You Never Know How Good You Have It...

Until you are an idiot and sign up for grad school.

Here was a typical weekend last year for me and my family:

Saturday--Wake up around 8 or 9, cuddle in bed with baby and husband. Make a leisurely breakfast, watch cartoons, start laundry. Plan food for the week and go shopping. Put Em down for a nap, scrap book, go running, or take a nap myself.

Sunday--Again, wake up slowly, eat slowly, dress slowly. Take Em to the park down the street or some other local attraction, make dinner, watch t.v., go to bed nice and early.

Yeah, that family-wonder land does not exist anymore. It was lovely.

And I had no idea.

These are the major differences this year:

* Justin is a student teacher
* I am a grad student
* Em is 2 1/2 and has LOTS of opinions
* I have no prep period at school so I have to get all my grading done on my own time

Fast-forward a year and this is what a weekend looks like now. This is what we did (and are doing) this weekend.

Saturday--I woke up at 6 to do homework. I said good-bye at 8:30 to Em, who promptly burst into tears. I was in class until 4, raced home to clean and de-catify my house, and spent a little time with my husband daughter in our beautiful back yard looking for lady bugs. Three lovely friends came over in the evening for nachos and a movie (well, I don't know if they expressly came over for nachos, but I was excited to make them.) We had a great time and I was asleep approximately 20 minutes after they left.

Sunday--The time change was cruel to us. We slept in and took a long time to get focused. We spent a lot of time (and an ungodly amount of money) at Target. We went out to lunch, and now Em is pretending to nap. Later, my mom will come over to spend the week with us and I will go grocery shopping. My evening will be filled with running, cooking, ironing, and getting Em to bed.

I think I spent a lot of time this Fall feeling sorry for myself, but it came to my attention that there are huge differences this year in addition to the ones I've already listed:

* Em is an active member of our family. She gives her opinions, she has her favorites, and she actively participates in what we do. She makes life so much fun.
* Justin seems so much happier this year than he did last year. I am so glad that he is enjoying teaching again.
* I have friends. Glorious friends. I am so happy to have people to hang out with. It's awesome.
* I finally feel that changing districts and moving was not a mistake. I have always known that I want to get into school administration, but I think it would have been a mistake to do that in my old district.

While I think I miss the leisure of last year, I really didn't even appreciate what I had. I will be happy when this crazy year is over, but there have been so many positives. I am excited to think how next year our lives will change even more.