To prove to you that this week has been busy, I will ask you to guess how much time Brian and I have spent together awake since last Sunday. Thoughts? Counting Sunday, we have spent about eight - maybe nine - hours together. And of that time, four hours were spent reading and watching the Olympics in our living room while Brian and his best friend drafted their fantasy football team on our computer. It's one thing when we don't see each other because one of us is out of town. It's another when we only see each other for a little while before bed or while gettgin ready for work. Seriously. It makes me a little cranky. Plus, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by all I have to do in the next ten days or so.
Week two of all-staff professional development has been good. Some department meeting and planning, but also a lot of independent work time. This is very important to me since I have to create new curriculum maps for all three of the courses I am teaching this year. Plus I moved into a new room and while I set it all up on Monday, I had to move it all today so my roommate could have access to the overhead projector. My to do list for August 29th (deadline for all "deliverables" fills almost an entire sheet of notebook paper and while I am plugging through as best I can, I am also starting to lose momentum and feel like I am in over my head a bit. I was midway through my day today - rehanging the same posters for the third time and thinking about the pacing of my Government course - when I realized that this is all a feeling I have had before. Back when I was starting teaching for the first time. Back then, though, it was overwhelming, but exciting. Now it's just overwhelming. And annoying.
But my job isn't all that is keeping me away from home (although it is 6pm and I am typing this at work while I wait for parent orientation to begin so that I can present the academic schedule to the rising 8th grade). At least not my full-time, taxable job. Last Sunday the dad of the kids I used to sit for called and asked me if I could help out. I love their family and feel so bad about their situation so of course I said yes. I sat six hours on Sunday, four hours Monday and three hours last night. I'm also slated for most of the day Saturday. It's a lot of time that I don't mind giving them because I want to help out and I want the kids to have a routine and stability, but it is still really hard to work all day, drive to upper NW, do the dinner-playtime-bath-bed routine (the latter part usually induces wailing fits, by the way), drive back home and get ready for another day. Makes me think twice about wanting a big(ish) family of my own.
Things are not all bad, though. Don't despair! My college roommate Karen is flying into DC tomorrow and we will get to spend Friday evening/night hanging out and having fun. Brian's birthday is Monday and we're going to dinner and a concert to celebrate. My sister just booked her trip for the middle of September and it is a substantial chunk of time. My parents are coming to visit for Columbus Day weekend. All good things. Now if I could just get on top of this to do list...
Happy week's end, everyone!
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