General Update

The last time I wrote an extensive blog entry, I was not in very good spirits, and from the lack of entries on the page, I'm guessing it's evident that while things are trucking along, we're still pretty overwhelmed in our household. As I wrote awhile ago, I am really working to be my best self for Lydia and Robin, and this means coming home after long days at work to be an attentive, engaged, and patient mother and partner. Once we get Lydia to bed, Robin and I try to spend some time together, and I try to refocus, restore, and do all of the other things that we need to do to keep our household semi-together and keep me relatively sane. Blogging falls by the wayside, especially in stressful times.

Our ELA TAKS (the monster test that measures our school performance at the state and federal level) is coming up. While I feel cautiously optimistic about my students this year, it is still very high-pressure, and every slip-up that I or the kids make feels catastrophic and blown out of proportion as the days roll by and the test gets closer and closer. This paired with the "Reduction in Force" list that was revealed and the loss of 14 teaching positions on top of many more support staff positions on just our campus makes for an emotionally draining workplace. If I didn't love so many of my coworkers and students so dearly as well as believe firmly that what we do is critical and imperative, I would surely have lost my mind by now.

Adding to the craziness was Lydia's second bout with the flu--not the flu as in she was feeling a little under the weather, but the real, full-blown flu, complete with lack of appetite (she hardly ate anything for five days), fever (103+), and general misery. She was out of daycare Monday through Wednesday. Poor baby. This also concurred with a visit from Robin's parents; while Marie, ever the optimist, pointed out that her flu forced us to just hang out and relax, it was not the fun-filled weekend that we had hoped they would have.

I will do more of a hit list later, but now you know that I am still blogging--trying at least.