Heaven in the Middle of the City

For years, I have had a favorite place that I call Heaven in the Middle of the City.  The real name is the Riparian Institute.  It is right off the main road, and right next to the county library, but once you get onto the trails, the city just fades away.

The Riparian Institute is a wildlife preserve, and there are several different ponds and trails to check out.  I have loved walking there since the girls were little.  In fact, we had a birthday party there one year.  I think Amber was turning 3, but I honestly can't remember for sure.

Every time we go to the Riparian Preserve we see something different.  Yesterday, I almost tripped over a turtle.  We think it was laying eggs, because she was burrowed into the ground with her hind end and looked miserable.  We also saw rabbits (tons of rabbits) and rats.  It was a super active time in the desert on a Saturday afternoon.

I did get to see my favorite bird, a heron, but I didn't get pictures.  It was too far away.  Maybe next time.

We got in almost two miles of walking, and that was enough for me.  My feet did hurt at one point, but we slowed down, and by the time we got to the trail where we could have headed for the car, I was ready to keep going on the longer trail.  It looks like two miles is about my limit right now.  It's much better than the 30 feet I was walking with the help of a walker at this time three years ago, though!

I Gave Up

The past couple weeks at school have been the most intense, frustrating weeks of the entire school year. First AIMS prep took up a lot of time and threw off our routine, then, of course, the AIMS testing itself was a HUGE week of craziness.  On Saturday of last week we had the school carnival, and I honestly thought that coming in on Monday would be a relief- back to business.  Oh, how that dream did NOT come true! My students were still very "off," and behavior was out of control.

Last night, there was a Crock-Pot Cook Off and community movie night at school, and I was supposed to stay for that.  I made a chili for the cook off, and had prepared to stay to watch "Frozen."  About 20 minutes before the event started, though, I just felt incredibly overwhelmed and really couldn't face the idea of putting on my happy teacher face for students who I quite honestly resented right at the moment. I hate to admit to having real feelings about my class, but hey, teachers are human, too.

Thank goodness my newest teammate is truly a team player.  She was also going to be staying for the event, so she offered to pick up my Crock Pot, take it home to wash it, and bring it back to me on Monday.  I literally cried at her kind offer.  The two of us took my dish over to the judging table, I explained to my administrators that I wasn't feeling well, and I went home.

The feeling of being overwhelmed crushed me last night, and I broke.  My vice principal did recognize this, and we talked in her office for a few minutes before I left.  The talk did a bit to help, and she took some responsibilities off my shoulders by distributing them more to my team.  I am thankful for that.  Somehow I just keep piling on more and more, and I can see the literal interpretation of the "straw that broke the camel's back."  It really is just one tiny addition that makes the load too heavy to carry.

I am so thankful this is a long weekend for us, and I have today to decompress.  I talked to my class at the end of the day yesterday, and we identified some reasons they think they are misbehaving and acting extremely uncharacteristically compared to what I have come to expect from them.  I asked students to reflect on how to get back into routine and to come to school with the motivation to finish the year strong.  I will be taking time to do the same myself.

School Carnival

Okay, I admit it.  I went to the school carnival grumbling the entire way.  It was a LONG week of state testing, and I REALLY didn't want to finish it with spending the day with more unstructured time with students.  However, I did wind up having a good time.

Each teacher has to have a booth at the carnival, and I was selling Smencils.  Smencils are smelly pencils that are made of recycled newsprint.  They are usually a hit at the book fairs, so I thought they would go well at the carnival as well.  The coolest part is that it didn't cost me ANYTHING to offer this product.

A couple of months ago, I entered the giveaway on the Facebook page for Educational Insights.  When they reached 50,000 fans, they were going to give away a gift certificate.  Frankly, I had forgotten about that when I got an email saying I was the winner.  I won a $500 gift certificate!

After buying all the cool posters and Hot Dots sets I could possibly want to include in my classroom, I requested that the rest of my order be filled with Smencils.  I think the lady taking my order thought I was nuts, but I explained that the Smencils were going to be my school carnival item.  $250 worth of pencils is a lot at one time.

Back to the day of the carnival.  My table was SO easy to set up this year.  I didn't do a game or anything. It was strictly a sales booth, and I included some of my dad's books on my table to go along with the pencils. Daniel, Amber, and I hauled out one table from my classroom, two student chairs, the pencils, and the books.  I was set up within five minutes!

The day started off pretty slowly, and I was afraid that my price of 4 tickets ($1) per pencil was too high, but I knew kids purchased these Smencils for more at the book fair, so I decided to give it one hour before dropping the price to 3 tickets.  I am so glad I stuck to my guns.  Once the kids started noticing what it was I was selling, we were pretty busy for the rest of the day!  In the end, I wound up earning $105 for my classroom.

Next to me, my fellow 6th grade teacher had a booth doing crazy hair.  One of her students running the booth BEGGED me to allow her to do my hair.  I finally gave in.  I kind of like how it turned out.

Another part of the day that turned out great was having Amber come to help.  She was there as back up, just in case, because I had NO parent volunteers signed up.  I was disappointed about that part, and it was a factor in my not going into the carnival very excited.  Our principal had given each student a wrist band for the inflatables and 20 tickets ($5), and it was one of the best gifts ever!  Amber ran off to play once we were set up, and outside of her coming to check in once in awhile, we didn't see her the rest of the day.  She had a blast!  There were the traditional bounce houses, but we also had laser tag, jousting, and slip-and-slide inflatables.  It really did keep Amber busy for the entire four-hour carnival.  She did use some of her tickets to get her face painted.  

I'm looking forward to next year's carnival now.  Another great decision that my principal had made was to move the music and entertainment to the inside stage.  It was AWESOME not to have the constant blaring sound.  In fact, the noise of the inflatable fans was the loudest I had to process.  That was REALLY helpful to make the day successful!  And....I have five boxes of Smencils left, so I am all set for next year.  

Pain, Pain Go Away

I think my body likes to give me reminders of where I have been and where I could be.  Seriously, I am well aware. I don't need any help.  Well, to be honest, maybe my body is right that I don't remember the intensity of what could be.  Just like child birth, this pain stuff is easy to minimize when looking back.

Yesterday, though, I got a very good reminder of just how sick I was three years ago.  When I went to bed Monday, I didn't really feel too great.  Tuesday, I woke up and I was pretty sure a train had run over me while I had been sleeping.  However, it was the first day of state testing, and there was NO way I could possibly call in sick to work.

By the time I got to work, I was in so much pain that tears would randomly jump into my eyes, and I was clenching my teeth.  It seriously felt like someone was taking a drill bit and boring into my bones.  This was not plain old muscle pain, and it really didn't feel like the nerve pain, this was something so incredibly deep and long-lasting that it wore me out.  It felt like my bones were not sturdy enough to hold my weight.

When I picked up my testing materials, my vice-principal (who is well aware of my medical history) asked if I was going to make it through the test.  I saw her peeking in through the window at me a couple of times in the morning.  When I dropped off my test, she asked if I needed to go home.  Frankly, I wasn't going to feel any better at home than I would sitting at my desk at school, so I didn't take her up on her offer.

Usually I stay at work about an hour after contract hours state I have to stay, but yesterday I hopped in my car pretty quickly after I could go.  I came home, sat on the couch, and stayed there until I went to bed at 7:00.  I think the thing that really struck me was that I have built a really excellent quality of life since the months following my hospitalization experience.  For several months after getting sick, leaving the couch was an accomplishment.

This morning I woke up, earlier than I was hoping due to someone's cell phone making noise, in significantly less pain.  I am still feeling pretty weak and definitely not "normal," but so far I think I will be okay today.  I am already ready for a nap, though, so that's not the best sign, but my morning coffee on the way to work should do the trick.