Countdown to Action

It is right about this time every year that I get a weird feeling. With the school year just about to start, I suddenly ask myself, "Do I remember how to teach?" (This same thing happens over the long Christmas break). My wife had the same feeling about returning to work after 6 weeks off. The funny thing is that we always reassure each other with, "As soon as you step in the door, it will all come back." That statement proves to be true again and again, and I can't wait for it to happen. I just love to teach.
As I think about this coming year, I feel recharged and equipped with a renewed focus. The two classes I took this summer have given me a boost to apply summarizing and a much needed crash course in technology. This will be my third year in, and in many ways it feels like a paradigm shift. I do not expect that "loss of how to do this" feeling to slip away, but it is time to move beyond just survival (that is what they told me to do the first year). I'm ready to unbolt the training wheels and get moving.
Can you reflect on your first years of teaching? What triggered your movement beyond survival? How many years in before you really took ownership and thrived? Please share!

P.S. I am on vacation. The beach has been part of the recharge!