Well I'm nearing the end of the first week of school with students. It's been a long week just adjusting to being on my feet for so long. With the budget cuts we also only get a prep period every other day which means 30 minutes for lunch and that's it on no prep days. 7am-3pm is contract but most stay till 4 and take home a pile of papers to grade. Copies and lesson planning and student intervention, etc. use up the prep we do have so there's just no way to avoid doing all the grading at home this year. Unlike a "business" we don't have fluctuating customers. They're built in. It's rush hour at McDonalds every period. Just trying to give apples to apples here. People say, "lots of people work their 8 hours with only one 30 min. break for lunch. First of all, I worked in the corporate world and we also had 15 min. breaks every 2-3 hours and we did not have non-stop customers.
Okay, so it was a long week, but I like my students and am excited to see them grow academically and socially this year. I also like the group of teachers I am stationed with. We're using military language now as we feel like we're in a war for our profession and public education in general. Our English wing is loaded with excellent, quality teachers. I'm very excited about that. So many perspectives to glean from as we collaborate.
On a personal note, this week has brought many family blessings. On Monday we went to Jeremy and Stacy's house for Family Home Evening and it was so touching and wonderful to listen to Jeremy's lesson about baptism and to listen to the children's answers. It also brought back so many memories watching him give his children their father's blessings for the school year. Then Greg gave Jeremy a father's blessing for his new school year (college) too. It was all so special.
Then the next morning Jason and Anne finally welcomed baby Abbi to the family. And what a delivery story! I won't share it because I know Anne will want to. It's funny now-- but it wasn't at the time. Abbi is the spitting image of her sister, Maddi, at that age, but chubbier if that's possible. Because she came out so fast, she did get some fluid in her lungs and has had to stay extra days now as they clear her lungs and try to get them strong enough to breath on their own. They tried taking her off oxygen today and she made it a while, then had to be put back on. Please keep her in your prayers. Despite having problems breathing, she's actually a very strong baby and even the nurses commented on how strong she is so we know she will fight through this. Anne is recovering as well and looked much better yesterday. It was so adorable to watch Maddi touch the glass and try to kiss it to give her sister kisses. She knows it's her sister and already loves her so much. It's so touching.
Tonight I babysat my daughter's boys-- chubby and Rellie-- so she could do her coupon class so I decided to get the school shopping out of the way and let the cousins get together. So, I went and picked up Jeremy's older kids and headed out to get the rest of the school shopping done. Boy the looks I got in the store with all 5 in tow. I know how Stacy and Jeremy must feel! When I got to the cash register the lady was acting like they were my children instead of my grandchildren. REally?! So they're all ready to roll for school and I got my exercise for the day. Between that and the no prep day my back and legs are calling for it to be an early night. Too many late nights this week. So... I'm headed to bed. Grateful for my children and for my grandchildren. Grateful for family.
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