That’s how many contract days are left in this school year. Hallelujah! I’m so ready to wind things down and put this season behind me.

Received the dreaded “you’re on deck to sub tomorrow” text while I was driving to pick up Sadie from doggy day care. Simply wonderful. I have so many other things to do and now I must devote a full day to student supervision (babysitting). Actually, I’m feeling a bit under the weather myself. Don’t know if it’s from a lack of sleep or if I’ve caught the bug du jour. I’ll take my temperature and a shot of Nyquil before going to bed. Hopefully, I feel better in the morning.

Hubby’s uncle asked this question when he and his wife joined us for dinner Sunday night.

The plan is to remain in our current home for one to two years while we travel and figure out exactly what type of house we need and where we’d like to settle.

Chances are, it will NOT be Atlanta.

I grew up in Atlanta. Sprawl, growth and development happened everywhere. The area I called home no longer exists. The problems of Atlanta proper – over-development, crime, traffic, politics – are starting to spillover into the section of town where I currently work and live. It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next eighteen months. Our neighbors are great and we love the convenience of where we live. Our proximity to the ATL is a double-edged sword. It’s easy for me to get to things in the ATL I like to do. It’s just as easy for young gang members to get to my area to flip door handles, break in cars or settle a score with a gun at a nearby shopping mall. I don’t live in fear, but I do play it safe. I avoid that particular mall and only shop at the surrounding stores during daylight hours if I’m by myself.

Some non-negotiables with any future relocation are: within a day’s drive of my parents, near major interstates and within an hour of an airport.

And a special shout-out goes to the young man in front of me at Walgreens. He was prepared with a stuffed bear, flowers and chocolates, along with two large cans of Monster Energy drink and the biggest box of Trojans I’ve ever seen. Here’s hoping all of his Valentine’s Day wishes come true!