January in July

Janus coin

This past month has been a busy one with the close of the school year, the 35th annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Contest, and a flurry of activity bringing new listings to the Young Playwrights Map. Over the next two weeks I will also wind down a second semester of classes in the Alternate Route Certification program at Monmouth University. Not to mention that this past week I have been catching up on work around the house: tomorrow morning I will take my first stab at painting the deck and we've discovered the power of Letgo as a way to complete some of those projects and unloading some of the things that a family of five accumulates along the way.

Once the deck painting is done, and we get some help with a couple of unruly landscaping projects, my focus will shift to reflection and planning for the year ahead. That has always been a part of my summer experience - a remnant of so many years in and/or working with the school system. It's my "January in July", perhaps, with the week of July 4th serving as something as I imagine the last weeks of December being for other people.

Some of my first projects this week will include formally selecting a play for the fall production (looks like I will be doing the play I first thought of back in the spring!) and setting up calendars for the fall programs at the theatre. This should be followed by curriculum development and writing schedules for a couple of research projects that I want to complete in the remaining months of 2018.

It is a busy summer, as always, and I'm looking forward to diving in! (An ironic idiom for someone who dislikes the pool).

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