Taking Time

This year, as with most, I have been running at full speed. Since August I have had 10 to 12 hour work days at least four days a week. This is a snap shot of my typical work day:

5:45 Wake up, after Justin takes a shower. Feed cats, make coffee, and do my best to do full make up, hair, and professional dress by 6:30

6:30 Get Emerson up and dressed, teeth brushed, hair controlled

7:15 Drop Emerson off at daycare

7:30 "Work Day" begins

8:00 Teach/Be Ring Master for two hours with adorable, but energy-sucking Freshmen

10:15 Honors classes begin--40 kids in each class and they ALL have questions, difficult questions

11:30 30 minute lunch, time to enjoy my delicious Lean Cuisine

12:00 Honors bonanza begins again

2:30 Ahhhhh, prep period. Spend an hour running around like crazy person

3:30 Teach 8th period for juniors and seniors who failed English 9 or 10

5:00 Pick up Emerson from daycare. "Work Day" officially ends

6:00 Exercise, feed Emerson, speak with husband about teaching, sit on couch and stare into space

7:30 Either bathe or read to Emerson.

8:00 Pick one of the following options: check and answer student/work emails, grade work, work on Advocacy lessons, or do homework for my master classes

9:30 Drag self to bed

On Wednesdays, I have class until 8. And most Saturdays I have class all day.

So needless to say, I've been a little worn around the edges. Just a bit. So today I took a day. Today I'm hanging out with Emerson. We're going to spend time with friends, putter around the house, and just have a day together.

I'm very excited.

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.

The Gift I've Waited All Year For

Well, not all year. But I have waited since August to give myself this particular Christmas gift--TIME. That was my gift to myself this holiday vacation, and it's been wonderful.

As a teacher, I get two weeks off right around Christmas. I am very grateful for this time, as I know many people do not enjoy such a luxurious holiday vacation. (Seriously, vacation time was a big consideration of mine when I became a teacher. May sound silly, but my other option was to be a technical writer--hello, no vacation until I worked my way out of the trenches. No thanks.)

This year it was my husband's family's turn for Christmas, so we headed to Redding last week. After a nice, long visit, we came home this past Sunday. And there we have stayed. There were no day trips, visits to the Bay Area, or anything else of that nature. And it was lovely.

Here were some of the highlights, things I was able to "accomplish", things I never would have been able to do if I was running all over Kingdom Come:

* Wore my pajamas at least until 10 am every day (yesterday I wore them until 3 pm)
* Drank beer and scrap booked with a friend in the afternoon, on a Tuesday
* Played with every toy my daughter got for Christmas (with her, of course)
* Stayed up late reading, playing video games, and watching action movies
* Exercised three hours this week (on target to reach my goal of five hours this week)
* Had actual conversations with my husband (What?! It is a Christmas miracle)

This weekend my vacation comes to a close. I have papers to grade, and a whirl-wind of a work week to look forward to. So far, I have a dentist appointment for Em and one for myself, class on Wednesday night and all day Saturday, and a 130 essays to grade next week.

But I had a wonderful vacation. And I will hold the memories of it close to my heart, no matter how distant they may feel in the next couple months. :)

Taking Time

When I started teaching 8 years ago, I had a great mentor. She helped me with so many things: putting together lessons, dealing with tricky kids, and learning how to organize myself as a teacher. The most important thing she taught me was to take time for myself.

I remember when we were planning my first six weeks. She sat me down and said, "Plan a day to take off in October, a mental health day." I was shocked, but she had a good point. She said I needed to know that my classes could exist without me. It's a piece of advice I give all newer teachers.

So when I can, it's not always possible, I try to schedule a mental health day in October. Again, it's not always possible, especially the last couple of years. I have been saving my sick days for things like maternity leave, Em getting sick, and job interviews.

This year, though, I'm good. So I took a day today.

Everything this week has been coming to a head. Justin has a nasty, lingering cold (the best kind), Em's two-year molars are coming in (therefore, she's not sleeping or eating well...yay), and I have a group project to work on in my grad class (double yay.)

And I came to a new conclusion yesterday as I was considering doing this. Unlike when I was single and taking days off for myself, these mental health days are for my family too now. Em needs a relaxing day at home as much as I do. And since I have class tomorrow, I won't be much help to Justin in terms of chores, so today I can do my part to help him out.

Today our list includes cleaning the much abused kitchen, going to a park, doing some art, and of course, laundry. I know it'll be over before I know it, but I'm going to try to enjoy this slower, more gentler version of Friday.