well, that went fast

I am sitting here at the kitchen table with the boys while they eat their breakfast and I decided to check on the blog, where I see that the last time I posted was during the first week of my summer break.  And now here I am, on my LAST Monday of summer break.  Where did the time go??

This summer was a lot of fun.  Last year, I struggled through many of the days at home with two babies, just trying to make it until the time when Mark got home from work and could help out again.  The days were L O N G.  This year was so much different.  Since Parker and Henry are older, we could do so much more.  Honestly, there were very few days that felt like last summer - survival.  This year was jam packed with activity and I love that we were able to leave the house and go somewhere almost every single day.  That kept all three of us from going stir crazy!

A week from today I start back at work for a new school year.  I am excited for a new year, but also completely avoiding getting ready for it.  My classroom is a mess and I do not feel prepared to get back in the groove yet.  So I think I will relish these last days of summer freedom and scramble to figure it all out next week.  That sounds doable, right?

Resoluting

Is resoluting not a word?!   Spell check seems to think it is not a real word.  But I am making it one.  Resoluting - the act of following your resolutions, New Year's or not.

My one true resolution this year was to cook more.  I decided on this goal because currently, I pretty much never cook.  I don't know when or why I gave up on preparing meals of any sort, but it's a slump I've been in for a few months now.  This means all of the following:

a) Dinner around here pretty much is whatever Mark or I find to eat on our own.  He might take the time to prepare a sandwich or nachos, or even cook up some chicken or chili, but me?  I just eat whatever is quick and easy.  I am not a patient in the kitchen.  When I am hungry, I want to eat NOW, so it usually means I'll make a Lean Cuisine in the microwave or eat cereal.

b) I never have anything to eat for lunch, so I end up bringing things to work like granola bars, bags of goldfish and a tortilla.  Some days I come to school with nothing at all to eat, and then I have to scavenge around for snacks. (I have zero time to run out and get lunch).  This makes for a hungry afternoon.

c) The above make it pretty obvious: my eating habits are dreadful and far from healthy.

So I am resoluting to COOK MORE and eat less crap.  Following along this same line, I want to be healthy this year.  I have actually lost weight since August {turns out running around all day and having zero break time means that I eat less during the day, who would have thought} but I have not done any type of excercise since this summer, when my work hours were later and I could go for a run before work.  So I headed over to the YMCA last weekend and signed up for a free week's pass.  If I feel like I can actually work trips to the Y into my routine, thus making the membership dues worthwhile, then I'll officially join when my week is up.  So far, so good.  The Y is literally next door to my school (read: SUPER EASY to go to after work) and less than five minutes from my house (read: SUPER EASY to go to all the time), so I'm hoping I can get back in the groove of working out.  Plus, this Y is way nice with fancy TV's on the cardio machines and an indoor {and outdoor} swimming pool.  Way more perks than the McKinney YMCA.

Besides cooking in the kitchen and kicking booty at the gym, I am also back in school again, taking my last two classes this spring {yay!}.  So far, I like them both, but LOVE one of them - a class on Children and Young Adult Literature.  I get to read lots of books and blog about them, which hello, are two of my favorite things to do!  I'm going to have zero free time until May, but hey, I like it that way.  Or at least I am telling myself that now!

Dear Monday

Dear Monday,

So we meet again.

The temps fell substantially today, making it actually feel like Thanksgiving is just days away. {Also, wow, when did that happen?!}  Mark made the first fire in our fireplace tonight.  This is my first time having a wood burning fireplace and I was thinking I wouldn't like it, because I assumed it was going to smell like a camp fire.  But it actually doesn't smell at all!  Everything just wisps right up into the chimney like it's supposed to.  And since the homeowner before us left more firewood stacked up in the backyard than we could ever possibly use, we have some "free heat" for the cold weather.  Gus seems to like it too, even if he is a bit wary of the crackling flames.

I am really over grad school right now.  It's just something else I have to do every night, so I'm looking forward to the break during December.  If everything pans out right, this Spring will be my last semester of classes (yay!) and I will be a full-fledged, real teacher next fall. {But isn't that what I already am??}  I am really just trusting God that things will fall together (like they always seem to do) and I'll have a place next year.  Be where I'm supposed to be.  In the meantime, I try not to freak out about it all and really take it one day at a time.  Don't think about the paper due next week or the lesson plans for Thursday or the degree plan I need to get signed by my (mostly absent) advisor.  I just focus on what I have to do today, what I have to do right now.  I wonder, will life always be this busy?

Something else that happened - my birthday.  It was a nice day and a nice weekend with friends and family.  But then it came and went, and it was back to the regular days.  I'm trying hard not to stress out about... life.  Work and school, mainly.  I hate that feeling of always feeling like there's something you should be doing.  Reading. Homework. Studying. Paperwork for grad school. Figuring out where I'll be next year.  Taking state tests.  Signing up for them.  Reviewing for them.  Passing them.  Planning for school tomorrow.  Making everything I need at school.  Replying to emails.  Sleeping.  Treading water.. staying afloat.  One of the other teacher's put it well... you fake it 'til you make it.  Even if you don't know what the heck you're doing... fly by the seat of your pants.  Pretend you do.  Odds are, no one will notice.  Right?

Life is busy, but it's also really good.  Really, really good.  I try to remind myself everyday that I'm lucky to be where I am.  To not get swept up in the little things.  To not feel guilty when I just want to watch TV without also working on homework.  Or to read a book for fun, not because I have to for class or school.  Or to sleep late on the weekends.  Not do the laundry.  Leave the dirty dishes in the sink (cause really, that's where they always are!).

So Monday, I'll see you again next week.  And by the time you roll around, I'll have finished the homework that's due, turned in the paperwork, sent in the emails, even taken another one of those pesky state tests.  And I'll be one week closer to having it all figured out... for now.

** good news **

Hi Friends!  Whew. Time is flying.  Like whoa.  So much for that little blip of unemployment.  That came and went.  I am now back to work at my school, only as an associate teacher.  It’s a new position at my school this year, and there are two other girls besides me working in this role.  We are each teaching in one of the three first grade classrooms, as a second teacher.  We are kind of like student teachers/interns/fellows... depending on what program you are used to seeing.  We are also all guinea pigs to this program at my school, so it’s definitely a learn as you go process!

So far, just one week into my new role, I L-O-V-E it. Obsessed. Thrilled. Uber excited. When I [finally] decided to chase my dream of being a teacher last Spring, I could have not have planned out a more perfect transition into my new career.  I am getting to learn from an awesome experienced teacher, be in the classroom full-time (and get paid), and be involved in all parts of the preparing, planning, teaching and assessing throughout the year.  And first grade is way fun. I thought I wanted a more “older young grade,” like 3rd of 4th grade, but this is so incredibly fun.  Everything in first grade is cute.  My lead teacher is basically my kindred spirit, because she gets a lot of her ideas from teaching blogs and Pinterest, she loves cute fonts and fun colors, and she is super organized.  And she trusts me and encourages me to offer my ideas, change the way she does things and run with new ideas and lessons.  Oh and, my official mentor at school this year is our new interim Lower School Head (who my friend Sara knows in real life too) and she is AWESOME.  Like probably my new most favorite person, ever.  It is a complete 180 degree change from my work life in the past year.  I feel super blessed and incredibly lucky to have this opportunity to learn and prepare for my life as a TEACHER.  I love it.

And on the subject of good news and life totally ROCKING, I also finished the last of my prerequisite classes in grad school this summer, so I only have nine (!! time is flying !!) more hours of content coursework left for my degree.  AND, I took one of my two state certification tests last weekend (the tougher of the two) and PASSED.  WOOO!  That was such a huge relief off my shoulders.  I start the fall semester in a couple weeks and the kids in my class will show up on Tuesday for Meet the Teacher!  Whoa.  It’s happening, like, for real.

Dragging

I am dragging this week.  Falling asleep at my desk.  Pretty much worthless when I get home in the afternoons.  There are ten days left of the school year, and then my job kicks into awesome mode.  In the summers, we work four day weeks with shortened hours.  And we dress down.  Like tshirt and shorts and flip flops.  Every day.  I am so ready for the year to end and the summer to start.  Plus, by August I will officially switch jobs and start TEACHING. Ahh. It makes me simultaneously excited/crazy scared.

In the meantime, I'm plowing through these last weeks, planning end-of-the year events and wrapping up projects.  Dreaming of summer days.

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

This has been a loooooong week.  Out of control long.  Mark had his knee surgery on Wednesday (one week ago), I was up at work until 7:30 that night, and then the next two days were Grandparents' Day at school, which is just a generally stressful time for me, even when I'm not coordinating and running the entire event by myself (long story).  Friday night I packed up for a road trip to Shreveport with two of my best girls to see our friend Morgan.  Mark's mom stayed with him for the weekend, so I was able to still go on this girls trip that had been planned for months, while only feeling slightly guilty.  We had a great time in Louisiana, but I couldn't help but think of everything that was waiting for me to do at home.  Plus, I did feel guilty that Mark was holed up in bed while I was off seeing painting the town red in LA.

Work has been incredibly weird/drama filled/stressful for the past couple weeks.  I am just so tired.  All the time.  Rant, rant, rant.  Mark's not sleeping well since he's in pain, so thus I am not sleeping well either.  I just need to get through the next two weeks.  My grad school classes are wrapping up, I'm finishing up some papers, I'm almost done with my observation hours for the semester, and each day Mark is getting a little more mobile.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I can juuuuuust see it.

Whirlwind of a Weekend

My brother got married!  It was a perfect weekend at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Marble Falls.  The weather could not have been better if we had somehow had the power to control it ourselves.  Sunny and 82 degrees all weekend - my only regret was that there weren't more hours to sit by the pool and soak up some sun, cause I could sure use a little tan on my skin!

This week is going to be cra-zy.  I have some homework assignments due, Mark's birthday is tomorrow, my friend from Phoenix is home visiting Dallas, I have dinner with my favorite girls on Wednesday, and I have to go to Denton on Thursday night to take a practice exam for my teaching certification.  Plus, you know, I have to go to work and do the jobs of three people in an office of one and try to squeeze in teaching observation hours.  I need 30 this semester and I think so far I have... four.  I have a feeling the race between now and the end of May is going to fly.