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| It's hail, not snow. But still. |
I keep telling DH that if I wanted to live in weather like this, I'd move to Seattle...
The bright blue sky this morning almost makes up for the fact that the predicted high temperature for today is something like 54 degrees If I were still living in Massachusetts, that would be delightful, but I've been here for decades and that's cold. I have to layer up or I'm uncomfortable all day.
A few weeks ago, before this run of nasty cold, I scored four new sweaters in the men's department at Target on clearance. Thank God I did, too, because I don't know what I would've been wearing to school these past two weeks if I had not. Sure, I had some cardigans but they're mostly cotton, and I'm finding I need wool to keep me warm -- either that, or multiple layers. I currently have on a cami, a fine gauge cotton turtleneck, and an oversized wool sweather, and I'm under a blanket on the couch, and I'm just comfortable. I should be way too warm but I'm not.
So does this mean I've just become extra-wimpy, living in AZ for so long, or is it a sign that there's something else going on with me? I cannot roll my eyes hard enough at that idea. I'm feeling mostly OK physically, and not hypothyroid (other than cold all the time) at all. My energy levels are good and brain fog is not happening, so I'm just going to blame this on the weather!
Life is more unsettled than I'd like right now, even with science fair over. On the family side, DH is still working crazy hours but as an employee not a contractor now, so he's eligible for bonuses (crossing our fingers for a little something in March.) DS1 is finishing up at ASU and is looking for a job, so lots of prayers there. DS2 is finishing up high school and we spent of two days of the recent 3-day weekend working on his (redacted) senior thesis (which was due last Tuesday). He still owes service hours, too, and they were supposed to be finished by the end of his junior year. (I can't roll my eyes hard enough. He had plenty of opportunities, and so now it's on him.) DD is constantly breaking my heart, though. She's up at NAU basically alone because her good friend and room mate is in a relationship that takes her out of the apartment alot. It's good that DD has her kitten (who is adorable), but literally ALL of the people in her life up there are only superficial "friends" who are normalizing her into what is frankly not a normal culture. We're spending a lot of time playing Words With Friends with each other and texting but I wish she were here, or at least in a place with good people who would look out for her.
On the school/work front, a proposal for next year is giving the entire junior high team both head aches and heart ache, but admin is being all, "Don't worry, it will be fine, you'll be fine!" when they're asking us to do a lot more work for literally no reason and no extra money. (Not that $ is a primary motivator for me, but it is a consideration.) I'm still recovering from the parent/teacher conferences which ended yesterday, too. For the most part, they went well, but I just spent an entire hour writing an email response to a parent I did not see (the student is not in my home room.) Also, I've got to figure out which students to ban from the field trip and I hate being the "mean" guy... but actions have consequences, right? If you're a student who is continuously in trouble for not following directions or not doing your work, a reasonable consequence is not getting to participate in the overnight field trip on a mountain-top where following directions and being responsible is really, really important. And last but by no means least, I'll have my eighth graders in the lab on Monday and every day after that for the next 6 weeks or so, and that is just a lot of extra running around on my part - literally since the science lab is across campus from my classroom. It's extremely fun and the students learn a lot but it's exhausting!
I'm seriously thinking about just wearing my sneakers to school every day while that's going on. About 2 weeks ago I re-aggravated the Morton's neuroma in my right foot and it got so bad I could hardly walk on it. Then I remembered I ordered these things from Amazon ages ago because I thought they would help. They didn't back then (it was summer, and they were uncomfortably tight), but I've been wearing them all week to school and they are really helping a lot. Fortunately there is enough space in the boots I wear most of the time to accomodate them. Other than that, a newly-developed occasional eye twitch, and the usual horrible sleeping habits, I'm doing OK physically. (lol)
I've been expending so much mental and emotional energy on family that I'm having a hard time keeping up with my grading -- I still have an assignment to grade that I really wanted to go in last trimester, but I didn't get it graded in time. No one cares (as far as I can tell), but I have to figure out a way to balance my life better. I was going to grade while watching Bohemian Rhapsody last night (boring, but the music was great), but I ended up texting and playing WWF with DD instead. It may sound stupid, but it's just more important right now! And I was too tired to switch between the two -- I suck at that kind of multi-tasking.
At the least the temperature is expected to go back where it's supposed to be later this week, comfortably in the low 70s. Maybe being nice and warm will help me fret less over all these situations out of my control.
