Most likely.
Since I had the scan at a different hospital, the nucmed doctor was not there to look it over. Technically I have to wait until I get the official report, but I looked at the images and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I was particularly interested to see whether the weird area of uptake in my chest re-appeared, but I didn't see it. (Doesn't mean it's not there, but if it is, it's very subtle.)
There was a blip, however, at the lab: my bloodwork that's supposed to go to UC Davis? "We're not using that code anymore," the technician told me. She assured me they would call the doctor's office and find out what was supposed to happen, and that's all to the good. But I had a blood draw last weekend before this whole process started that was also supposed to go to UC Davis, and now I'm wondering if it actually went.
I could allow myself to become agitated about this, but I won't because I'm not going to find out those results for another month. I'm just going to back-burner all this until my next appointment.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Friday, June 14, 2019
at the turn
I'm happily exhausted.
Monday I started my low-iodine diet and my first-ever stint as a summer STEM camp instructor. My school sponsored a session of Camp Invention, and it was both very busy and very fun. The best part was the team I worked with, including the director and one other instructor, both teachers from my school, and then all the interns and "leaders in training" -- older students -- who helped make it all possible. I'll get a stipend that sounds great for a week of 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM contact time, but we all earned every penny of it! I think one afternoon we teachers were out by 4:30, but all the other days it was more like 5:30 or 6, and the day started about 8 the latest. NIHF sends all the material (more than adequate amounts, but a lot of absolutetly lowest-cost supplies) and curriculum (truly superb), and they provide online support with everything from training videos to background music and timers. Even though all I had to do was read through the curriculum and deliver it, there was still considerable prep work involved, and my two classes were probably the least fussy!
The kids had a blast. It was interesting to work with such young students. It took me back to my story-time days when my own kids were very small. The very first sort-of teaching thing I ever did was story time at Borders! The younger group (rising first through third graders) was completely onboard. The older group (rising fourth through sixth graders) had some holdouts on some of the slightly sillier things, but there was only one who pretty much sat out the entire week. Fortunately she wasn't able to poison everyone else's enjoyment, even though she refused to participate in practically everything. The kids built, and we sent home with them, an inordinate amount of stuff that would make me shudder if anyone brought it into my home now, but looking back, I remember that's what you deal with when you have young kids. Also: building and experimenting is such a positive activity for them, they all (except that one) loved just having time to make stuff, and no one telling them to stop making a mess or "No, you can't do that."
Notwithstanding all that, I'm definitely in the right job: teaching the "littles" for more than a week and I think my head would explode. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times the phrase "suck it up, buttercup," went through my head when a child whined about something not being exactly the way they wanted it... I managed not to say it aloud even once! Something to be proud of, I suppose. Redirect, redirect, redirect... In a week, you can really suss out who the good kids who are and who are, sadly, more or less rotten. By today I just wasn't as willing to give the brats a lot of energy or attention. Everyone survived.
LID while at camp: no breakfast (never eat breakfast, really), apple at snack time, a banana and fig & walnut thing from Trader Joe's; after school, a peach, and then dinner. So far it's going OK but DS2 threw a mini-tantrum about the boring roast pork loin and I did rather harshly put him in his place by suggesting that he find a better recipe and cook it himself! With any luck, by this time next week I'll be off the diet and have a clean report from my scan. The scan will be done, of course, but I don't know if I'll get the results immediately the way I usually do, because I'm going to the different, blessedly closer, hospital this time around.
So, a blood test tomorrow morning kicks off the merry-go-round of appointments. Oh yeah, between the ultrasound and the scan, I'm spending $1000 on medical testing next week -- there goes my stipend...
Monday I started my low-iodine diet and my first-ever stint as a summer STEM camp instructor. My school sponsored a session of Camp Invention, and it was both very busy and very fun. The best part was the team I worked with, including the director and one other instructor, both teachers from my school, and then all the interns and "leaders in training" -- older students -- who helped make it all possible. I'll get a stipend that sounds great for a week of 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM contact time, but we all earned every penny of it! I think one afternoon we teachers were out by 4:30, but all the other days it was more like 5:30 or 6, and the day started about 8 the latest. NIHF sends all the material (more than adequate amounts, but a lot of absolutetly lowest-cost supplies) and curriculum (truly superb), and they provide online support with everything from training videos to background music and timers. Even though all I had to do was read through the curriculum and deliver it, there was still considerable prep work involved, and my two classes were probably the least fussy!
The kids had a blast. It was interesting to work with such young students. It took me back to my story-time days when my own kids were very small. The very first sort-of teaching thing I ever did was story time at Borders! The younger group (rising first through third graders) was completely onboard. The older group (rising fourth through sixth graders) had some holdouts on some of the slightly sillier things, but there was only one who pretty much sat out the entire week. Fortunately she wasn't able to poison everyone else's enjoyment, even though she refused to participate in practically everything. The kids built, and we sent home with them, an inordinate amount of stuff that would make me shudder if anyone brought it into my home now, but looking back, I remember that's what you deal with when you have young kids. Also: building and experimenting is such a positive activity for them, they all (except that one) loved just having time to make stuff, and no one telling them to stop making a mess or "No, you can't do that."
Notwithstanding all that, I'm definitely in the right job: teaching the "littles" for more than a week and I think my head would explode. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times the phrase "suck it up, buttercup," went through my head when a child whined about something not being exactly the way they wanted it... I managed not to say it aloud even once! Something to be proud of, I suppose. Redirect, redirect, redirect... In a week, you can really suss out who the good kids who are and who are, sadly, more or less rotten. By today I just wasn't as willing to give the brats a lot of energy or attention. Everyone survived.
LID while at camp: no breakfast (never eat breakfast, really), apple at snack time, a banana and fig & walnut thing from Trader Joe's; after school, a peach, and then dinner. So far it's going OK but DS2 threw a mini-tantrum about the boring roast pork loin and I did rather harshly put him in his place by suggesting that he find a better recipe and cook it himself! With any luck, by this time next week I'll be off the diet and have a clean report from my scan. The scan will be done, of course, but I don't know if I'll get the results immediately the way I usually do, because I'm going to the different, blessedly closer, hospital this time around.
So, a blood test tomorrow morning kicks off the merry-go-round of appointments. Oh yeah, between the ultrasound and the scan, I'm spending $1000 on medical testing next week -- there goes my stipend...
Friday, June 07, 2019
into the maelstrom
In five days, give or take, I'll start the low iodine diet in preparation for my whole body scan two weeks from today. That will give me a solid week before my dose of radioactive iodine. It ought to be enough...
I have an inordinate amount of medical appointments scheduled for the week after next. I feel as if they have come out of nowhere, but they all materialized over the last few days. I have three ultrasound-related appointments, and then four whole-body-scan-related appointments, and three trips to the lab. I still need to schedule my last follow-up appointment, which will be right before I head into my pre-service days, as well as a "spot check" .
I don't really want to think about my summer being over yet, but that's how this plays out. I really wanted to do the scan in early June, but that didn't work out. At least I'm not driving all the way into downtown Phoenix this time, but the situation is still somewhat tenuous. At UHC downtown, I went every day to the same place for the injections, the dose, and the scan. At the closer place, I'm in a different locale for each step! They sound like they have their act together. I just hope they do.
Next week, I'm teaching at a STEM summer camp program at my school. It's a later start than my usual school days, I'll be out by 4, so the days won't be too long. I hope having a broken toe doesn't impair my ability to have fun while I'm there!
Thursday, June 06, 2019
same foot, different summer
Yesterday was a very busy and productive day: the two boys and I finally, finally painted DS2's room. Yay!
Except on the way back up to his room to finish up the second coat, I stubbed my little toe on the rug that is usually in the hall -- I had flipped it over so it wouldn't get (any more) paint dripped on it accidentally. And then I walked right into it, smashing my little toe in the process.
I have a podiatrist now, after smashing my big toe last summer and breaking it in 3 places. I spent most of the summer in a boot, praying it would heal before school started. It did, and I've been very cautious about going barefoot since then, and especially since the neuroma kicked up in my right foot, too. Why is it always the right foot?
Anyway, saw the doctor, she took x-rays, and showed me how it was broken in 3 places. Horrifying, actually. No cast, just buddy-taping, and she wants me to wear the boot again for another six weeks.
Not likely...I feel barely recovered from the hip damage I developed from wearing the boot last summer, and this isn't a big toe, which you really need for balance and walking, etc. This is just a baby toe! Sure, it's kind of purple now, and I will keep it elevated, and ice it, and all that stuff, but I refuse to surrender another summer entirely. Also, I've got sandals that accomplish pretty much the same thing. We'll see how it goes.
Except on the way back up to his room to finish up the second coat, I stubbed my little toe on the rug that is usually in the hall -- I had flipped it over so it wouldn't get (any more) paint dripped on it accidentally. And then I walked right into it, smashing my little toe in the process.
I have a podiatrist now, after smashing my big toe last summer and breaking it in 3 places. I spent most of the summer in a boot, praying it would heal before school started. It did, and I've been very cautious about going barefoot since then, and especially since the neuroma kicked up in my right foot, too. Why is it always the right foot?
Anyway, saw the doctor, she took x-rays, and showed me how it was broken in 3 places. Horrifying, actually. No cast, just buddy-taping, and she wants me to wear the boot again for another six weeks.
Not likely...I feel barely recovered from the hip damage I developed from wearing the boot last summer, and this isn't a big toe, which you really need for balance and walking, etc. This is just a baby toe! Sure, it's kind of purple now, and I will keep it elevated, and ice it, and all that stuff, but I refuse to surrender another summer entirely. Also, I've got sandals that accomplish pretty much the same thing. We'll see how it goes.
Monday, June 03, 2019
best excuse ever
I have some correspondence to write, but the piano tuner is here.
It is possible to maintain a coherent thought, but stringing more than one together with another? Nope.
It is possible to maintain a coherent thought, but stringing more than one together with another? Nope.
Saturday, June 01, 2019
summer
The first unofficial start of summer in my family is Mother's Day, when we celebrate the coming season with a cookout.
The actual unofficial start of summer is Memorial Day weekend, because here in AZ, school (at least my school, and up to this year, my kids' school) conveniently end just before that.
Of course, science-wise, summer doesn't officially start until the summer solstice, which is some 3 weeks away. My brain seems more atuned to that calendar, because I'm surprisingly not exhausted and ready for long, lazy days. I have a long list of tasks I'd like to accomplish, both work-related and house-related, and I've been chipping away at it all week.
Which is not say that I'm being super-productive. Just moderately so, as in, "not completely lazy and doing nothing." But it doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment to spend hours trying to schedule medical appointments, and still be without any for my long-delayed whole body scan. I did schedule an ultrasound, though, and I may just skip the WBS for now... again. It just seems like a lot of money and hassle (Low-iodine diet? No, thanks.) for very little information.
I had my vision field test and eye exam on Tuesday. My eyesight is holding steady which shocks everyone. There is widespread disbelief that I can function well with the same lowest-level cheaters I've been using for years. I guess it's unusual. The VFT, however, showed a gap in my left peripheral vision that I actually noticed during the test. Directly to the left, there's a blind spot. Upper left and lower left, I could see all the flashes just fine, and close to the center, no problem. I requested records be sent to both my endo and my head & neck doctor at MDA, so we'll see what they say. I can't remember the last time they imaged the pituitary, but I do know my pituitary hormones are still behaving themselves. The doctor is having me repeat the VFT in six months to keep an eye on it, so that's something to look forward to, just before Christmas.
I'm still processing the fact that I have only 2 college students now. DS1 is home and diligently applying for jobs but he's going to have do something about his inverted sleep schedule! He's getting lots of interviews and we're all just waiting for something to click. DS2 is also home, post-high school graduation, and we gave him this week to be lazy, but he'll be looking for a job now, too -- the kind of job you can have and still be a full-time college student. We'll see how that goes.
DD is spending the summer up in Flagstaff, and is looking for a job up there. I've seen a bit more of her recently as she's come home for Mother's Day and DS2's graduation. I've made the drive up to Flagstaff multiple times, too, helping her furnish her new apartment. I have to say it's much nicer than any of my college apartments ever were, but then, my parents didn't help my furnish mine. She has great taste and we've been lucky finding her good used furniture at good prices in resale and antique stores. My mother-in-law (visiting for DS2's graduation) found her an awesome little table and chairs set absolutely buried in stuff at the antiques mall.
I'm sure my restlessness will settle down eventually. My classroom is in great shape for the fall, I just want to give my desk a good cleaning and a thick coat of wax to spruce it up a bit. I had the luxury of time to go through all my files and clean out stuff I didn't need, and organize what was left. I'm working one week in June at a STEM camp at my school, but I'm also seriously thinking of applying at Pearson as a scorer for piece work over the summer, too. Otherwise I think I might go crazy doing nothing?
Last summer I had to sit around with my foot up because of the broken toe. I certainly don't want to do the same thing by my own choice this year!
The actual unofficial start of summer is Memorial Day weekend, because here in AZ, school (at least my school, and up to this year, my kids' school) conveniently end just before that.
Of course, science-wise, summer doesn't officially start until the summer solstice, which is some 3 weeks away. My brain seems more atuned to that calendar, because I'm surprisingly not exhausted and ready for long, lazy days. I have a long list of tasks I'd like to accomplish, both work-related and house-related, and I've been chipping away at it all week.
Which is not say that I'm being super-productive. Just moderately so, as in, "not completely lazy and doing nothing." But it doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment to spend hours trying to schedule medical appointments, and still be without any for my long-delayed whole body scan. I did schedule an ultrasound, though, and I may just skip the WBS for now... again. It just seems like a lot of money and hassle (Low-iodine diet? No, thanks.) for very little information.
I had my vision field test and eye exam on Tuesday. My eyesight is holding steady which shocks everyone. There is widespread disbelief that I can function well with the same lowest-level cheaters I've been using for years. I guess it's unusual. The VFT, however, showed a gap in my left peripheral vision that I actually noticed during the test. Directly to the left, there's a blind spot. Upper left and lower left, I could see all the flashes just fine, and close to the center, no problem. I requested records be sent to both my endo and my head & neck doctor at MDA, so we'll see what they say. I can't remember the last time they imaged the pituitary, but I do know my pituitary hormones are still behaving themselves. The doctor is having me repeat the VFT in six months to keep an eye on it, so that's something to look forward to, just before Christmas.
I'm still processing the fact that I have only 2 college students now. DS1 is home and diligently applying for jobs but he's going to have do something about his inverted sleep schedule! He's getting lots of interviews and we're all just waiting for something to click. DS2 is also home, post-high school graduation, and we gave him this week to be lazy, but he'll be looking for a job now, too -- the kind of job you can have and still be a full-time college student. We'll see how that goes.
DD is spending the summer up in Flagstaff, and is looking for a job up there. I've seen a bit more of her recently as she's come home for Mother's Day and DS2's graduation. I've made the drive up to Flagstaff multiple times, too, helping her furnish her new apartment. I have to say it's much nicer than any of my college apartments ever were, but then, my parents didn't help my furnish mine. She has great taste and we've been lucky finding her good used furniture at good prices in resale and antique stores. My mother-in-law (visiting for DS2's graduation) found her an awesome little table and chairs set absolutely buried in stuff at the antiques mall.
I'm sure my restlessness will settle down eventually. My classroom is in great shape for the fall, I just want to give my desk a good cleaning and a thick coat of wax to spruce it up a bit. I had the luxury of time to go through all my files and clean out stuff I didn't need, and organize what was left. I'm working one week in June at a STEM camp at my school, but I'm also seriously thinking of applying at Pearson as a scorer for piece work over the summer, too. Otherwise I think I might go crazy doing nothing?
Last summer I had to sit around with my foot up because of the broken toe. I certainly don't want to do the same thing by my own choice this year!
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
wistful
This evening was DS2's last high school chorus concert, and it was wonderful. The senior boys of the Men's Choir did an adorable rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," and the Schola Cantorum was brilliant as always.
We'll get to hear him sing one more time, at graduation... and that may be it.
Already I'm sad. The end of an era is fast approaching. All three of my children are legal adults. DS2 is already enrolled in his classes for the fall, but I had to stop myself from typing "three college students" because DS1 is graduating tomorrow! So, two college students, but no high schoolers anymore.
It's so strange to think about how little they were once, and how big they are now. Me? I'm just the same, or at least I feel that way. Maybe that's what makes it so hard: they are growing and changing so much, and any changes (or growth) for me are nearly imperceptible.
We'll get to hear him sing one more time, at graduation... and that may be it.
Already I'm sad. The end of an era is fast approaching. All three of my children are legal adults. DS2 is already enrolled in his classes for the fall, but I had to stop myself from typing "three college students" because DS1 is graduating tomorrow! So, two college students, but no high schoolers anymore.
It's so strange to think about how little they were once, and how big they are now. Me? I'm just the same, or at least I feel that way. Maybe that's what makes it so hard: they are growing and changing so much, and any changes (or growth) for me are nearly imperceptible.
Saturday, May 04, 2019
three weeks
In three weeks, school will be over. DS1 will have graduated. DS2 will have graduated. All the concerts, plays, dinners, and everything else will be over, too.
The past couple of weeks have bordered on maximum craziness, but for me personally? I'm just coasting to the finish, now. It has been a bit crazy. Last Friday, DS2 sang in a concert up in Paradise Valley, it was amazing and worth the drive; Tuesday, I helped move DS1 out of his college apartment (translation: I cleaned while he packed. College boys don't clean much, in my experience. Still, he's got his entire security deposit back as fas as I know.) Thursday, DH was in the hospital all day for a cerebral angiogram to investigate his AVM; the doctor reports it's non-threatening and no treatment is recommended for now (*whew*). Also Thursday, DS2's senior dinner, which was a bit stressful since DH didn't get released from the hospital until 5PM and the dinner started at 6. We made it, and it was the usual lovely evening of listening to the faculty heap praise and a little bit of teasing on the graduating seniors. My last unusual task for the week was to make a playlist for the junior high dance yesterday. With the help of a premium Spotify account, mission accomplished. The kids were much more enthusiastic about dancing this year and most everyone seemed to have a good time, even those kids who just sat against the wall watching everyone else be goofy. It was pretty great, but surprisingly exhausting for an hour-and-a-half event. Looking back at the week that just ended, the exhaustion is completely understandable.
Now I just have to keep track of the boys' remaining events, put the guest room (finally all repaired after the most recent plumbing disaster nearly 2 months ago!) back together in advance of my in-laws visit, and keep up with my grading. Nothing even hints at being a problem in that list...here's hoping it stays that way!
The past couple of weeks have bordered on maximum craziness, but for me personally? I'm just coasting to the finish, now. It has been a bit crazy. Last Friday, DS2 sang in a concert up in Paradise Valley, it was amazing and worth the drive; Tuesday, I helped move DS1 out of his college apartment (translation: I cleaned while he packed. College boys don't clean much, in my experience. Still, he's got his entire security deposit back as fas as I know.) Thursday, DH was in the hospital all day for a cerebral angiogram to investigate his AVM; the doctor reports it's non-threatening and no treatment is recommended for now (*whew*). Also Thursday, DS2's senior dinner, which was a bit stressful since DH didn't get released from the hospital until 5PM and the dinner started at 6. We made it, and it was the usual lovely evening of listening to the faculty heap praise and a little bit of teasing on the graduating seniors. My last unusual task for the week was to make a playlist for the junior high dance yesterday. With the help of a premium Spotify account, mission accomplished. The kids were much more enthusiastic about dancing this year and most everyone seemed to have a good time, even those kids who just sat against the wall watching everyone else be goofy. It was pretty great, but surprisingly exhausting for an hour-and-a-half event. Looking back at the week that just ended, the exhaustion is completely understandable.
Now I just have to keep track of the boys' remaining events, put the guest room (finally all repaired after the most recent plumbing disaster nearly 2 months ago!) back together in advance of my in-laws visit, and keep up with my grading. Nothing even hints at being a problem in that list...here's hoping it stays that way!
Monday, April 22, 2019
stings
Maybe because I'm chronically sleep-deprived (my own fault), but over the past week or so, I've had way more than my usual share of bone-headed mistakes. Nothing major! Nobody was injured, it didn't cost anyone any extra money, nothing like that. Just a small handful of times I was just wrong about something and refused to see it.
I know no one is perfect, but I hate it when I screw up like that (or any other way), to the point where truly minor things will keep me unsettled for days on end. It's doubtful anyone else even remembers my mistakes happened. Why should they? But my memory for my faults is tenacious. I still cringe remembering how I handed the scissors to the teacher the wrong way in kindegarten! (I was four and the youngest kid in the class, it was a lot of pressure at the time.)
I'm too old for this. I don't want to brush off mistakes as if they're nothing, I want to learn from them. But shouldn't I be able to forgive myself and move on? Is there a way to balance the tension between rebuke and forgiveness? I'm still hoping to find it.
Sunday, April 14, 2019
post...
In the sense of "after," which didn't strike me as a good post title. I can't explain the way my brain works sometimes. Just go with it.
I'm mostly recovered from the field trip last week, Wednesday-Friday, with 45 seventh graders and 10 other adults, to Mt. Lemmon, south of Tuscon. UA has a fantastic program, Sky School. It was awesome but very cold, and of course some of the students didn't listen and only brought a sweatshirt or two, but no one got frostbite so it's all good. We even got to use the telescopes this year! I had a blast, the kids had fun, the instructors couldn't get over how well prepared and engaged the kids were, etc. A splendid time was had by all, except I only got about 6 hours of sleep over the three days because the bed was like a rock and other reasons having to do with me not being able to relax since I was responsible for 56 people.
So now comes the long, downhill glide into the end of the school year. This year it will be less hectic and dramatic for me because my school is not being renovated this summer, so I don't have to move everything out of my classroom or clean out closets or anything like that (although it would be much easier, since I did all that last year!). But this year my two boys are both graduating, and that means lots of extra events to deal with it. Just this week, DS2's drama performance and his thesis defense, on the same day! He has my sympathy. He doesn't seem stressed but I know he'll be happy to have it over with. DS1's graduation is fast approaching on May 7!
The house is still a mess following the most recent plumbing disaster, but repairs should begin this week. As long as everything is back together for DS2's graduation at the end of May, when the in-laws are coming, it's OK. I won't say it doesn't matter, because it really is getting on my nerves, but I know as soon as all is back together, I'll forget it was ever any other way. At least I hope so.
... but just yesterday DH semi-seriously brought up the topic of moving to a smaller house. I love love LOVE this idea, as much as I hate the idea of moving, this house is just too much for me to keep up with. We'll see!
I'm mostly recovered from the field trip last week, Wednesday-Friday, with 45 seventh graders and 10 other adults, to Mt. Lemmon, south of Tuscon. UA has a fantastic program, Sky School. It was awesome but very cold, and of course some of the students didn't listen and only brought a sweatshirt or two, but no one got frostbite so it's all good. We even got to use the telescopes this year! I had a blast, the kids had fun, the instructors couldn't get over how well prepared and engaged the kids were, etc. A splendid time was had by all, except I only got about 6 hours of sleep over the three days because the bed was like a rock and other reasons having to do with me not being able to relax since I was responsible for 56 people.
So now comes the long, downhill glide into the end of the school year. This year it will be less hectic and dramatic for me because my school is not being renovated this summer, so I don't have to move everything out of my classroom or clean out closets or anything like that (although it would be much easier, since I did all that last year!). But this year my two boys are both graduating, and that means lots of extra events to deal with it. Just this week, DS2's drama performance and his thesis defense, on the same day! He has my sympathy. He doesn't seem stressed but I know he'll be happy to have it over with. DS1's graduation is fast approaching on May 7!
The house is still a mess following the most recent plumbing disaster, but repairs should begin this week. As long as everything is back together for DS2's graduation at the end of May, when the in-laws are coming, it's OK. I won't say it doesn't matter, because it really is getting on my nerves, but I know as soon as all is back together, I'll forget it was ever any other way. At least I hope so.
... but just yesterday DH semi-seriously brought up the topic of moving to a smaller house. I love love LOVE this idea, as much as I hate the idea of moving, this house is just too much for me to keep up with. We'll see!
Sunday, March 24, 2019
2 weeks later...
Am I up ridiculously early for a Sunday, or did I just stay up too late? I did sleep from roughly 10pm to nearly 4am, so that's not too bad. I just managed to unsettle myself enough that going back to sleep now (or trying to) seems like a colosally stupid idea.
Spring break was productive, but I didn't do everything on my list. I did see the doctor about my foot, and she gave me a cortisone shot and new insoles for my sneakers. I started doing more exercises for it, too. The foot is definitely improving and there are even some days now when I can walk around without even thinking about it. It helps that I didn't over-do over break, so no, I didn't go to either the Ren Faire or the botanical garden.
What else didn't get done? I didn't do the closets, nor did we paint DS2's room. Both will wait. I did finish all my grading, only to nearly immediately get swamped again on the return to school. But I'm not behind, and if I manage today well, I can stay on top of it.
I started to type, "this is the most stressful time I've had in a while," but it seems to me I'm always in a stressful time. I have a family and a house and a car and a job, so of course there will be stresses. They've been coming thick and fast, lately.
A quick run-down: DH was recently diagnosed with an AVM in his neck and has further tests pending. Most of the time these are in the brain and can be quiet serious if they rupture, but his is apparently not in the brain. We don't really know, and it's discomfiting. We'll know more after the next test, but the ENT sent an order to the hospital for it that no one there understands, so it had to be rescheduled once already, and may have to be again. It doesn't help that one of his co-workers is off on a 2-week vacation in the middle of a rather intense period at work!
It also doesn't help that the drain seal on the kids' bathtub failed, so instead of draining down the pipes, it drained into the floor/ceiling below, and subsequently into the first-floor guest room. That happened on Thursday night about 10pm - fortunately I heard the sound of the water falling and we caught it pretty quickly. Even so, there is significant water damage Workers were here until 8pm Friday inspecting, setting up de-humidifiers and fans, and removing dry wall. Plumbing and construction repair will be late this week if all works out. We have no idea how much insurance is going to cover. This is the fifth (possibly sixth? I can't remember!) major plumbing failure we've had in this house. Quite frankly, we thought we'd caught them all. DH is grumbling about moving.
Me? It's so helpful that the foot is better! My eye twitch is holding steady but no more visual migraines -- and I'm annoyed I forgot to mention them to my doctor last Tuesday. I'm switching my thyroid cancer scan to a much closer hospital, so most of my appointment was about discussing that, and in the fuss, I forgot to mention it. I managed to come down with a cold just as my break was ending, but I used Zicam nasal spray religiously and it really did cut down on how long I had to deal with it. Just as that nonense resolved I noticed this odd tugging sensation in my right breast. At first I thought, "scar tissue," but my lumpectomy was in my left breast, so that doesn't work. Since it has persisted for about a week now, I'm seeing my doctor about it on Monday after school.
What else... had the parent meeting for my 7th grade field trip last Wednesday, and managed to pull everything together. I have been slightly panicked that we will have too many people to fit, but that knot is untangling itself between students who are not eligible because of behavior and students who are not eligible because of academics. I do need to get back to the parents and let them know how many can come as chaperones, though. I can't believe how quickly time is going by!
In other school news, the plan to offer electives for next year has been hammered out and does not (thankfully) involve the core teachers doing anything other than monitoring a 45-minute study hall one day a week. Yay! I'm also thrilled to be starting astronomy with my 7th graders and biology with my 8th graders this week. I adore my chemistry curriculum but it involves a lot of time in the lab, and so therefore a lot of running between the classroom and the lab, and setting up before and then cleaning up after. Last week about killed me because all that was going on and my students were leading morning prayers so I didn't have as much of my usual time before school to get everything done.
Not enough time to get everything done... that's the theme of my life. Over break, I took the Odyssey in because there was a weird burning smell after driving it sometimes. Of course we were just over 30,000 miles and so it needed, seriously, $2100 worth of maintenance, including new tires. Cars are expensive even if they're not broken! The burning smell was caused by a loose gasket and was a tiny part of the overall bill, but now I have new transmission fluid and everything else. One thing I couldn't get done over break was get the windshield repaired, that had to wait until last Thursday afternoon. It was just bad luck that a rock pinged it hard enough to make a crack about 18 inches long. I delayed calling a few days and then was shocked when I finally did call, how long I would have to wait for the repair. Everyone is so busy!
All that business with the van happened because I knew I'd be making 2 round-trips to Flagstaff within the span of a week. DD's spring break here with her cat was only moderately frustrating. I tease her that she is a bad roommate because she leaves her stuff all over the house. I notice she does not do that in her own apartment. It's so much smaller, she has no reason to do that! When I picked her up, I drove up on Thursday and we came back together on Friday, but yesterday I just made the round-trip, which explains the weird sleeping schedule. She worries us a lot, but she assures us that she's doing fine and we shouldn't worry. If only!
At least it should be easier for me to stay on top of my work now that she is not here, but the noise of the fans is really annoying! The house is topsy-turvy, with the kids' bathroom upstairs and the guestroom downstairs taped off and with noisy equipment in them. 90% of the stuff from the guest room is out in the living room now, and there's paper taped over the hallways to trap the workers' dust, etc. It's nerve-wracking being here. Spending all day on the road got me out of here yesterday but I have too much to do to escape again today!
So, off I go to execute today's plan: shopping, grading papers, attending the matinee of my students' play, cooking a nice dinner, and driving DS1 back up to ASU for what is almost surely the second-to-last time. He's graduating in just 6 weeks!
Spring break was productive, but I didn't do everything on my list. I did see the doctor about my foot, and she gave me a cortisone shot and new insoles for my sneakers. I started doing more exercises for it, too. The foot is definitely improving and there are even some days now when I can walk around without even thinking about it. It helps that I didn't over-do over break, so no, I didn't go to either the Ren Faire or the botanical garden.
What else didn't get done? I didn't do the closets, nor did we paint DS2's room. Both will wait. I did finish all my grading, only to nearly immediately get swamped again on the return to school. But I'm not behind, and if I manage today well, I can stay on top of it.
I started to type, "this is the most stressful time I've had in a while," but it seems to me I'm always in a stressful time. I have a family and a house and a car and a job, so of course there will be stresses. They've been coming thick and fast, lately.
A quick run-down: DH was recently diagnosed with an AVM in his neck and has further tests pending. Most of the time these are in the brain and can be quiet serious if they rupture, but his is apparently not in the brain. We don't really know, and it's discomfiting. We'll know more after the next test, but the ENT sent an order to the hospital for it that no one there understands, so it had to be rescheduled once already, and may have to be again. It doesn't help that one of his co-workers is off on a 2-week vacation in the middle of a rather intense period at work!
It also doesn't help that the drain seal on the kids' bathtub failed, so instead of draining down the pipes, it drained into the floor/ceiling below, and subsequently into the first-floor guest room. That happened on Thursday night about 10pm - fortunately I heard the sound of the water falling and we caught it pretty quickly. Even so, there is significant water damage Workers were here until 8pm Friday inspecting, setting up de-humidifiers and fans, and removing dry wall. Plumbing and construction repair will be late this week if all works out. We have no idea how much insurance is going to cover. This is the fifth (possibly sixth? I can't remember!) major plumbing failure we've had in this house. Quite frankly, we thought we'd caught them all. DH is grumbling about moving.
Me? It's so helpful that the foot is better! My eye twitch is holding steady but no more visual migraines -- and I'm annoyed I forgot to mention them to my doctor last Tuesday. I'm switching my thyroid cancer scan to a much closer hospital, so most of my appointment was about discussing that, and in the fuss, I forgot to mention it. I managed to come down with a cold just as my break was ending, but I used Zicam nasal spray religiously and it really did cut down on how long I had to deal with it. Just as that nonense resolved I noticed this odd tugging sensation in my right breast. At first I thought, "scar tissue," but my lumpectomy was in my left breast, so that doesn't work. Since it has persisted for about a week now, I'm seeing my doctor about it on Monday after school.
What else... had the parent meeting for my 7th grade field trip last Wednesday, and managed to pull everything together. I have been slightly panicked that we will have too many people to fit, but that knot is untangling itself between students who are not eligible because of behavior and students who are not eligible because of academics. I do need to get back to the parents and let them know how many can come as chaperones, though. I can't believe how quickly time is going by!
In other school news, the plan to offer electives for next year has been hammered out and does not (thankfully) involve the core teachers doing anything other than monitoring a 45-minute study hall one day a week. Yay! I'm also thrilled to be starting astronomy with my 7th graders and biology with my 8th graders this week. I adore my chemistry curriculum but it involves a lot of time in the lab, and so therefore a lot of running between the classroom and the lab, and setting up before and then cleaning up after. Last week about killed me because all that was going on and my students were leading morning prayers so I didn't have as much of my usual time before school to get everything done.
Not enough time to get everything done... that's the theme of my life. Over break, I took the Odyssey in because there was a weird burning smell after driving it sometimes. Of course we were just over 30,000 miles and so it needed, seriously, $2100 worth of maintenance, including new tires. Cars are expensive even if they're not broken! The burning smell was caused by a loose gasket and was a tiny part of the overall bill, but now I have new transmission fluid and everything else. One thing I couldn't get done over break was get the windshield repaired, that had to wait until last Thursday afternoon. It was just bad luck that a rock pinged it hard enough to make a crack about 18 inches long. I delayed calling a few days and then was shocked when I finally did call, how long I would have to wait for the repair. Everyone is so busy!
All that business with the van happened because I knew I'd be making 2 round-trips to Flagstaff within the span of a week. DD's spring break here with her cat was only moderately frustrating. I tease her that she is a bad roommate because she leaves her stuff all over the house. I notice she does not do that in her own apartment. It's so much smaller, she has no reason to do that! When I picked her up, I drove up on Thursday and we came back together on Friday, but yesterday I just made the round-trip, which explains the weird sleeping schedule. She worries us a lot, but she assures us that she's doing fine and we shouldn't worry. If only!
At least it should be easier for me to stay on top of my work now that she is not here, but the noise of the fans is really annoying! The house is topsy-turvy, with the kids' bathroom upstairs and the guestroom downstairs taped off and with noisy equipment in them. 90% of the stuff from the guest room is out in the living room now, and there's paper taped over the hallways to trap the workers' dust, etc. It's nerve-wracking being here. Spending all day on the road got me out of here yesterday but I have too much to do to escape again today!
So, off I go to execute today's plan: shopping, grading papers, attending the matinee of my students' play, cooking a nice dinner, and driving DS1 back up to ASU for what is almost surely the second-to-last time. He's graduating in just 6 weeks!
Friday, March 08, 2019
published!
Before I forget, the article based on my master's thesis has been published in this month's Science Scope, the NSTA journal for middle school science teachers: The Science Project Portfolio
This involved so much work. It's kind of surreal that it's actually out there for other people to read.
Also, in the nearly 2 years since it was written, I have revised so many of the supporting documents, including creating an entire Google Classroom implementation which is so much (again) better. I wish I'd had time to update the original, but they didn't ask me, and I didn't have the time, anyway. I received the proof copy for edits during my science fair week.
I'm on spring break now, and seriously thinking about writing down the things I intend to do this week, so they get done. I already harvested the lemon tree. Isn't that enough? No, I still have a huge stack of papers to grade. What else?
Renew my teaching certificate (it expires in May).
See my foot doctor about the return of the neuroma in my right foot? It is getting better...
See not-sure-which doctor about the recurrent eye twitches and visual migraine & headache (3/7) to see if they have anything to do with my pituitary adenoma (or just wait until my endo appointment later this month...)?
Clean my make up brushes.
Dust (including the fake plants) & vaccuum.
Purge closets.
Drop off donations from purging closets.
Check supplies for upcoming labs and order materials as necessary.
Figure out the maximum number of chaperones I'll allow on the upcoming field trip.
Get together with my 2 friends I never see because we have completely incompatible work schedules.
Sleep!
Pick up DS2 from the airport when he returns from Washington, DC.
Help DS2 paint his room.
Retrieve DD from Flagstaff for her spring break, the week after mine.
Go to the Ren Faire (if the neuroma is better)
Go to the DBG (if the neuroma is better)
Bake
Read a book?
It seems like a long list but I'm not going back to school for eleven days! I can do this.
This involved so much work. It's kind of surreal that it's actually out there for other people to read.
Also, in the nearly 2 years since it was written, I have revised so many of the supporting documents, including creating an entire Google Classroom implementation which is so much (again) better. I wish I'd had time to update the original, but they didn't ask me, and I didn't have the time, anyway. I received the proof copy for edits during my science fair week.
I'm on spring break now, and seriously thinking about writing down the things I intend to do this week, so they get done. I already harvested the lemon tree. Isn't that enough? No, I still have a huge stack of papers to grade. What else?
Renew my teaching certificate (it expires in May).
See my foot doctor about the return of the neuroma in my right foot? It is getting better...
See not-sure-which doctor about the recurrent eye twitches and visual migraine & headache (3/7) to see if they have anything to do with my pituitary adenoma (or just wait until my endo appointment later this month...)?
Clean my make up brushes.
Dust (including the fake plants) & vaccuum.
Purge closets.
Drop off donations from purging closets.
Check supplies for upcoming labs and order materials as necessary.
Figure out the maximum number of chaperones I'll allow on the upcoming field trip.
Get together with my 2 friends I never see because we have completely incompatible work schedules.
Sleep!
Pick up DS2 from the airport when he returns from Washington, DC.
Help DS2 paint his room.
Retrieve DD from Flagstaff for her spring break, the week after mine.
Go to the Ren Faire (if the neuroma is better)
Go to the DBG (if the neuroma is better)
Bake
Read a book?
It seems like a long list but I'm not going back to school for eleven days! I can do this.
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
rollercoaster...
The weather is back to its expected, usual beautiful: mid 70s during the day, pleasantly brisk overnight. No complaints there.
School is extremely busy. Every week it's something: first it was science fair, then end of trimester and parent-teacher conferences, and now it's chemistry. I love this curriculum, but I'm in the lab with my 8th graders every day and it's just a lot of running back forth, setting up and putting away, making sure I've got all the supplies, washing dishes... it's just a lot.
All that running around is time I would use for grading, so of course I'm behind again, even though I caught up over the weekend for this week's round of failure notices. *sigh*
But next week is spring break! I can surely make it through the rest of this week!
[It would be easier if my heart ache would settle down. Some days I think everything is going to be all right, other days, not so much. I read this quote once, and haven't been able to attribute it, but it's so true: being a mother is becoming accustomed to having your heart walk around outside of your body... and that's why it hurts so much. God willing it will all come right in the end.]
School is extremely busy. Every week it's something: first it was science fair, then end of trimester and parent-teacher conferences, and now it's chemistry. I love this curriculum, but I'm in the lab with my 8th graders every day and it's just a lot of running back forth, setting up and putting away, making sure I've got all the supplies, washing dishes... it's just a lot.
All that running around is time I would use for grading, so of course I'm behind again, even though I caught up over the weekend for this week's round of failure notices. *sigh*
But next week is spring break! I can surely make it through the rest of this week!
[It would be easier if my heart ache would settle down. Some days I think everything is going to be all right, other days, not so much. I read this quote once, and haven't been able to attribute it, but it's so true: being a mother is becoming accustomed to having your heart walk around outside of your body... and that's why it hurts so much. God willing it will all come right in the end.]
Saturday, February 23, 2019
sunshine!
This is the worst winter weather I can remember since I moved to AZ back in '95. Sure, we've had cloudy stretches and the occasional run of rainy days, but this has been kind of nuts. The temperature hasn't climbed above 60 for two weeks straight, and then on top of that we had two straight days of constant rain. This never happens here:
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.
 |
| 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.
Saturday, February 09, 2019
and the winner is...
Me, because the science fair is over!
I just now finished crunching the numbers, or as I heard from time to time back at MIT, "torturing the data until it confesses," and have my winners to announce Monday morning.
It was a very long, but very good day, for the most part. I had a few random complaints about students being goofy (as they will when they think no one is paying attention), but overall, the fair was well-received by the school and the families.
Coincidentally, my master's thesis-based article -- how to manage student science fair projects without going crazy, basically -- will be published next month! Of course I received the proof copy to review last week in the midst of science fair craziness, but I squeezed that in somehow, and even managed to spot a mistake that has probably been in every single version, and no one else had noticed.
Now my school focus turns to our field trip in April, and my family focus to DS2's senior thesis which he should be wrapping up in the next few weeks.
I just now finished crunching the numbers, or as I heard from time to time back at MIT, "torturing the data until it confesses," and have my winners to announce Monday morning.
It was a very long, but very good day, for the most part. I had a few random complaints about students being goofy (as they will when they think no one is paying attention), but overall, the fair was well-received by the school and the families.
Coincidentally, my master's thesis-based article -- how to manage student science fair projects without going crazy, basically -- will be published next month! Of course I received the proof copy to review last week in the midst of science fair craziness, but I squeezed that in somehow, and even managed to spot a mistake that has probably been in every single version, and no one else had noticed.
Now my school focus turns to our field trip in April, and my family focus to DS2's senior thesis which he should be wrapping up in the next few weeks.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
tough week
Is Mercury retrograde?
This past week was so difficult for so many people I know, I want there to be some cosmic reason for it. I don't know why, exactly -- perhaps if the responsibility is shifted to the heavens, I'll feel less miserable.
But I know it's all on me: last Friday I took DD and her kitten back to her campus, a nearly 3 hour drive since we hit rush hour on the way out. It's frosty up there! We unpacked everything, had a nice dinner, and then did a grocery run at Target since she needed everything, having been at home for a month. Then I had a 2-hour nap and drove home, so I wouldn't lose a whole day of the weekend.
The drive home was instructive. I'm still a Luddite when it comes to cruise control, and what I learned is, if I'm the only car on the road (happened quite a bit), I drive either too slowly or much too fast. I liked having a pace car nearby. The trip home was entirely uneventful and possibly set a land-speed record in spite of the occasional too-slow periods.
Came home, went to sleep, and slept in just a bit. Puttered around the house feeling empty since DD is gone, and couldn't bear to look at my schoolwork.
So I just didn't do it, setting myself up for this dreadful week of working late every evening catching up on everything. I'm still behind, because even though I've graded mostly everything, I still have to enter the grades in the grade books! That's relatively quick compared to the actual grading process, though.
Still left to grade: one class set of quizzes, relatively quick to do; two class sets of Distribution of Resource essays, which look to be dreadful based on the few I glanced at; science fair reports: somewhere around 50, I'd guess, ranging from horrid to excellent. Given everything else I still have to do (planning, etc), I'm very thankful for the long weekend because I need that day to get caught up.
In between grading sessions today, DH and I went to see Aquaman, which was quite fun, but I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't found out something troubling about someone I really care about immediately before we left. I'm usually pretty good at compartmentalizing ("Put it in a box, put the box away") but that takes some time, and I'm trying not to ruminate on a situation I literally cannot do anything about.
Part of me wonders if that's true while most of me recognizes it is. The thing is, lies of omission hurt just as much as the other kinds. My hope now is, having spewed this here, I can get on with the boxing-it-up.
This past week was so difficult for so many people I know, I want there to be some cosmic reason for it. I don't know why, exactly -- perhaps if the responsibility is shifted to the heavens, I'll feel less miserable.
But I know it's all on me: last Friday I took DD and her kitten back to her campus, a nearly 3 hour drive since we hit rush hour on the way out. It's frosty up there! We unpacked everything, had a nice dinner, and then did a grocery run at Target since she needed everything, having been at home for a month. Then I had a 2-hour nap and drove home, so I wouldn't lose a whole day of the weekend.
The drive home was instructive. I'm still a Luddite when it comes to cruise control, and what I learned is, if I'm the only car on the road (happened quite a bit), I drive either too slowly or much too fast. I liked having a pace car nearby. The trip home was entirely uneventful and possibly set a land-speed record in spite of the occasional too-slow periods.
Came home, went to sleep, and slept in just a bit. Puttered around the house feeling empty since DD is gone, and couldn't bear to look at my schoolwork.
So I just didn't do it, setting myself up for this dreadful week of working late every evening catching up on everything. I'm still behind, because even though I've graded mostly everything, I still have to enter the grades in the grade books! That's relatively quick compared to the actual grading process, though.
Still left to grade: one class set of quizzes, relatively quick to do; two class sets of Distribution of Resource essays, which look to be dreadful based on the few I glanced at; science fair reports: somewhere around 50, I'd guess, ranging from horrid to excellent. Given everything else I still have to do (planning, etc), I'm very thankful for the long weekend because I need that day to get caught up.
In between grading sessions today, DH and I went to see Aquaman, which was quite fun, but I would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't found out something troubling about someone I really care about immediately before we left. I'm usually pretty good at compartmentalizing ("Put it in a box, put the box away") but that takes some time, and I'm trying not to ruminate on a situation I literally cannot do anything about.
Part of me wonders if that's true while most of me recognizes it is. The thing is, lies of omission hurt just as much as the other kinds. My hope now is, having spewed this here, I can get on with the boxing-it-up.
Friday, January 04, 2019
in the new year
I've been off work so long my sleep schedule is completely out of whack. Example: I just had a 2+ hour nap and have no interest in going to bed, even though it's past midnight.
And last night I was feeling restless about work not done, and so I tackled my planning at a similar hour, and ended up working through the night. Oh, I slept on and off, but I never actually got in bed. By rights I should be completely exhausted by now, but that nap...
My last post was in that breathless moment before everything: DS2's recital was lovely, the robotics tournament went better than expected, Christmas parties were lovely, Christmas presents both given and received with joy and gratitude. Mostly this vacation has been a blur of cooking (duck confit cassoulet for Christmas Eve was a tremendous success) and eating and enjoying the company of my family. DD's little black kitten is growng by leaps and bounds, and he's very entertaining to have around. He definitely gets on the older cats' nerves, though! Here he is waiting for our old ginger tabby to wake up from his nap:
It has taken a while but the cats are finally all used to each other and the older cats will actually play from time to time. Mostly they just tolerate the young one briefly and then walk away to sleep somewhere else, undisturbed.
It's nice to have everyone around, but odd, too, because usually when they're home they're out and about and doing their own things, but for various reasons, they've all been homebodies, mostly.
Me, too, except for a quick overnight with DH to Cottonwood, which was lovely except it SNOWED. A LOT. It was really beautiful (I actually had proper gear to deal with it) but then it didn't stop, and our trip home was nerve-wracking until we got far enough south and it turned to rain. The first hour or so looked like this (mind you, this is at about 2pm):
It really did look like we were driving off the edge of the world. Once we got out of the fog, the scenery was rather spectacular. Snow on cactii is something I rarely see. Of course it was impossible to photograph well, because by that time we were up to our usual cruising speed of nearly 90 mph. (Still amazes me how fast everyone insists on driving through those mountain passes!) Anyway, here are a couple of horrible but still evocative views:
Further south, below the snow line, very dramatic clouds:
I am happy to have caught the cloud moving over that outcropping. It was stunning but not easy to snap!
Last night's ambition carried over to today, and I finished my planning, nagged my (many) students about their science projects, and finished another chunk of grading. I'm trying to get my school work done before the weekend so I can relax before heading back. This is one of those good intentions that seems likely to fall by the wayside, but at least I'm trying. DD has drawn me into playing Words with Friends again, and it's amazing how much time that can consume. I've read a couple of books and seen a few movies... and would like to do more of each before I go back to work! Where does that time go?
And last night I was feeling restless about work not done, and so I tackled my planning at a similar hour, and ended up working through the night. Oh, I slept on and off, but I never actually got in bed. By rights I should be completely exhausted by now, but that nap...
My last post was in that breathless moment before everything: DS2's recital was lovely, the robotics tournament went better than expected, Christmas parties were lovely, Christmas presents both given and received with joy and gratitude. Mostly this vacation has been a blur of cooking (duck confit cassoulet for Christmas Eve was a tremendous success) and eating and enjoying the company of my family. DD's little black kitten is growng by leaps and bounds, and he's very entertaining to have around. He definitely gets on the older cats' nerves, though! Here he is waiting for our old ginger tabby to wake up from his nap:
It has taken a while but the cats are finally all used to each other and the older cats will actually play from time to time. Mostly they just tolerate the young one briefly and then walk away to sleep somewhere else, undisturbed.
It's nice to have everyone around, but odd, too, because usually when they're home they're out and about and doing their own things, but for various reasons, they've all been homebodies, mostly.
Me, too, except for a quick overnight with DH to Cottonwood, which was lovely except it SNOWED. A LOT. It was really beautiful (I actually had proper gear to deal with it) but then it didn't stop, and our trip home was nerve-wracking until we got far enough south and it turned to rain. The first hour or so looked like this (mind you, this is at about 2pm):
It really did look like we were driving off the edge of the world. Once we got out of the fog, the scenery was rather spectacular. Snow on cactii is something I rarely see. Of course it was impossible to photograph well, because by that time we were up to our usual cruising speed of nearly 90 mph. (Still amazes me how fast everyone insists on driving through those mountain passes!) Anyway, here are a couple of horrible but still evocative views:
Further south, below the snow line, very dramatic clouds:
Last night's ambition carried over to today, and I finished my planning, nagged my (many) students about their science projects, and finished another chunk of grading. I'm trying to get my school work done before the weekend so I can relax before heading back. This is one of those good intentions that seems likely to fall by the wayside, but at least I'm trying. DD has drawn me into playing Words with Friends again, and it's amazing how much time that can consume. I've read a couple of books and seen a few movies... and would like to do more of each before I go back to work! Where does that time go?
Sunday, December 02, 2018
non-continuous improvement
Trying something new this weekend: do school work on Saturday, house things on Sunday.
Technically, I finished the school stuff on Sunday, since it's after midnight. But the difference between finishing after midnight on Saturday and after midnight on Sunday is that I get to sleep in tomorrow. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, but the possibility is delightful.
Some weekends, of course, I won't have a choice, but today worked out pretty well because I was disciplined enough to make myself slog through it. I couldn't begin to count how many weekends I've thought, "I should be doing my grading," as I zoned in front of the tv or the computer or allowed myself to go out and about instead. I think playing my Spotify Christmas playlist and burning nicely scented candles helped me focus... that, and not sitting on the couch where I could fall asleep.
Now tomorrow I can tackle house-tasks, like clearing out the stack of stuff in the guest room, which is literally impassable at this point. (It's OK, we're not expecting any guests in the near future.) I hope to wrap some presents, too, because there's no point in doing anything else with them. I admit it will be odd to have presents under the not-yet-decorated tree.
Of course next weekend I won't be able to have "school work Saturday", because my school robotics team has it's qualifying tournament on Saturday, and DS2's last-ever Christmas recital is right in the middle of that (I'll sneak away for an hour, no one will miss me.) The holiday whirlwind that started last week is going full speed now: meeting Tuesday, concert Thursday, DH's company's Christmas party Friday, robotics/recital Saturday! I'm going to need next Sunday to recover from all that.
DS1 comes home for winter break Thursday, and DD (and her kitten), a week later. We're currently previewing what life will be like when they're truly on their own: even when they're home, they're mostly doing their own thing. Already I appreciate the time we get to visit, and I'm really looking forward to it. Even if debilitating waves of nostalgia constantly threaten to engulf me, I can still enjoy everything the season offers.
Technically, I finished the school stuff on Sunday, since it's after midnight. But the difference between finishing after midnight on Saturday and after midnight on Sunday is that I get to sleep in tomorrow. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't, but the possibility is delightful.
Some weekends, of course, I won't have a choice, but today worked out pretty well because I was disciplined enough to make myself slog through it. I couldn't begin to count how many weekends I've thought, "I should be doing my grading," as I zoned in front of the tv or the computer or allowed myself to go out and about instead. I think playing my Spotify Christmas playlist and burning nicely scented candles helped me focus... that, and not sitting on the couch where I could fall asleep.
Now tomorrow I can tackle house-tasks, like clearing out the stack of stuff in the guest room, which is literally impassable at this point. (It's OK, we're not expecting any guests in the near future.) I hope to wrap some presents, too, because there's no point in doing anything else with them. I admit it will be odd to have presents under the not-yet-decorated tree.
Of course next weekend I won't be able to have "school work Saturday", because my school robotics team has it's qualifying tournament on Saturday, and DS2's last-ever Christmas recital is right in the middle of that (I'll sneak away for an hour, no one will miss me.) The holiday whirlwind that started last week is going full speed now: meeting Tuesday, concert Thursday, DH's company's Christmas party Friday, robotics/recital Saturday! I'm going to need next Sunday to recover from all that.
DS1 comes home for winter break Thursday, and DD (and her kitten), a week later. We're currently previewing what life will be like when they're truly on their own: even when they're home, they're mostly doing their own thing. Already I appreciate the time we get to visit, and I'm really looking forward to it. Even if debilitating waves of nostalgia constantly threaten to engulf me, I can still enjoy everything the season offers.
Friday, November 30, 2018
the joy of the season
Among my peers at work, there is universal agreement that this is the absolute worst week of the year: Christmas program week. Our music teacher (who is amazing) writes two programs every year, one for the younger grades, and one for the older grades. The kids practice for weeks during their regular music classes, leading up to this week, where we have an excruciating 3-hour rehearsal one day and then dress rehearsal/performances for the school, followed by this evening's (for my students, anyway) performance for the families.
We had the same complaints as last year: we had no idea what was going on, it's impossible to effectively wrangle 200 students without a plan, it was too hot waiting out in the sun, etc. Tuesday, the 3-hour rehearsal day, was a long slog but of course we all survived. Meanwhile, we're still trying to deliver curriculum and keep the students on track -- we still have 3 weeks to go until Christmas break!
So that brings us to today, with an afternoon performance for the younger grades, and an evening performance for the parents. Aside from a few dress code issues (We told the girls if their skirts were too short, they'd have to wear altar server robes, and some of them didn't believe us...), the evening went very smoothly and the students performed very well. I absolutely loved seeing how enthusiastically my homeroom students, especially the boys, participated in all their songs. They really are a great group of kids, even though they've been daily draining my well of patience dry.
Afterwards, it was lovely to visit with the parents, and to see former students who had returned to see younger siblings. Even though I didn't get home until after 8:30pm (having left home at 6:20am to attend a memorial mass for my parents this morning!), it was a wonderful evening. And only a tiny part of that feeling is because it's over, and now our schedule can get back to normal for a bit as we speed towards the holiday. ¡Feliz Navidad!
We had the same complaints as last year: we had no idea what was going on, it's impossible to effectively wrangle 200 students without a plan, it was too hot waiting out in the sun, etc. Tuesday, the 3-hour rehearsal day, was a long slog but of course we all survived. Meanwhile, we're still trying to deliver curriculum and keep the students on track -- we still have 3 weeks to go until Christmas break!
So that brings us to today, with an afternoon performance for the younger grades, and an evening performance for the parents. Aside from a few dress code issues (We told the girls if their skirts were too short, they'd have to wear altar server robes, and some of them didn't believe us...), the evening went very smoothly and the students performed very well. I absolutely loved seeing how enthusiastically my homeroom students, especially the boys, participated in all their songs. They really are a great group of kids, even though they've been daily draining my well of patience dry.
Afterwards, it was lovely to visit with the parents, and to see former students who had returned to see younger siblings. Even though I didn't get home until after 8:30pm (having left home at 6:20am to attend a memorial mass for my parents this morning!), it was a wonderful evening. And only a tiny part of that feeling is because it's over, and now our schedule can get back to normal for a bit as we speed towards the holiday. ¡Feliz Navidad!
Thursday, November 22, 2018
possibly a record
I finished prep for tomorrow at 9:22 PM, only 22 minutes later than I had intended. The very last thing on the list for today was brining the turkey, which I wanted done by 9 so I could get it out at 9 in the morning, in preparation for the oven just a little bit later. Brining had to wait for the dinner dishes to be cleared away, though, so it was just a little late.
Miraculously, though, the pies were already out of the oven by that time. Only two this year, both apple, and I have both pie crusts and apples to make another. We'll see. My ambitions have shrunk over the years, along with my ability to eat all the stuff I love to bake! One piece of DD's birthday blueberry pie a few weeks ago knocked me back for nearly a week. I can medicate my way out of the joint pain and the digestive upset, but that's no way to live.
Today's marathon began with early morning shopping for those last minute things like green beans, followed by prepping for tomorrow, then picking up DS1 at school, then more prepping, then getting In-n-Out Burger for everyone for lunch because let's face it, there was nothing to eat now, then more prepping, including putting on a big pot of meat sauce so we'd have something for dinner. (It was delicious.) The pies went into the oven somewhere around around 5. Seems to me I'm usually baking till nearly midnight. Good thing I wasn't, this year, because I fell asleep in the middle of this, and when I woke up, I took myself to bed.
And now it's late morning, and the turkey is making the house smell delicious, the last-minute cleaning is done, and I'm about to head into the shower. Happy Thanksgiving!
Miraculously, though, the pies were already out of the oven by that time. Only two this year, both apple, and I have both pie crusts and apples to make another. We'll see. My ambitions have shrunk over the years, along with my ability to eat all the stuff I love to bake! One piece of DD's birthday blueberry pie a few weeks ago knocked me back for nearly a week. I can medicate my way out of the joint pain and the digestive upset, but that's no way to live.
Today's marathon began with early morning shopping for those last minute things like green beans, followed by prepping for tomorrow, then picking up DS1 at school, then more prepping, then getting In-n-Out Burger for everyone for lunch because let's face it, there was nothing to eat now, then more prepping, including putting on a big pot of meat sauce so we'd have something for dinner. (It was delicious.) The pies went into the oven somewhere around around 5. Seems to me I'm usually baking till nearly midnight. Good thing I wasn't, this year, because I fell asleep in the middle of this, and when I woke up, I took myself to bed.
And now it's late morning, and the turkey is making the house smell delicious, the last-minute cleaning is done, and I'm about to head into the shower. Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 11, 2018
lost and not found
I'm still mentally exhausted from parent-teacher conferences last week, even though they all went well. Still, it's very draining to have 26 extra meetings in one week, many of which went past their scheduled 15 minutes. We had a lot to talk about! I kept to the schedule when I had back-to-back meetings, but when the time allowed, I stretched it if the parents had more they wanted to talk about.
It feels like there was a lot of stretching, just as it feels as if half my class this year is on the Autism spectrum and/or has ADHD. That's an exaggeration, though. Surely it's no more than one third!
I have been cooking and running errands and even did some Christmas shopping, and it has been great to not think about school for a while. Last night I ordered a replacement for the bismuth crystal that mysteriously walked out of my classroom last year. That's two out of three items that went missing last year I've replaced now. But ordering the bismuth reminded me that I'd lost the silver and amber letter opener my mother had given me, and that set me off down several internet rabbit holes.
I had this feeling that if I just kept looking, I'd find it, or one just like it, the way I was able to replace the Bill Campbell pottery platter I broke so many years ago. This is different, though: it was vintage if not antique (it may have been antique), definitely silver if not sterling (and I think it was sterling from the amount of black tarnish it accumulated), and it had a beautiful amber cabochon set into the handle with silver leaves worked around it in art nouveau style. It was a very beautiful piece which I am ashamed now to say that I took for granted. I had it on my desk for years among the pens and pencils in one of the mugs I keep for that purpose. The thing is, in spite of its obvious beauty and value, I used it. It was great staple remover and a fair screwdriver, and it lived happily anonymous among the pens and pencils. No one knew it was there, so no one was tempted to take it. I'm pretty sure I "lost" it by leaving it out after using it to take staples out of a bulletin board. (My classroom is often used by other groups of people in the evenings, a fact I was not sufficiently attuned to last year.)
For whatever reason, I was seized with the idea last night that it was important to replace this piece. My mother gave it to me, and the Polish amber was a concrete reminder of her. I haven't thought about it much in the year or so it has been missing, but last night it blossomed into importance again, so I looked online to see what I could fine. I haven't seen anything even close to it in my Internet searches, and the one that came closest cost several hundred British pounds(!!!).
Clearly that's not going to happen. I dreamed it was in my desk's center drawer, having somehow got wedged under the tray near the front. I will, of course, look there when I get back to work on Tuesday, but there is zero chance that it's there. My desk was completely emptied last May so it could be moved out with everything else in the classroom. If it weren't for that very thorough process, I'd be able to hold out some slim hope that it's still there somewhere, but we took literally every single thing out of that room, and there was no sign of it.
I'm surprised by this turn of events, really. It's just a thing, after all. Yes, it was beautiful and my mother gave it to me and now she's gone, but it's still just a thing. Replacing it isn't going to help anyone (not even me, really, since a different one wouldn't have belonged to my mother) but part of me wants to at least try because it was my carelessness that led to its loss. Nevermind the question of why it would be my fault that someone else stole it. It just is, and I'm sorry.
It feels like there was a lot of stretching, just as it feels as if half my class this year is on the Autism spectrum and/or has ADHD. That's an exaggeration, though. Surely it's no more than one third!
I have been cooking and running errands and even did some Christmas shopping, and it has been great to not think about school for a while. Last night I ordered a replacement for the bismuth crystal that mysteriously walked out of my classroom last year. That's two out of three items that went missing last year I've replaced now. But ordering the bismuth reminded me that I'd lost the silver and amber letter opener my mother had given me, and that set me off down several internet rabbit holes.
I had this feeling that if I just kept looking, I'd find it, or one just like it, the way I was able to replace the Bill Campbell pottery platter I broke so many years ago. This is different, though: it was vintage if not antique (it may have been antique), definitely silver if not sterling (and I think it was sterling from the amount of black tarnish it accumulated), and it had a beautiful amber cabochon set into the handle with silver leaves worked around it in art nouveau style. It was a very beautiful piece which I am ashamed now to say that I took for granted. I had it on my desk for years among the pens and pencils in one of the mugs I keep for that purpose. The thing is, in spite of its obvious beauty and value, I used it. It was great staple remover and a fair screwdriver, and it lived happily anonymous among the pens and pencils. No one knew it was there, so no one was tempted to take it. I'm pretty sure I "lost" it by leaving it out after using it to take staples out of a bulletin board. (My classroom is often used by other groups of people in the evenings, a fact I was not sufficiently attuned to last year.)
For whatever reason, I was seized with the idea last night that it was important to replace this piece. My mother gave it to me, and the Polish amber was a concrete reminder of her. I haven't thought about it much in the year or so it has been missing, but last night it blossomed into importance again, so I looked online to see what I could fine. I haven't seen anything even close to it in my Internet searches, and the one that came closest cost several hundred British pounds(!!!).
Clearly that's not going to happen. I dreamed it was in my desk's center drawer, having somehow got wedged under the tray near the front. I will, of course, look there when I get back to work on Tuesday, but there is zero chance that it's there. My desk was completely emptied last May so it could be moved out with everything else in the classroom. If it weren't for that very thorough process, I'd be able to hold out some slim hope that it's still there somewhere, but we took literally every single thing out of that room, and there was no sign of it.
I'm surprised by this turn of events, really. It's just a thing, after all. Yes, it was beautiful and my mother gave it to me and now she's gone, but it's still just a thing. Replacing it isn't going to help anyone (not even me, really, since a different one wouldn't have belonged to my mother) but part of me wants to at least try because it was my carelessness that led to its loss. Nevermind the question of why it would be my fault that someone else stole it. It just is, and I'm sorry.
Monday, November 05, 2018
just like that
One weekend with all my kids home, and I'm feeling so much better.
My baby girl is 20 years old! I can't fathom it.
In honor of the occasion, and because one of her favorite bands was playing some local dive last Thursday night, she came down for the weekend. Saturday her friends came for brunch and we had a great time. Saturday afternoon was taken up with making her birthday blueberry pie, and Saturday evening with her delightful birthday dinner (our favorite salmon and rice pilaf, simple favorites she never has at school.)
It wasn't anything all that special, except that everyone was here, and happy. So, not exactly special, but delightful, and my spirits are sufficiently lifted as we sail towards the holiday season.
My baby girl is 20 years old! I can't fathom it.
In honor of the occasion, and because one of her favorite bands was playing some local dive last Thursday night, she came down for the weekend. Saturday her friends came for brunch and we had a great time. Saturday afternoon was taken up with making her birthday blueberry pie, and Saturday evening with her delightful birthday dinner (our favorite salmon and rice pilaf, simple favorites she never has at school.)
It wasn't anything all that special, except that everyone was here, and happy. So, not exactly special, but delightful, and my spirits are sufficiently lifted as we sail towards the holiday season.
Thursday, November 01, 2018
what, again?
I remind myself, it's a symptom. It's 3:05AM and I'm still up, reading the internet. I'm looking for the answer to a question that I can't even articulate to myself, so I'll never find it.
Since it was Halloween, I watched The Frighteners for the thousandth time, but it made me inexplicably sad this time. So by way of an antidote, I watched the first 2 episodes of the new season of Dr. Who, with Jody Whittaker as the new lady doctor. She's quite good, and I enjoyed the episodes, but they were also tinged with unexpected sadness. (I should've expected it, but I didn't.)
Now we're well into November and the rest of this week is going to be very very busy, with all the kids home, DS2's concert on Saturday, DD's birthday on Sunday!
And it's end-of-term, so I have to be on top of my grades. I'm caught up for now, but I'm giving 7th grade an assessment tomorrow that will go into the gradebook before grades close Friday morning -- in other words, I have to be efficient.
I just have a sense that's something wrong and I don't know what it is. I spent some time re-reading here (11 years of Novembers!) to see if whatever this is might be a seasonal thing, but that doesn't seems to be the case. Objectively, the only thing that I can think of that's wrong right now is the fact that I'm not sleeping, plus my stomach has been off since last night and isn't feeling too great right now. The second could be the true source of my problem, I suppose.
Ick. I'm going to bed.
Since it was Halloween, I watched The Frighteners for the thousandth time, but it made me inexplicably sad this time. So by way of an antidote, I watched the first 2 episodes of the new season of Dr. Who, with Jody Whittaker as the new lady doctor. She's quite good, and I enjoyed the episodes, but they were also tinged with unexpected sadness. (I should've expected it, but I didn't.)
Now we're well into November and the rest of this week is going to be very very busy, with all the kids home, DS2's concert on Saturday, DD's birthday on Sunday!
And it's end-of-term, so I have to be on top of my grades. I'm caught up for now, but I'm giving 7th grade an assessment tomorrow that will go into the gradebook before grades close Friday morning -- in other words, I have to be efficient.
I just have a sense that's something wrong and I don't know what it is. I spent some time re-reading here (11 years of Novembers!) to see if whatever this is might be a seasonal thing, but that doesn't seems to be the case. Objectively, the only thing that I can think of that's wrong right now is the fact that I'm not sleeping, plus my stomach has been off since last night and isn't feeling too great right now. The second could be the true source of my problem, I suppose.
Ick. I'm going to bed.
Friday, October 26, 2018
diversions of varying success
We're hurtling toward the end of the trimester at school, and that usually means digging myself out of some huge stack of grading.
I do have one - ok, two - things to grade this weekend, but neither is that big a deal. I've done well keeping my resolution to stay on top of the grading this term, and it is paying off in unexpected ways: I actually read a book last week, and I watched the entirety of season 3 of Dare Devil. (I don't think that's how you spell it. It doesn't look right. Don't care.)
The book: Terry Pratchett's Snuff, one of only a few of his I'd not read before. In a way, it makes me sad, because there won't be any more, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and somewhere in the back of my mind, a plan is percolating to start at the beginning and read them through again. Ah, Discworld, how I love you. Especially Sam Vimes.
Dare Devil, however you spell it, was (upon reflection) the best of the three seasons so far. It focused on the main characters almost exclusively, and the new main character (FBI Agent Nadeem) was excellent, and the new villian character (also, not coincidentally, an FBI Agent) was also very good. I could watch it all again and enjoy it.
It's nice, this having time for leisure pursuits. I also thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend Maniac, the Jonah Hill-Emma Stone Netflix series. It was superb in a way that's difficult to describe. Some parts were very funny, some parts were touching, some parts were harder to take, but all of it cohered into something really terrific. Part of me thinks the entire series is worth the single line of dialog, "I heard you took the fall for the lemur caper." On reflection, I believe that's correct. Not all love is Eros, and it's good to see there are people out there who recognize that.
Some days, I have a sense that I literally have no idea what I'm doing: that shadow of Everything is just too hard, give up give up give up is continuously lurking. But most days, I don't notice it. Much. I like the people I work with, and I love my family. My cats are mostly sweet and only occasionally really annoying. The Great Ant Infestation of 2018 made another incursion last week, and honestly I'm too worn out by that entire (apparently never-ending) situation to even go look and see if they're gone yet. The holidays will soon be upon us, and everyone will be home again, and maybe then the shadow will recede completely for a while? Doubtful, but it's nice to contemplate.
I never did get that sleep I needed. (Ha!) And I've been battling a cold -- more or less successfully -- for about a week now. Perhaps that is the source of my sense of impending doom. That, or the fact that we won't have a math teacher come January. We'll manage somehow. We always do.
I do have one - ok, two - things to grade this weekend, but neither is that big a deal. I've done well keeping my resolution to stay on top of the grading this term, and it is paying off in unexpected ways: I actually read a book last week, and I watched the entirety of season 3 of Dare Devil. (I don't think that's how you spell it. It doesn't look right. Don't care.)
The book: Terry Pratchett's Snuff, one of only a few of his I'd not read before. In a way, it makes me sad, because there won't be any more, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and somewhere in the back of my mind, a plan is percolating to start at the beginning and read them through again. Ah, Discworld, how I love you. Especially Sam Vimes.
Dare Devil, however you spell it, was (upon reflection) the best of the three seasons so far. It focused on the main characters almost exclusively, and the new main character (FBI Agent Nadeem) was excellent, and the new villian character (also, not coincidentally, an FBI Agent) was also very good. I could watch it all again and enjoy it.
It's nice, this having time for leisure pursuits. I also thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend Maniac, the Jonah Hill-Emma Stone Netflix series. It was superb in a way that's difficult to describe. Some parts were very funny, some parts were touching, some parts were harder to take, but all of it cohered into something really terrific. Part of me thinks the entire series is worth the single line of dialog, "I heard you took the fall for the lemur caper." On reflection, I believe that's correct. Not all love is Eros, and it's good to see there are people out there who recognize that.
Some days, I have a sense that I literally have no idea what I'm doing: that shadow of Everything is just too hard, give up give up give up is continuously lurking. But most days, I don't notice it. Much. I like the people I work with, and I love my family. My cats are mostly sweet and only occasionally really annoying. The Great Ant Infestation of 2018 made another incursion last week, and honestly I'm too worn out by that entire (apparently never-ending) situation to even go look and see if they're gone yet. The holidays will soon be upon us, and everyone will be home again, and maybe then the shadow will recede completely for a while? Doubtful, but it's nice to contemplate.
I never did get that sleep I needed. (Ha!) And I've been battling a cold -- more or less successfully -- for about a week now. Perhaps that is the source of my sense of impending doom. That, or the fact that we won't have a math teacher come January. We'll manage somehow. We always do.
Friday, October 12, 2018
break
Such as it is: an in-service day followed by a 3-day weekend.
Things are going... well. I'm being very disciplined about keeping on my grading, and it's making everything else easier. For example, this weekend the only grading I have to do are the drafts of my students' research papers.
Which is not to say that things are perfect. Issues pop up and are resolved, and we go on. I like the absence of drama.
I do, however, need sleep and plan to get it!
Things are going... well. I'm being very disciplined about keeping on my grading, and it's making everything else easier. For example, this weekend the only grading I have to do are the drafts of my students' research papers.
Which is not to say that things are perfect. Issues pop up and are resolved, and we go on. I like the absence of drama.
I do, however, need sleep and plan to get it!
Friday, September 21, 2018
after-school snack
It's totally OK that my after-school snack is a glass of rose and a handful (or two) of wasabi almonds, because 1) I'm an adult and 2) I didn't get home from school today until well after 5PM.
I'd recommend it for everyone, but the stipulations above won't be true for many, more's the pity.
I'd recommend it for everyone, but the stipulations above won't be true for many, more's the pity.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
interlude
Trying to find a title for this post, I'm searching my brain for a word that means a short time spent doing something unusual or different..., ah there it is: interlude.
The "something different" was attending a continuing education event for medical providers who treat thyroid cancer patients. There is a new endocrine surgeon here in the valley, and she is very enthusiastic about improving both provider education and patient care. She organized the event through one of the local hospitals, and asked me if I would attend this evening to improve awareness of ThyCa, the patient advocacy organization I have been associated with for over a decade now.
It was a little weird being there, since I'm not a doctor or a genetic counselor or any of the other professional types who there. But several people stopped by and asked about ThyCa and took some of my materials, and the surgeon's office manager took everything that was left! We are going to get together (or at least talk) later in the fall about reviving the in-person support group. At this point, I'm willing to give it a try, and I can afford to give up a few hours every other month or two.
Like this evening: before I went to the conference, I was all caught up with everything: grading, entering grades, planning. But my students submitted their first-pass experimental designs today, and I needed to give them feedback immediately. So I took a nap for about an hour when I got home, and here I am, having finished the feedback and grading but very much awake.
School is going well for me this year. I'm making a serious effort to keep up instead of wandering around campus and chatting people up, as I have done in the past, and it's making a big difference. I'm also making a conscious effort to watch the time when I'm at home in the evenings so I don't start on dinner too late. Some evenings I still miscalculate how long the cooking will take and we eat at 8PM, but that's better than miscalculating and eating closer to 9! So those two relatively small efforts are making life better.
I am struggling, though, simply because it's September and this month is full of sad and difficult memories of my mother's end of life. Most days I want to stay in bed and pull the covers over my head, but I'm working the "fake it till you make it" routine with moderate success. I've been here before, I just have to wait it out. I even have times, like today, where I briefly enjoy something: it rained, and the air smelled wonderful. Eventually it takes longer and longer for my own personal cloud to descend, until it just recedes completely. I have faith I'll get there some day, I'm just not sure when.
The "something different" was attending a continuing education event for medical providers who treat thyroid cancer patients. There is a new endocrine surgeon here in the valley, and she is very enthusiastic about improving both provider education and patient care. She organized the event through one of the local hospitals, and asked me if I would attend this evening to improve awareness of ThyCa, the patient advocacy organization I have been associated with for over a decade now.
It was a little weird being there, since I'm not a doctor or a genetic counselor or any of the other professional types who there. But several people stopped by and asked about ThyCa and took some of my materials, and the surgeon's office manager took everything that was left! We are going to get together (or at least talk) later in the fall about reviving the in-person support group. At this point, I'm willing to give it a try, and I can afford to give up a few hours every other month or two.
Like this evening: before I went to the conference, I was all caught up with everything: grading, entering grades, planning. But my students submitted their first-pass experimental designs today, and I needed to give them feedback immediately. So I took a nap for about an hour when I got home, and here I am, having finished the feedback and grading but very much awake.
School is going well for me this year. I'm making a serious effort to keep up instead of wandering around campus and chatting people up, as I have done in the past, and it's making a big difference. I'm also making a conscious effort to watch the time when I'm at home in the evenings so I don't start on dinner too late. Some evenings I still miscalculate how long the cooking will take and we eat at 8PM, but that's better than miscalculating and eating closer to 9! So those two relatively small efforts are making life better.
I am struggling, though, simply because it's September and this month is full of sad and difficult memories of my mother's end of life. Most days I want to stay in bed and pull the covers over my head, but I'm working the "fake it till you make it" routine with moderate success. I've been here before, I just have to wait it out. I even have times, like today, where I briefly enjoy something: it rained, and the air smelled wonderful. Eventually it takes longer and longer for my own personal cloud to descend, until it just recedes completely. I have faith I'll get there some day, I'm just not sure when.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
new new new
School's back in and has been since the 8th. The entire campus was extensively renovated over the summer, so we had to clear everything out of our classrooms before we left. That meant, of course, we had to move everything back in before school could begin.
It was a little crazy there, since we got our keys (and access to campus) on Friday afternoon the 3rd, and "meet the teacher" was Monday evening. Junior high orientation was Tuesday night, and then classes began on Wednesday. It was an exhausting slog there, but we've settled into a routine now.
I'm enjoying that I just have to revise what I did last year, and not create everything from scratch. I'm somehow managing to integrate the new technology (new projector, Chromebooks, Google classrooms) and help out our new teachers without losing my mind, but it's early going yet.
My new 7th graders seem so very young this year! I'm sure it happens this way every year, but this year I'm not as distracted by everything else going on so I'm just noticing more.
On the personal side, my doctor declared my toe officially and completely healed, even though it feels a little "crunchy" from time to time. She said that was normal. I have been enjoying wearing my normal footwear for the past few weeks. My hip varies from absolutely killing me to not bothering me at all, with more of the latter since I'm back to doing stretches and squats twice a day when I can manage it, but every morning without fail.
DS1 is back at ASU for his senior year, and we drove up to Flagstaff on Friday evening to take DD up for her sophomore year. She is very excited to be in an apartment with one of her best friends. I was less excited by the fact that it's a third floor walk-up. She was scheduled to move in Saturday at noon, but we were able to move her in on Friday evening when we got there. That was excellent because after about an hour of gorgeous sunshine, it absolutely poured rain the next day. We got soaked bringing in her haul from Target.
Now home again (and nursing a hip still objecting to so much time sitting in the car), and it's quiet with just DS2 here, our new "normal" for the school year. I have an engineering design challenge to grade and probably six other things to do, but it will all get done eventually. Overall, the year is off to a good start. There are a few stressors at school regarding new teachers, but I'm doing my best to minimize my exposure there since they don't really have anything to do with me!
Thursday, July 19, 2018
coasting
I counted this morning. I have eleven days of summer vacation left, give or take. The schedule's not set in stone.
I'm still nursing the broken toe, although I go long periods of time without thinking about it. But then this morning, I woke up early because it was killing me. I periodically have this issue where the splint-wrap just feels way too tight, even though it was fine moments ago... and eventually it settles down and stops bothering me. Weird.
Vacation was overall lovely, but ten days was too long to be away. We broke up the trip with a quick jaunt to Massachusetts to see family, and on our return to Connecticut, most of us were just ... done. DH and I went with DS1 to see the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Co's Pericles, Prince of Tyre, which was rather silly but well-produced, but other than that, we just hung around for the most part. We did some antiquing and I found a nice sort-of icon of Mary:
At least I think it's Mary. It's an unusual presentation, but from what I could find out in researching the symbolism of the blue, star-strewn robe, gold gown, and open book, it's probably Mary.
Our travels home were uneventful (other than our first flight's 40-minute delay, which made making the connection in DFW interesting), and now I'm back to keeping the foot elevated while I read nearly all day.
I'm getting antsy about back-to-school preparations, but there's really not much I can do. I started the online Google for Educators training, but I don't want to commit any more time to that until I get word that we are actually using it this year -- then I may go so far as to get the certification. And I'd love to get started on my seating charts, name cards, and all that jazz, but I don't have rosters yet. Since I literally can't do anything until we get our classroom keys back and hear from admin about everything else, I'm doing my best to just relax and enjoy these last lazy-ish days.
Now if I could get DS2's room painted...
I'm still nursing the broken toe, although I go long periods of time without thinking about it. But then this morning, I woke up early because it was killing me. I periodically have this issue where the splint-wrap just feels way too tight, even though it was fine moments ago... and eventually it settles down and stops bothering me. Weird.
Vacation was overall lovely, but ten days was too long to be away. We broke up the trip with a quick jaunt to Massachusetts to see family, and on our return to Connecticut, most of us were just ... done. DH and I went with DS1 to see the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Co's Pericles, Prince of Tyre, which was rather silly but well-produced, but other than that, we just hung around for the most part. We did some antiquing and I found a nice sort-of icon of Mary:
At least I think it's Mary. It's an unusual presentation, but from what I could find out in researching the symbolism of the blue, star-strewn robe, gold gown, and open book, it's probably Mary.
Our travels home were uneventful (other than our first flight's 40-minute delay, which made making the connection in DFW interesting), and now I'm back to keeping the foot elevated while I read nearly all day.
I'm getting antsy about back-to-school preparations, but there's really not much I can do. I started the online Google for Educators training, but I don't want to commit any more time to that until I get word that we are actually using it this year -- then I may go so far as to get the certification. And I'd love to get started on my seating charts, name cards, and all that jazz, but I don't have rosters yet. Since I literally can't do anything until we get our classroom keys back and hear from admin about everything else, I'm doing my best to just relax and enjoy these last lazy-ish days.
Now if I could get DS2's room painted...
Sunday, July 08, 2018
travelling with boot
It's OK.
Before the trip, I mostly hung out at home and barely wore the boot at all. What I'm finding now is that it's really exhausting to wear the thing for more than a few hours, but overall, it's OK. I think if I had to do a lot of walking, I'd get blisters, because no matter how tightly I wrap the velcro straps, my foot slips around a bit when I'm walking. Fortunately I don't have to do a lot of walking!
I'm so grateful! The flights were uneventful, but stumping through the airports wasn't much fun -- still, the toe itself doesn't hurt, and having the boot on ensures that nothing's going to make it worse. We got to CT, and headed to Mystic the next day, and even though there were some thunder showers, we managed.
I would prefer, of course, to wear normal sandals and not have to even think about it, but the reality is, it's OK. One upside: extra suitcase room, since I didn't have to pack all the shoes I usually bring!
Before the trip, I mostly hung out at home and barely wore the boot at all. What I'm finding now is that it's really exhausting to wear the thing for more than a few hours, but overall, it's OK. I think if I had to do a lot of walking, I'd get blisters, because no matter how tightly I wrap the velcro straps, my foot slips around a bit when I'm walking. Fortunately I don't have to do a lot of walking!
I'm so grateful! The flights were uneventful, but stumping through the airports wasn't much fun -- still, the toe itself doesn't hurt, and having the boot on ensures that nothing's going to make it worse. We got to CT, and headed to Mystic the next day, and even though there were some thunder showers, we managed.
I would prefer, of course, to wear normal sandals and not have to even think about it, but the reality is, it's OK. One upside: extra suitcase room, since I didn't have to pack all the shoes I usually bring!
Sunday, July 01, 2018
incarcerated
Yes, that's exactly how it feels. Of course I'm not locked up anywhere, I could go out every day if I wanted to, but I don't. It only helps a little that I'm the one who imposed the house arrest.
To recap: a little more than 3 weeks ago I broke my right big toe (in 2 places!) in an unfortunate furniture moving accident. Luckily, I'm off for the summer, so I can sit around all day with my foot up, periodically icing it and praying for it to heal quickly. (I have a long and distinguished record of healing very slowly. )
So, home, and cabin fever is setting in. I went out three times this past week. Last Sunday being out for a while became very painful, but by the end of the week, I could tolerate standing for much longer periods of time. The toe doesn't look very swollen when it's elevated, but when I stand on it for any length of time, it swells up again. This is a bummer because the chief indicator of healing is that the swelling has gone down. I have been so good about staying off of it and keeping it elevated. Why isn't it better? Ah, yes, that long and distinguished history of mine -- plus the reality that broken toes take 6-8 weeks to heal, and it has only been three.
We're heading to the east coast soon, and I am dreading the travel. Practically everything we do back east involves walking around. I'm trying to imagine walking on sand (as in, going to the beach) and all I can think is, Ow nope nope nope not gonna happen, and that thought makes me sad.
I'm trying somewhat successfully not to ruminate on how bad it's going to be and what I won't be able to do, and thus avoid being simultaneously full of both self-pity and self-loathing. I am achieving this partial success by distracting myself with reading and watching things (indie movie The Endless was cool, just started The Hollow Crown series of Shakespeare's political plays). The reading, of course, leads me to still be up at 4:30AM because I no longer have any kind of a regular sleep schedule, and I'm going a bit crazy being stuck here as I am.
Would I be doing different things if I hadn't broken the toe? There are a few things, yes, but the reality is, probably not much different. Most of the time I don't even have a car at my disposal, since we have three cars and three working people in the house now. If my toe weren't broken I would be chauffeuring someone back and forth to work, so I could have a car. As it is, I'm spared the hassle, and dealing with the heat, which has cranked up to its usual AZ horrors. I'm certainly spending less money than I would be if I were out and about as I usually would be, so there's another upside.
Seeing the doctor Monday morning, we'll see what she says. Sleep is hard to come by in my current state, but I'll give it a try.
To recap: a little more than 3 weeks ago I broke my right big toe (in 2 places!) in an unfortunate furniture moving accident. Luckily, I'm off for the summer, so I can sit around all day with my foot up, periodically icing it and praying for it to heal quickly. (I have a long and distinguished record of healing very slowly. )
So, home, and cabin fever is setting in. I went out three times this past week. Last Sunday being out for a while became very painful, but by the end of the week, I could tolerate standing for much longer periods of time. The toe doesn't look very swollen when it's elevated, but when I stand on it for any length of time, it swells up again. This is a bummer because the chief indicator of healing is that the swelling has gone down. I have been so good about staying off of it and keeping it elevated. Why isn't it better? Ah, yes, that long and distinguished history of mine -- plus the reality that broken toes take 6-8 weeks to heal, and it has only been three.
We're heading to the east coast soon, and I am dreading the travel. Practically everything we do back east involves walking around. I'm trying to imagine walking on sand (as in, going to the beach) and all I can think is, Ow nope nope nope not gonna happen, and that thought makes me sad.
I'm trying somewhat successfully not to ruminate on how bad it's going to be and what I won't be able to do, and thus avoid being simultaneously full of both self-pity and self-loathing. I am achieving this partial success by distracting myself with reading and watching things (indie movie The Endless was cool, just started The Hollow Crown series of Shakespeare's political plays). The reading, of course, leads me to still be up at 4:30AM because I no longer have any kind of a regular sleep schedule, and I'm going a bit crazy being stuck here as I am.
Would I be doing different things if I hadn't broken the toe? There are a few things, yes, but the reality is, probably not much different. Most of the time I don't even have a car at my disposal, since we have three cars and three working people in the house now. If my toe weren't broken I would be chauffeuring someone back and forth to work, so I could have a car. As it is, I'm spared the hassle, and dealing with the heat, which has cranked up to its usual AZ horrors. I'm certainly spending less money than I would be if I were out and about as I usually would be, so there's another upside.
Seeing the doctor Monday morning, we'll see what she says. Sleep is hard to come by in my current state, but I'll give it a try.
Saturday, June 23, 2018
what to do when you can't do anything
* Sit on the couch with foot elevated. Ice different parts of the foot/leg many times a day. (Did you know you're not supposed to ice the injured area directly? I was told to ice the top of the foot, and behind my knee, for the standard 20 minutes per hour, no ice directly touching the skin.)
* Watch all of The Crown. (loved it). Read all of Tom and Lorenzo's coverage of The Crown.
* Watch all of Downton Abbey (loved it, but not as much as The Crown -- too many anachronistically happy endings for the 'liberated' female characters.) Read all of Tom and Lorenzo's coverage of Downton Abbey.
* Readthe first four of Brandon Sanderson's six Mistborn books. (So much fun!)
* Fail to keep hips aligned despite best efforts. Deal with resulting piriformis syndrome as effectively as possible while not being able to stand for any length of time.
* Deal with at least 90 minutes of not-sleeping every night because of the impossibility of finding a comfortable way to lie down with the foot still elevated. Grind teeth over the tinnitus that attacks during this, and only this, time: it is impossible to fall asleep when you're listening to your own pulse shush-shush-shushing. It's just loud.
* Sleep ridiculously late because hey, there's no reason I should get up. Feel exhausted all the time, because doing nothing is exhausting.
* Watch all 6 episodes of Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country because DS1 had just started it when I finally wandered downstairs on his day off. (Highly recommended; a totally bizarre little chapter in recent American history, and it left me uncomfortable that some First Amendment rights [among others] were trampled. It wasn't that black-and-white, although the successful poisoning of a small town's population prior to important vote was way beyond the pale.)
* Think about taking up knitting again. Look at approximately 1000 knitting patterns without coming to any kind of decision one way or another. I think I have some yarn somewhere I should use up...
* Recreational online shopping at all the usual haunts, since literally everyone is having huge summer sales. Seriously, they're giving stuff away -- if you can't get a least 50% off, you're not even trying. Look at approximately 2000 pieces of clothing, most hideous, all of it overpriced. Don't buy anything.
* Eventually supervise offspring in restoring order to the house, laying out the new rugs and replacing furniture, etc. It looks lovely!
* Diet: intermittent fasting + very few carbs + limited alcohol = -12 lbs over the last few months. Last school year I managed not to gain, unlike the previous four years. There's something to be said about working for a place where you actually fit in, and where the workload is reasonable. Truth be told, there's some crazy part of me that would like to take off another 10 pounds, but I'll be happy if I can just stay where I am now. It's easy not to eat when all you do is sit around. I don't get hungry, and I've been great with drinking all that water we're all supposed to drink. I have, once again (or is it still?), the sense of recovering from a long illness. Perhaps this is why I'm not inclined to buy any new clothes, since all the old ones fit better now.
* Reframe: This isn't wasted time just because I'm not using it the way I originally thought I would.
* Watch all of The Crown. (loved it). Read all of Tom and Lorenzo's coverage of The Crown.
* Watch all of Downton Abbey (loved it, but not as much as The Crown -- too many anachronistically happy endings for the 'liberated' female characters.) Read all of Tom and Lorenzo's coverage of Downton Abbey.
* Read
* Fail to keep hips aligned despite best efforts. Deal with resulting piriformis syndrome as effectively as possible while not being able to stand for any length of time.
* Deal with at least 90 minutes of not-sleeping every night because of the impossibility of finding a comfortable way to lie down with the foot still elevated. Grind teeth over the tinnitus that attacks during this, and only this, time: it is impossible to fall asleep when you're listening to your own pulse shush-shush-shushing. It's just loud.
* Sleep ridiculously late because hey, there's no reason I should get up. Feel exhausted all the time, because doing nothing is exhausting.
* Watch all 6 episodes of Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country because DS1 had just started it when I finally wandered downstairs on his day off. (Highly recommended; a totally bizarre little chapter in recent American history, and it left me uncomfortable that some First Amendment rights [among others] were trampled. It wasn't that black-and-white, although the successful poisoning of a small town's population prior to important vote was way beyond the pale.)
* Think about taking up knitting again. Look at approximately 1000 knitting patterns without coming to any kind of decision one way or another. I think I have some yarn somewhere I should use up...
* Recreational online shopping at all the usual haunts, since literally everyone is having huge summer sales. Seriously, they're giving stuff away -- if you can't get a least 50% off, you're not even trying. Look at approximately 2000 pieces of clothing, most hideous, all of it overpriced. Don't buy anything.
* Eventually supervise offspring in restoring order to the house, laying out the new rugs and replacing furniture, etc. It looks lovely!
* Diet: intermittent fasting + very few carbs + limited alcohol = -12 lbs over the last few months. Last school year I managed not to gain, unlike the previous four years. There's something to be said about working for a place where you actually fit in, and where the workload is reasonable. Truth be told, there's some crazy part of me that would like to take off another 10 pounds, but I'll be happy if I can just stay where I am now. It's easy not to eat when all you do is sit around. I don't get hungry, and I've been great with drinking all that water we're all supposed to drink. I have, once again (or is it still?), the sense of recovering from a long illness. Perhaps this is why I'm not inclined to buy any new clothes, since all the old ones fit better now.
* Reframe: This isn't wasted time just because I'm not using it the way I originally thought I would.
Friday, June 08, 2018
ow
Morning: I may have broken my right big toe. It's possible it's just badly bruised, but I won't find out until later when I go to the doctor to get it checked out.
Foot injuries are the worst.
Night: Yeah, its' broken.
What happened? Basically, late hour + a few glasses of wine + bare feet + moving furniture = bad idea. But I bet you knew that already.
We're updating the flooring in the remaining downstairs room to match what we put everywhere else last summer, and the guys came to start the installation came today -- so that meant moving all the stuff out of those spaces: guest room, closet, family room. There's stuff stacked everywhere, and I'd moved just about everything except the last few big pieces from the family room because DD and I wanted to finish watching the Pride and Prejudice mini-series after dinner.
No big deal, just should've left the wine in the kitchen... anyway, DD and I were moving one of the desks and our communication wasn't the best, she was pushing and I was pulling... it had kind of sunk into the area rug and didn't want to move, until it did, right into my right big toe. It hurt quite a bit, but I limped around on it and helped finish up with the room.
So then the pain wakes me up at 5:30, and it's this lovely purple color. I call the BCBS nurse on call for an opinion, and she says, you don't need the ER, but do see your doctor. So I got an appointment with my doctor after lunch, and he sends me for an x-ray, "stat" reading ordered. That was actually pretty cool, because about 20 minutes after I got home they called me to tell me, yes, it's broken, and please stay off it ("Do you have crutches?") and refer me to a podiatrist.
So then the afternoon was calling around to those doctors to see if anyone could work me in, but of course not, because it's FRIDAY and they all close early. Specialists! I decided not to go to urgent care mostly because I'm too cheap (the copay is like $250!) and I'll get in to see a doctor on Monday.
I'm not dying, but it isn't any fun, that's for sure. The real bummer is that I was planning on going to Boston tomorrow to hang out with my sisters and my Massachusetts friends whom I have not seen in like 3 years... canceled. The thought of being in an airport with this injury is frankly terrifying. I picked DS1 up at work this evening and just driving there and back -- about 30 minutes total -- wiped me out. Then again, having been up since 5:30AM probably contributed to the exhaustion. Driving is... interesting. Possible, and not painful if I pay attention, but I'm also kind of scared of moving my foot the wrong way. So, kind of like torture.
Other bummer things: I'll be fairly useless in putting the house back together when the floors are done (with any luck they will finish tomorrow). Grocery shopping? Hmmm not the best idea. I don't know how long it will take to feel better, but it will probably be at least a few weeks... and I'm hoping I'll be better by the time we head to Connecticut, because it would be a bummer if I can't hike while we are there. We also wanted to take at least one day trip to Mt. Lemmon this summer, but that's going to have to wait, as well. I'm hoping I can still tackle my next summer project without too much bother: painting DS2's room.
I'm not on crutches and won't be if I have anything to say about it. The vast majority of the foot is fine, so I can walk without hurting the toe. I just have to be careful about it, so I'm slow, but that's not so bad. And I need to mostly keep it up, and not stand around or walk too much, but so far that's do-able. I usually heal really slowly, but thankfully it's summer so I can take it easy, and perhaps that will help with a speedy recovery.
Foot injuries really are the worst.
Foot injuries are the worst.
Night: Yeah, its' broken.
What happened? Basically, late hour + a few glasses of wine + bare feet + moving furniture = bad idea. But I bet you knew that already.
We're updating the flooring in the remaining downstairs room to match what we put everywhere else last summer, and the guys came to start the installation came today -- so that meant moving all the stuff out of those spaces: guest room, closet, family room. There's stuff stacked everywhere, and I'd moved just about everything except the last few big pieces from the family room because DD and I wanted to finish watching the Pride and Prejudice mini-series after dinner.
No big deal, just should've left the wine in the kitchen... anyway, DD and I were moving one of the desks and our communication wasn't the best, she was pushing and I was pulling... it had kind of sunk into the area rug and didn't want to move, until it did, right into my right big toe. It hurt quite a bit, but I limped around on it and helped finish up with the room.
So then the pain wakes me up at 5:30, and it's this lovely purple color. I call the BCBS nurse on call for an opinion, and she says, you don't need the ER, but do see your doctor. So I got an appointment with my doctor after lunch, and he sends me for an x-ray, "stat" reading ordered. That was actually pretty cool, because about 20 minutes after I got home they called me to tell me, yes, it's broken, and please stay off it ("Do you have crutches?") and refer me to a podiatrist.
So then the afternoon was calling around to those doctors to see if anyone could work me in, but of course not, because it's FRIDAY and they all close early. Specialists! I decided not to go to urgent care mostly because I'm too cheap (the copay is like $250!) and I'll get in to see a doctor on Monday.
I'm not dying, but it isn't any fun, that's for sure. The real bummer is that I was planning on going to Boston tomorrow to hang out with my sisters and my Massachusetts friends whom I have not seen in like 3 years... canceled. The thought of being in an airport with this injury is frankly terrifying. I picked DS1 up at work this evening and just driving there and back -- about 30 minutes total -- wiped me out. Then again, having been up since 5:30AM probably contributed to the exhaustion. Driving is... interesting. Possible, and not painful if I pay attention, but I'm also kind of scared of moving my foot the wrong way. So, kind of like torture.
Other bummer things: I'll be fairly useless in putting the house back together when the floors are done (with any luck they will finish tomorrow). Grocery shopping? Hmmm not the best idea. I don't know how long it will take to feel better, but it will probably be at least a few weeks... and I'm hoping I'll be better by the time we head to Connecticut, because it would be a bummer if I can't hike while we are there. We also wanted to take at least one day trip to Mt. Lemmon this summer, but that's going to have to wait, as well. I'm hoping I can still tackle my next summer project without too much bother: painting DS2's room.
I'm not on crutches and won't be if I have anything to say about it. The vast majority of the foot is fine, so I can walk without hurting the toe. I just have to be careful about it, so I'm slow, but that's not so bad. And I need to mostly keep it up, and not stand around or walk too much, but so far that's do-able. I usually heal really slowly, but thankfully it's summer so I can take it easy, and perhaps that will help with a speedy recovery.
Foot injuries really are the worst.
Saturday, June 02, 2018
truly summer
Started Thursday. No grad school classes, no job search, just... time off.
So of course I'm bouncing around at loose ends, more or less, getting things done that I've been putting off, and enjoying sleeping a little bit later. Somehow I'm still awake by 7:30 most mornings! I know that's not early for a lot of people, but when you literally have no reason to get out of bed, it seems kind of silly.
So my job for the summer is feeding my family, and arranging (if not providing) transportation for all the offspring. DS2 has a senior thesis summer camp the next two weeks, and DS1 is starting his first-ever job. DD? She has a job for the summer at one of the big box home improvement stores and is loving every minute. She likes having something to do, and the income.
Last week, I fixed the laser printer that we haven't been able to use for months and... not much else. Well, I had work on Tuesday (I gave a presentation on the new science standards to my colleagues), and Wednesday (fantastic session on Theology of the Body). So I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself for not accomplishing much.
But I am dedicated to having very good food at home this summer, because eating out has become so very expensive, and, well, we can almost always do just as well if not better at home. OK, not for sushi... DD and I went to the farmer's market today and came home with an intoxicating collection of fresh produce for this week's menu.
I have medical appointments on Monday, but then after that, I'll get started on painting DS2's room (at least the taping). Plus, scheduling the final flooring installation... those are the 2 big projects for the summer, but who knows what mischief I could get into, if I find myself at loose ends?
So of course I'm bouncing around at loose ends, more or less, getting things done that I've been putting off, and enjoying sleeping a little bit later. Somehow I'm still awake by 7:30 most mornings! I know that's not early for a lot of people, but when you literally have no reason to get out of bed, it seems kind of silly.
So my job for the summer is feeding my family, and arranging (if not providing) transportation for all the offspring. DS2 has a senior thesis summer camp the next two weeks, and DS1 is starting his first-ever job. DD? She has a job for the summer at one of the big box home improvement stores and is loving every minute. She likes having something to do, and the income.
Last week, I fixed the laser printer that we haven't been able to use for months and... not much else. Well, I had work on Tuesday (I gave a presentation on the new science standards to my colleagues), and Wednesday (fantastic session on Theology of the Body). So I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself for not accomplishing much.
But I am dedicated to having very good food at home this summer, because eating out has become so very expensive, and, well, we can almost always do just as well if not better at home. OK, not for sushi... DD and I went to the farmer's market today and came home with an intoxicating collection of fresh produce for this week's menu.
I have medical appointments on Monday, but then after that, I'll get started on painting DS2's room (at least the taping). Plus, scheduling the final flooring installation... those are the 2 big projects for the summer, but who knows what mischief I could get into, if I find myself at loose ends?
Monday, April 30, 2018
I read a book.
Well, a PDF of a book. It's not that shocking, really. I did the same thing a few weeks ago, reading 1984 over a day and a half, because DS2 had recently read it and may be using it in his senior thesis. That book is even more grim than I remembered, and not exactly a fun read.
Yesterday, I read Treasure Island, somewhat unbelievably, given my wide reading habits, for the first time. This was occasioned by our 8th grade being on a multi-day trip to Washington D.C., their teachers being gone with them -- and me teaching language arts to the 7th graders while they're gone. They're just finishing up TI, so I thought I should read it so I could, you know, actually answer some of their questions.
Anyway: I loved it, as unlikely as it was. It's the kind of story you just go with, because it all happens at such a breathless pace in gorgeous old-fashioned prose. Perhaps the thing I loved the best is the clear lineage from TI to Pirates of the Caribbean. I maintain that the PotC The Curse of the Black Pearl is one of the most perfect adventure movies ever made, and I still enjoy it when I catch it from time to time.
By way of giving the substitute language arts teacher a break, the students have been watching the old Disney movie version of TI and I am 100% sure that Geoffrey Rush, who played Capt. Barbossa in PotC, based his performance on Robert Newton's Long John Silver. His voice is uncannily similar. Of course, the whole Capt. Sparrow as "pirate, and a good man" conundrum has its origin in the character of Long John Silver, who is clearly a pirate, but also, when possible, and sometimes even when it's not very convenient -- a good man.
I only saw half the movie, since I'm switching off classes with the other 7th grade homeroom teacher, and so today taught social studies (the Kansas-Nebraska Act!). I may just borrow the DVD later this week to watch the rest of movie, just to see how they treated the material. Huge chunks of dialog come straight from the book, the film's Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) looks entirely too young and soft to pull off even half of Jim's exploits from the novel. Skimming the plot summary just now, though -- I don't think I'll bother. Silver making off with the treasure in a skiff? Bah.
Yesterday, I read Treasure Island, somewhat unbelievably, given my wide reading habits, for the first time. This was occasioned by our 8th grade being on a multi-day trip to Washington D.C., their teachers being gone with them -- and me teaching language arts to the 7th graders while they're gone. They're just finishing up TI, so I thought I should read it so I could, you know, actually answer some of their questions.
Anyway: I loved it, as unlikely as it was. It's the kind of story you just go with, because it all happens at such a breathless pace in gorgeous old-fashioned prose. Perhaps the thing I loved the best is the clear lineage from TI to Pirates of the Caribbean. I maintain that the PotC The Curse of the Black Pearl is one of the most perfect adventure movies ever made, and I still enjoy it when I catch it from time to time.
By way of giving the substitute language arts teacher a break, the students have been watching the old Disney movie version of TI and I am 100% sure that Geoffrey Rush, who played Capt. Barbossa in PotC, based his performance on Robert Newton's Long John Silver. His voice is uncannily similar. Of course, the whole Capt. Sparrow as "pirate, and a good man" conundrum has its origin in the character of Long John Silver, who is clearly a pirate, but also, when possible, and sometimes even when it's not very convenient -- a good man.
I only saw half the movie, since I'm switching off classes with the other 7th grade homeroom teacher, and so today taught social studies (the Kansas-Nebraska Act!). I may just borrow the DVD later this week to watch the rest of movie, just to see how they treated the material. Huge chunks of dialog come straight from the book, the film's Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) looks entirely too young and soft to pull off even half of Jim's exploits from the novel. Skimming the plot summary just now, though -- I don't think I'll bother. Silver making off with the treasure in a skiff? Bah.
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
there, and back!
I'm exhausted and sun burnt, but very happy with how things went.
Mt. Lemmon is absolutely gorgeous! In my jeans and hiking boots, with my layered shirts and sweatshirt, traipsing about in Nature at 9000 feet elevation, I was in my happy place. I almost feel as if I've missed my calling...
Not my photo -- I didn't have time to take any of decent quality -- this is just part of the mountain road, near Hoodoo Vista [elevation ~6600 feet], an absolute stunning array of geology in action. The woods were just as spectacular. (Also not my photo, but we did walk through forest like this at Middle Bear, elevation ~5000(?) feet, and again at the summit, ~9000 feet.)
The students were great, the chaperones super helpful, the staff wonderfully knowledgeable, kind, and enthusiastic. The bus driver was heroic (would you want to drive a tour bus up there?!). The only slight disappointment were the cloud cover and extreme winds last night, but we still got a telescope demonstration which was very cool.
Perhaps the only significant downside to all this is that I didn't sleep well at all, and am thoroughly exhausted now even more than usual. Post-hike exhaustion is very similar to the excellently-tired feeling I get after being at the beach all day, maybe that's just the sun burn. The only real down side now is that I don't want to go back to work tomorrow!
Mt. Lemmon is absolutely gorgeous! In my jeans and hiking boots, with my layered shirts and sweatshirt, traipsing about in Nature at 9000 feet elevation, I was in my happy place. I almost feel as if I've missed my calling...
Not my photo -- I didn't have time to take any of decent quality -- this is just part of the mountain road, near Hoodoo Vista [elevation ~6600 feet], an absolute stunning array of geology in action. The woods were just as spectacular. (Also not my photo, but we did walk through forest like this at Middle Bear, elevation ~5000(?) feet, and again at the summit, ~9000 feet.)
The students were great, the chaperones super helpful, the staff wonderfully knowledgeable, kind, and enthusiastic. The bus driver was heroic (would you want to drive a tour bus up there?!). The only slight disappointment were the cloud cover and extreme winds last night, but we still got a telescope demonstration which was very cool.
Perhaps the only significant downside to all this is that I didn't sleep well at all, and am thoroughly exhausted now even more than usual. Post-hike exhaustion is very similar to the excellently-tired feeling I get after being at the beach all day, maybe that's just the sun burn. The only real down side now is that I don't want to go back to work tomorrow!
Sunday, April 15, 2018
field trip eve...
I woke up at 4:30 this morning, my brain already going 100 miles an hour. Lots of little things to do to pull this whole thing off.
40 students, 15 chaperones, 7 inquiry groups, 16 dorm rooms...
I think we're all set, although I do have paperwork still pending for one student that was a late addition (today!). Amazingly enough, by the end of Wednesday, everyone had paid, and by Friday morning, I had all the paperwork, too. There was quite a bit of that.
Yesterday was preparing the material the 8th grade needs for Monday and Tuesday. Today was administering the pre-program survey (put it online, then emailed it to the students), finding and typing up prayers for the trip, sending reminder emails to the chaperones -- only half of them read it -- and then everyone else who is coming, and about then is when I got the "Hey, can we make this work?" message. So we did, which of course made extra work.
Then to school, to print everything that needed printing, then shopping for water and snacks with a colleague. Then driving around looking for name tags and a new expandable file, and ended up getting both at Staples. Then home to wrestle Word into mail-merging the name tags so they'd have the student's group numbers and dorm rooms on them: best way to avoid having to repeat the information ad infinitum (I hope).
Anyway: still have to do my own paperwork (oops), pack, make a lunch for tomorrow, obsess over every detail yet again, and hopefully get some sleep before this thing kicks off.
No chance of rain in the forecast, but it's supposed to be cloudy. It would be disappointing to be at an observatory without getting a chance to use the big telescopes! I'm not giving up hope, though. We'll see!
St. Albert the Great - St. Francis of Assisi - St. Bernard - St. Dominic pray for me!
(patrons saints of science, environmentalists, mountain climbers, astronomers)
40 students, 15 chaperones, 7 inquiry groups, 16 dorm rooms...
I think we're all set, although I do have paperwork still pending for one student that was a late addition (today!). Amazingly enough, by the end of Wednesday, everyone had paid, and by Friday morning, I had all the paperwork, too. There was quite a bit of that.
Yesterday was preparing the material the 8th grade needs for Monday and Tuesday. Today was administering the pre-program survey (put it online, then emailed it to the students), finding and typing up prayers for the trip, sending reminder emails to the chaperones -- only half of them read it -- and then everyone else who is coming, and about then is when I got the "Hey, can we make this work?" message. So we did, which of course made extra work.
Then to school, to print everything that needed printing, then shopping for water and snacks with a colleague. Then driving around looking for name tags and a new expandable file, and ended up getting both at Staples. Then home to wrestle Word into mail-merging the name tags so they'd have the student's group numbers and dorm rooms on them: best way to avoid having to repeat the information ad infinitum (I hope).
Anyway: still have to do my own paperwork (oops), pack, make a lunch for tomorrow, obsess over every detail yet again, and hopefully get some sleep before this thing kicks off.
No chance of rain in the forecast, but it's supposed to be cloudy. It would be disappointing to be at an observatory without getting a chance to use the big telescopes! I'm not giving up hope, though. We'll see!
St. Albert the Great - St. Francis of Assisi - St. Bernard - St. Dominic pray for me!
(patrons saints of science, environmentalists, mountain climbers, astronomers)
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Holy Week
Last Friday, the last Friday of Lent, was my first science symposium (our version of a science fair) at my new school. It was remarkable for many reasons, but mainly for the fact that the students actually enjoyed doing it. We had some technology issues, sure, but overall, the process worked well. Since we had the time, all the students presented to the class, and then to the younger students during the day. In the evening, their parents came. I had to send them all home at 8 o'clock, but I was home by 8:15. I think I put away a single folding chair -- parents and students put all the tables away in no time flat. It seemed a little unreal at the time, because it was a very long day, starting with getting everything set up in the early hours before our regular Friday morning mass, through school hours and then a staff meeting and then grading all the display boards before the parents came in the evening. Somehow it all worked.
But now that it's over, I have to switch gears quickly to planning my 7th grade field trip. We had scheduled a parent meeting for Monday, so another thing I had to do last week was nail down our transportation so we could figure out how much money we needed to collect from the students to cover costs. I sent all the information over last week, and still hadn't heard back on Monday, so I sent a "hey, we need a quote!" email, and got back, "Oh, we decided not to do it" -- about 3 hours before the meeting! Scrambling ensued, the other bus company we work with was contacted, and they were great, and we had a very reasonable quote within an hour. *whew*
That left me enough time to go home, put together some dinner for the boys, and then sit down and put together a power point for the parent meeting. Back at school, I notice my computer is off (weird!) and turn it on again, when suddenly the lights go out, and the emergency lights come up, and that's how we ran the meeting. I mean, it was funny, because mine was the only building with no power, but the parents were all in there, and no one wanted to move. It was probably a net benefit, because we moved things along pretty quickly -- we had 3 different topics to cover and we still wrapped up in just over an hour. The parents seem happy about the field trip (UA SkySchool) and I have a lot of parent chaperones already signed up. So, even though we were literally in the dark, the meeting went well.
Tuesday morning: still no power! I brought my morning classes to the computer lab so they could see the presentation and videos I had planned for them, and by lunch time the power was back on. The rest of the day went OK until I started cleaning out the refrigerator while I was prepping dinner, when I clogged the garbage disposal. I've done this a few times in the past and I do know how to run a disposal. It cleared a couple of hours later, and fortunately we have a double sink, but it was just gross for the entire time I was prepping dinner.
Wednesday, my long day: no problems, really, until the end of the day, when I found out that a weird thing that happened in the morning was more concerning than I thought. I had stepped out for a few seconds to grab something off the printer next door, and came back to find one of my students standing at the front of the classroom. I got a laugh in response to my "What are you doing out of your seat?" question, but I shrugged it off since we were heading down to the science lab to see how far we could drop our shell-less eggs before they'd break (not that far, of course!). It turns out that the student had done a cartwheel - and whacked her leg on a desk or chair on her way back down. Another teacher noticed the bruise and asked about it, and found out how she got it. My heart just dropped when I heard what had happened. I feel very lucky that the student wasn't seriously hurt! I ended up pulling her out of class and then calling her mother to let her know what happened. Fortunately her mother was very supportive, and she apologized to me about it very thoroughly, but still, it was very upsetting.
Home, finally: a huge pile of grading to do, but I'm exhausted. DS2's piano is going... better (I don't believe I've mentioned here that his original piano teacher fired him, seemingly out of nowhere but actually quite justified, last month) but his lessons with the new teacher are back to a later hour, and we don't get home until 8:30 the earliest.
So I'm exhausted and writing this instead of grading. Last week was intense with all the student presentations and the symposium, but I didn't feel stressed. This week I feel I've lurched from one crisis to another, but nothing's actually been that upsetting. I thought, this afternoon, I would be totally justified in feeling overwhelmed and crying over all the stuff that's happened this week, except I don't feel overwhelmed. Maybe I finally am growing up, or maybe all my extra prayers are reprogramming my brain towards peace, because all these problems pop up but then they get resolved, and no one needs to freak out about anything. There's a lot to be said for learning how to be flexible, and I'm getting a lot of practice at it this year.
Tomorrow we have a half-day, and then, finally, blessedly, no school on Good Friday, and all of next week off for our very delayed spring break! (Between now and Sunday: house cleaning, picking up the two college students, shopping for Easter dinner, baking [something - lemon squares?], brining the turkey, etc etc)
After break? Only 6 more weeks of school! It's going to fly.
But now that it's over, I have to switch gears quickly to planning my 7th grade field trip. We had scheduled a parent meeting for Monday, so another thing I had to do last week was nail down our transportation so we could figure out how much money we needed to collect from the students to cover costs. I sent all the information over last week, and still hadn't heard back on Monday, so I sent a "hey, we need a quote!" email, and got back, "Oh, we decided not to do it" -- about 3 hours before the meeting! Scrambling ensued, the other bus company we work with was contacted, and they were great, and we had a very reasonable quote within an hour. *whew*
That left me enough time to go home, put together some dinner for the boys, and then sit down and put together a power point for the parent meeting. Back at school, I notice my computer is off (weird!) and turn it on again, when suddenly the lights go out, and the emergency lights come up, and that's how we ran the meeting. I mean, it was funny, because mine was the only building with no power, but the parents were all in there, and no one wanted to move. It was probably a net benefit, because we moved things along pretty quickly -- we had 3 different topics to cover and we still wrapped up in just over an hour. The parents seem happy about the field trip (UA SkySchool) and I have a lot of parent chaperones already signed up. So, even though we were literally in the dark, the meeting went well.
Tuesday morning: still no power! I brought my morning classes to the computer lab so they could see the presentation and videos I had planned for them, and by lunch time the power was back on. The rest of the day went OK until I started cleaning out the refrigerator while I was prepping dinner, when I clogged the garbage disposal. I've done this a few times in the past and I do know how to run a disposal. It cleared a couple of hours later, and fortunately we have a double sink, but it was just gross for the entire time I was prepping dinner.
Wednesday, my long day: no problems, really, until the end of the day, when I found out that a weird thing that happened in the morning was more concerning than I thought. I had stepped out for a few seconds to grab something off the printer next door, and came back to find one of my students standing at the front of the classroom. I got a laugh in response to my "What are you doing out of your seat?" question, but I shrugged it off since we were heading down to the science lab to see how far we could drop our shell-less eggs before they'd break (not that far, of course!). It turns out that the student had done a cartwheel - and whacked her leg on a desk or chair on her way back down. Another teacher noticed the bruise and asked about it, and found out how she got it. My heart just dropped when I heard what had happened. I feel very lucky that the student wasn't seriously hurt! I ended up pulling her out of class and then calling her mother to let her know what happened. Fortunately her mother was very supportive, and she apologized to me about it very thoroughly, but still, it was very upsetting.
Home, finally: a huge pile of grading to do, but I'm exhausted. DS2's piano is going... better (I don't believe I've mentioned here that his original piano teacher fired him, seemingly out of nowhere but actually quite justified, last month) but his lessons with the new teacher are back to a later hour, and we don't get home until 8:30 the earliest.
So I'm exhausted and writing this instead of grading. Last week was intense with all the student presentations and the symposium, but I didn't feel stressed. This week I feel I've lurched from one crisis to another, but nothing's actually been that upsetting. I thought, this afternoon, I would be totally justified in feeling overwhelmed and crying over all the stuff that's happened this week, except I don't feel overwhelmed. Maybe I finally am growing up, or maybe all my extra prayers are reprogramming my brain towards peace, because all these problems pop up but then they get resolved, and no one needs to freak out about anything. There's a lot to be said for learning how to be flexible, and I'm getting a lot of practice at it this year.
Tomorrow we have a half-day, and then, finally, blessedly, no school on Good Friday, and all of next week off for our very delayed spring break! (Between now and Sunday: house cleaning, picking up the two college students, shopping for Easter dinner, baking [something - lemon squares?], brining the turkey, etc etc)
After break? Only 6 more weeks of school! It's going to fly.
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