A Night Out in Kendall

There's this thing that happens to teachers in May.  April Vacation ends, summer vacation is in sight, and you feel like you can do anything for the remaining eight weeks.  Then, a few weeks into May you start counting out the days and this feeling of pure panic comes over you.  All of a sudden you feel like there are not enough days to finish everything that needs to get done and all together too many days to fill up with activities for your summer vacation crazed kids.  It happens in an instant.  You feel overwhelmed and exhausted and the last thing you want someone to tell you is that there are only "four weeks" left until vacation.  How could this be, you say to yourself.  My folders are nowhere near done, I still need to finish a social studies and a math unit, where are those writing samples, don't forget about my evidence I need to submit, wait, what am I going to teach them for twenty more days, etc.  Additionally, that period of time between the end of MCAS and the start of June, brings out a not so nice side to a lot of children.  They start acting out, disrupting more, completing less work, all while you, the teacher, are trying to keep some semblance of control in your room at the same time wondering if somehow, they are adding extra hours to the day.  Everything seems to spiral out of control and most days you come home, barely make it to the couch, before drifting off into a panic induced nap.

This is exactly what happened to me in mid-May.  At one point I came home from work to find JO and his friend home from work early.  I crawled under some blankets on the couch ready for a full forced give up on the day.  Our friend commented that I looked a little "overwhelmed" and I was.  Thankfully, JO is fully aware of the pitfalls of May and knows the perfect antidote is a night out in the city.

We headed over to Kikas Tapas for dinner.  This place makes for a fun night out.  Funky decor, yummy tapas, and a great location near lots of fun places for a post-dinner drink.  We decided on drinks at Abigail's as a way to extend the evening.  It was too chilly for the patio (the weather in May was less than desirable) but we easily found two seats at the bar.  This was our first visit to Abigail's.  I enjoyed the soft lighting and quiet music in the background.  The bartender was very friendly and they had a great sparkling wine.  It was so fun to just forget about the craziness of school for a while and enjoy Kendall.  Kendall is such a neat part of our city, so new and modern with some really great restaurants to enjoy.  On our way home we looked for bunnies at the Volpe site and found three!