Summertime blues

Admonitions to self:

Count the Xanax. Barring any moments in traffic or relatives moving in for more than 24 hours, you have enough to get you through the summer.

Telling him he can't talk about school, his fellow teachers, and the endless chatter about students for the REST OF THE SUMMER was a brilliant move. Enforce that one.

Find things for him to do every single day, and praise him when he gets them right. (This is from Dog Training 101.)

When it gets bad, close office door and play 80s disco-pop and howl along with self-pitying lyrics. It is time he learned what you really like.

Remember, you knew he was a teacher, with summers off, when you married him.

Make little calendar with creative date covers, a la Martha, to mark off the next 65 days of non-solitude.

When it gets really bad, hand him the sunscreen, a sandwich, and a bottle of water, then lock him at the pool.