From carefree to crazy...

I will say this right up front...I've got a code in my node and the brain is quite foggy. I'm gonna bellyache for a minute, so if you care to indulge me further then read on. Today gave new meaning to the word running on empty. My workplace doesn't have their sublist compiled yet, so I can't call in sick yet. Would be a disaster anyway as I'm not ready to try and explain my haphazard system to another person. As I've previously described, I am currently a nomadic teacher until the everlasting construction is complete. We were told this week that it will be at least October at the earliest before we can get our classrooms back. We were originally told it would be a 2 week setback that is slowly turning into a 2 month one. You can probably sense the sigh of frustration we had.

Our English dept. has tried to go be flexible (not much choice) and accommodating, but the situation is starting to take a toll on all of us. Our nerves are beginning to fray. There are four of us who teach out of a rolling suitcase and share a space for our stuff (that doubles as a classroom twice a day). When it comes to trying to organize our stuff, it is a nightmare process. The fact that the school has no first grade curriculum or books to use for the little ones only further complicates things. The school somehow misplaced or never ordered many necessary supplies, so we are muddling through so to speak the best we can. I wanted to get out of work early, but ended up staying late to get things ready for Monday. Two parents wanted impromptu conferences and the copy machine broke. Grrrr. I brought home a ton of things to work on over the weekend to try and get caught up (say a little prayer for me on that).

None of us can afford to just go out and buy everything we need. It's still a great place to work, but these two issues are making it really challenging. I found myself reminiscing about summertime on the commute home. I got to thinking about how carefree I felt. Maybe it's the sunshine or the freedom that summer provides, but I feel inclined to let my inner free spirit out. The kids had lots of activities going on, but we often just did things on a whim and truly enjoyed our time together. I sorely miss that, but have next summer to look forward to. During the school year, I become very stressed out and overwhelmed by the tremendous workload and loss of time with my family. I have faith that things will calm down and everything will eventually fall into place, it's just surviving the interim that is testing my limits.

After a very long day on my feet, my kids reminded me tonight that the family picnic at school was going on. Before I took a breath, I made some PB and J sandwiches and headed off to for some quality time with the kids. We stayed til dark and they enjoyed themselves. They got to feast on goodies, play with some friends, and each brought home balloon creatures (N had an alien antennae and K had fairy wings). I was able to reconnect with some old teacher friends and ate a little cotton candy (that stuff is so sugary!). When we finally got home at 8:00, I ate some dinner and gave K her bath. Then I finally collapsed in my chair and called it a day. I can feel this cold taking over and a kleenex is in order, so I'm gonna sign off for now.

For those in the know, please say a prayer for my best friend, Shelley, who lives in the path of Hurricane Ike. Here's hoping the rain and the winds die down soon.