"Moving on Up" ... to the High School!

Hello, everyone! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day. I can't believe that it's June 30th already. Time with a toddler goes so fast!

I know I've been sparatic at posting on both this site and the other ones I have, but I have made a summer resolution to set aside weekly blog time (at least until school resumes) so I hope to write more over the next couple of months.

As many of you know, I am not only a mother of the greatest toddler in the world (who's biased?) I am also a teacher.  Last spring I had the opportunity to move up from teaching 8th grade Language Arts at the junior high school to teaching English 9, Speech, and Theatre in the high school.  I accepted the offer and am currently embracing the change.  Although I taught 8th graders for my entire professional career (6 years) and MOST of my methods/student teaching, I have always wanted to teach high school, and since there was an opening and an offer, I took it. I figured although the change will be a challenge, it will be much easier than trying to change after 10-15 years or more of experience. 

So now I am in the process of moving/organizing/and planning for my new job.  It always blows my mind that some teachers get hired at their job the week before school starts.  How can they even PREPARE?  And to think some teachers who have already HAD their jobs don't even go back to work in the fall until a day or two before the new year. How do they do it?  It takes me so long to prepare all of my materials, lessons, and just CLEAN!  (It's shocking how dirty a classroom can get.)

Luckily I have the summer to get ready for the big change.  Even more lucky for me, my sitter is available to watch my son most days.  Therefore, since school ended in May, I have spent 12 1/2 days (over 1/2 of my summer vacation so far) working on moving, organizing, purging former materials I no longer need, and decorating my new classroom.  I'm still not even COMPLETELY done (and I promise I work HARD when I'm there), but I am 99% there so I'm feeling pretty good about it.  Yesterday my babysitter and her family left for their vacation in Massachusetts, so I won't be going back to school until July 11th. At that point I will be in full planning mode, because I will only have three weeks of available babysitting until my sitter leaves again for a two week vacation.  After she returns I will have TWO WEEK DAYS until I start at the high school. 2 DAYS!?!?!?! Wow.... when I talk like that it makes the summer seem over in a blink.

As I'm sitting here typing all of this, thinking that you are wondering why I am so focused on the days remaining until my first year of teaching high school, I ask myself the same thing.  I have no reason to feel pressured this year.  I really don't even HAVE to go to work AT ALL in the summer. That's the bonus (and reason for many people) of teaching. So why can't I just do the work at home?  Ummmm.... that question is silly.  I can't bring all of my stuff home and if I could I wouldn't b/c I HAVE A TODDLER!  This is code for "can't get anything done".

So why do I work when I could be at home playing with my fantastic little 19 month old man? Well, I'll tell ya. It's a heck of a lot easier getting the work done for school BEFORE school starts.  When the school year is in session, it's like I am pulling teeth to survive the day-to-day life of being a teacher-mom.  I'm not saying that there aren't harder jobs out there (including stay-at-home motherhood), it's just that teaching is TOUGH with a toddler.  I have to bring work home every night, but I find myself unable to complete most of it. 

I get this feeling of "running in place" during the school year.  It's enough just to get food on the table and bath time.  And I only have ONE kid!!!  I don't know how single parents do it.  I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who works way too much, but is so helpful here when he is at home. 

I've put a lot of thought into this, and I have come to the conclusion that one of the HARDEST jobs in the world is that of a single-parent teacher. Maybe that should be the next reality t.v. show.  Hey, maybe I can present the idea to a major network and then make a million dollars.

Which leads us to another topic... would I still work if I had a million dollars???

That one's for another day.  Naptime is nearly over. :)

FRUSTRATED

I'm so frustrated that I want to gauge my eyeballs out. I know that's a bit intense, but that's how I feel.

Currently my frustration is coming from Blogger Droid. However, I will admit that I'm probably taking OUT my frustration on this app for my phone. Granted, it rarely works for me and it never posts pictures when I want it to, but it still worked for me twice earlier tonight... so that was good.

I got a letter from my gym saying that due to the economy, they are closing "this location" down. If they are seriously closing.

OK, I have far too much to do to lament the potential loss of my gym right now. Good night.

I'm Getting Stronger

It wasn't so bad after all. It was actually kind of fun! ;-)

The 30 Day Shred - Level 2

I'm scared to death to start Level 2 Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, because I have no idea what is in store for me. I know I have to do it, but the fear of the unknown is killing me. How is Jillian going to push me around this time?  I don't know, but I need to get cracking on my workout.  This working out every day for Lent is an extremely hard challenge. I need to do a ton of other things tonight, but I made a promise to God.

OK, I'm off to workout! I can practically hear Jillian screaming my name from the basement. Wish me luck!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Blogger Droid Problems

I have been trying to post some pics from my 30th Birthday via my Droid, and it is not working. Now it's getting too late and I have wasted a good amount of time on this. Arggggg! Blogger for Droid has only ever worked for me ONE TIME... and that was the time I posted that "trial" on this blog. I feel as though there should be a MUCH better application for Blogger, and may I add that they spell the word separated wrong on the application. It is spelled "seperated". There is A RAT in the middle of that word. Memorize it!

Lenten Promise - 40 Days of Working Out

Despite the fact that I am not Catholic, I have given something up every year for Lent since high school. Now, I wasn't the Christian that I am today back then -- I just knew I needed to stop eating french fries from the a la carte line.  Trust me, it was a tough forty days.  And let me tell you what, I have given up french fries for Lent a number of times since that first year.  I even gave them up when I was pregnant with William, super sick every day and the only thing that sounded good were McD's golden grease sticks. There was also a year I gave up chocolate, which didn't seem super difficult b/c I didn't eat it that often... but my bday always falls during Lent and every good ice cream flavor has chocolate! I stayed strong, but it was REALLY REALLY hard to do.

Understanding that the idea of Lent is to make a sacrifice, this year I have decided to add ON a task instead of remove one. I have decided to work out ... even if it's just a little ... every single day for forty days. 

Here are the reasons for my decision:
1. As of now I am still technically registered for the Glass City 1/2 Marathon, and I am bound and determined to run, walk, or crawl all 13.1 miles.
2. I STILL need to lose a lot of baby weight. I would really like to be in good shape before we even consider having another baby.
3. I really do like working out!
4. It's going to be a great challenge that I'll be super proud of myself for completing. I have started and not finished too many tasks lately. This needs finished!
5. It goes along with my motto of making 30 my b*tch.
6. Time is my most precious gift right now, and I truly believe God knows this is the best I can do for him.
7. If Jesus and Jillian can't inspire me, nothing can... and I refuse to believe that.

Well today I completed my first day of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred . It has been almost ONE HOUR since I completed it and my muscles are STILL a bit shaky.  I am sure tomorrow's workout is going to be a rough one, but Dom says he's going to join me. This workout is great because it packs an hour's workout into 20 mins. I bought it a year ago, after I had William, and today was only the second day I have touched it.  The first time was back when we had our old TV and DVD with remotes that didn't work, so I couldn't turn on the actual workout part. I did, however, watch the intro twice... if that counts for anything!

William is almost 16 months, I am almost 30, and now is the time.  It is going to be a big challenge, as working out takes a lot of time. Since January I have been attending the gym regularly on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings, and even those two one-hour classes are hard to get to as a mom and teacher. Yet as I have learned over and over, the short amount of time sacrificed today will pay off in the long run personally and for my family.

Wish me luck. I am hopeful and anxious to see some results!

Testing

I'm testing my ability to post straight from my Droid. This is a nice feature that may help me write and upload pictures and videos more regularly.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7