Wrapping Things Up

Time flies when you're having fun.  This summer was pretty awesome.  Busy, but awesome.

It was only the third summer in my twenty-eight years of teaching that I didn't work and there's a good chance I won't be teaching summer school again.  As much as I enjoy the extra paychecks, I enjoyed the free time to focus on other things a wee bit more.

Last summer, I read two of Alan Gratz's books.  This summer, I read one more:

Allies by Alan Gratz

Gratz is popular among young adult readers interested in historical fiction.  This particular book looks at the events of D-Day from the three different perspectives.  It was a really enjoyable read that constantly had me looking up facts about that day.

Summer is also the perfect time to binge watch a favorite show from the past.  This year I decided to rewatch the 2004 version of Battlestar Galactica.  I already mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I look forward to showing off my celebrity crush whenever I can:

2016 Baseball Card Breakdown

Pretty Girls Custom #1

Ten years ago, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown produced a set of custom cards featuring nine pretty ladies.  He held a contest where the winner would receive a complete set.  As a bonus, the winner would get to pick a lady to be included in the set.  I won and chose Grace Park.

I also went on several short trips this summer.  Here are some wallet card shots I took to document those road trips:

Carnelian Bay, Lake Tahoe

Back in July, my brothers and I took a trip up to Lake Tahoe to visit my mother.  It was a gorgeous day and we were surprised that there weren't more people up there escaping the Central Valley heat.

When we got back to Sacramento, we stopped off at Whitey's Jolly Kone:

This place was packed, but the fresh peach milkshake was delicious.

Later in the month, my friend and I headed back to our regular vacation spot:

Pismo Beach

If this looks familiar, it's because we've stayed there three or four times since Christmas.

Morro Bay

I was hoping to get a good shot of Morro Rock, but the fog was rolling in when we were there for lunch.  We actually planned to drive down again, but we scrapped that idea and started going into our classrooms.

Speaking of classrooms, one of my co-workers gave me a bunch of San Francisco Giants stadium giveaways:

I only kept a few of the items, which I might show off in a future post when I decide where to display them.  The rest were offered up to other teachers.

Alright... let's wrap up the final post of my summer break with seventeen new Gwynns that Rod (aka Padrographs) sent me:

2012 Panini Cooperstown High Praise #10

2013 Pinnacle Clear Vision #CV68

2015 Finest Generations #FG-36

2015 Stadium Club #265

2019 Topps 1984 All-Stars #84AS-TG

2019 Topps Gallery #197

2019 Topps A&G Gold Mini #77

2020 Topps Decade of Dominance #DOD-11

2021 Topps Update Cards That Never Were #CNW-12

2022 Topps Chrome Silver Pack Mojo #T87C-36

2023 Chrome Platinum Anniversary Green Wave #442 (#'d 25/99)

2024 Topps Big League #TBL-18

It's not often I receive a Gwynn card serial numbered to 99 in a care package.  Rod ended up sending me a few.

2025 Topps 1990 Silver Pack Chrome #T90C-58

2025 Topps 1990 Silver Pack Chrome Aqua Refractor #T90C-58 (#'d 050/199)

2025 Topps 1990 Silver Pack Chrome Green Refractor #T90C-58 (#'d 21/99)

2025 Topps Call to the Hall Blue #CTH-21 (#'d 005/150)

2025 Topps Call to the Hall Green #CTH-21 (#'d 21/99)

Thank you Rod for all of these new additions to my Gwynn PC.  I still have one more post covering some of the other items you sent.  That should be published next weekend.

And thank you to all of you who took the time to read this post.  Some of you might be wondering when I'll be shipping out my care packages.  I haven't forgotten about them.  I just haven't finished building them.  Every time I remind myself to work on them, I get distracted.  But I'm giving myself through Labor Day weekend to build them.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!