Envision and Enlighten

It's been a busy week and there are no signs of it letting up, at least not until I have my classroom ready. I've been going in for a few hours each day to get things up and running. It's slowly starting to take shape. I have a hard time decorating and arranging things alone, because I value a second opinion and an extra set of hands. It's hard to picture things. When I took my kids with me yesterday, suddenly I could envision the set up better. Not sure why their presence mattered, but it certainly helped. I'm taking them with me again today in hopes that they'll provide additional inspiration. They only stay entertained for so long, so that alone motivates me to keep moving and work faster to avoid boredom for them. This is my last chance to take 'em with me, so I want to take advantage. I'm gonna take a before and after picture for posterity.

Yesterday was particularly draining, both physically and mentally. I invited a good friend over for lunch and we had a heart-t-heart about some things she's been going through. She recently separated from her husband and needed some support, so hopefully I provided that for her. It was actually a very enlightening conversation that we had because I could finally see where she was coming from. After that, I took the kids with me to work on my classroom. Then we went to the grocery store and my phone rang while I was shopping. It was the husband of my good friend and he needed someone to support him as well. I was balancing shopping and talking and the kids throughout the call. After awhile, it dawned on me that I was into my airtime minutes on my cell and had to end the call. When I checked, I had gone over my monthly allotment by 50 some minutes. By the time we got home from everything, I was thoroughly exhausted and my feet were quite sore. However, I felt as though a lot had been accomplished.

I am hopeful to make some real progress with my classroom and even the house chores so that I can feel good going into the weekend that things are getting done. We are gonna be gone tomorrow (Saturday) as we are driving to Multnomah Falls to spend time with some good friends. We've all been dying to get outta dodge before summer's end. We had a group camping trip planned, but that didn't transpire for many reasons. So this'll be a great day for all of us to get out and enjoy a picnic lunch in a really scenic setting before the daily grind of school kicks in. We're gonna go over to our friends' house afterwards to hang out and have dinner. The dogs will even get a playdate, so everyone's happy.