and now all I know is that the line had something about a crooked zipper.

Oh well!

On another note, I feel like I need a new tagline for the upcoming school year. Last year, I had Best Year Ever. That was a great slogan, and it reminded me to try my best to be a great teacher and have fun in the process.

However, one big problem with Best Year Ever was that it was easy to use for sarcasm. Like, something horrible would happen, and Rachel and I would look at each other and say it spitefully.

Also, the Best Year Ever is such a superlative that it's impossible to achieve, right? So, I sort of doomed myself to disappointment.

I'm trying to think of something good for this next year. Something optimistic and cheerful, while still inspiring hard work.

Mary suggested No Walks, which was the motto of one of her fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. I like the "go hard or go home" sentiment, but then again, I can't go my hardest every moment. Also, I'm not planning on "swinging at everything," which is what the slogan requires.

Ideas??