Why I'm Glad I Don't Work Full Time

I'm exhausted. I spent this week doing my pre-student teaching experience. We have to spend 10 full days in the classroom, this past week, and one more in May. The teaching part was fine. I spent most of the week observing. I did teach one class today and did a game on Tuesday with one class. The hardest part was that my children can smell importance and know how to make themselves sick. Think I'm lying? When Cole was 14 months he had his PDA closed. It meant he had to be put under anesthesia and they inserted a metal coil up through the vein (artery?) in his leg up to his heart. Putting a 14 month old under anesthesia was the tricky part. It means they can't have a cold, or anything that would put their respiratory system at risk. Guess who got his first nasty cold, in August? Thankfully he was on the mend and they did the procedure anyway. A year later we were going to put him under again so that we could get a good echo of his heart. Guess who had an upper respiratory infection? That worked to our advantage. Since he was feeling so cruddy he just sat there through the whole thing and we didn't need the anesthesia. This past September he was scheduled for pre-school screening. Guess who came down with laryngitis and couldn't talk? Those are about the only times the kid has been sick, until this week. The cough started Friday and the fever came Saturday. Today has been the first day since then that he's been fever free. One kid sick and me gone was manageable so Tate got sick Tuesday night and Wednesday was the day Pat and Grandma couldn't stay with them. So I had to miss Wednesday to stay home. I guess they missed me. Today, I'm exhausted and I'm not sure if it's from "working" all week or if now I'm getting sick...

My New Job

I started subbing this week. I started Monday by teaching the last 2 hours of high school math. I'm also doing an internship in the same class a few hours a week. Monday went ok, but the kids didn't have enough to do so they got a little rowdy by the end of class. Today went better. The first 3 classes basically continued working on whatever they had been working on. The last 2 classes I introduced a new lesson. The school is using integrated math, real-life application type math. I haven't worked with it much, but I get the drift that the kids really don't like it that much and I honestly wonder how applicable it really is. Yes, the examples are nice, but it's a lot of examples and very little typical math. I remember a professor telling us that math is about learning the process. It's basically teaching students a different way to learn. I don't see them learning the process. If you give them a completely different example they can't process it. It certainly isn't making them ready for college level math. I obviously haven't worked with it enough to make complete and total judgement.

Anyway, I survived. I'm exhausted. My knees and back hurt but I've finally thawed out from my room in the arctic circle. It felt kind of nice to go out and earn a paycheck, but it would be a whole lot nicer if I didn't have homework tonight.

Witchy Wednesday

I'm not a big fan of Wednesdays. I have class in the morning, then class in the afternoon, plus chores, and kids. It's not a great day. This morning actually started out pretty good. I got up when my alarm went off (ok, I hit snooze, but only once). I got my calves fed and got a shower before I needed to get the kids up. I got the kids up to discover that both of them had leaked through their diapers and needed new sheets. So I sent Cole downstairs to go potty while I took care of their bedding. Apparently "go downstairs and go potty" when translated into 3 year old lingo means "help yourself to a yogurt drink and go play." So when I finally made it downstairs, I got Cole in the bathroom while I got Tate dressed. We're still running on time at this point. While I was trying to get Cole dressed, read diaper on "mom, I need to go potty" diaper back off. Tate discovered the kitty puked last night. I won't fill you in on the gory details, but you know how little kids "discover" things. So I finally had Cole dressed and Tate cleaned up and them both eating cheerios when I mad the mistake of thinking I had time for breakfast. I should never sit down. Anywho, Cole made it to school on time and I slid in the door just in time for my 8:30 class. After that things went fairly well. I needed a break and I got it when my mail arrived with my Cake Wrecks book. If you don't read her site, you should and I highly reccommend the book. Page 135 is my favorite. I laughed so hard I nearly had tears in my eyes. Here's hoping the rest of the week goes more smoothly!

All Alone

Pat and I took off yesterday for a night WITHOUT kids! We headed the big metropolis to see Mike Birbiglia. We actually left yesterday morning and did a little bit of shopping before we stopped off at the hotel for a nap. We had a nice lunch and a nice supper and even a nice breakfast this morning. Every time we got the bill Pat commented "that's not bad." It's amazing how stinking much kids' meals add to the bill. Anywho, the show was great. His opening act was ok, a little raunchy for me. His act was pretty good. It was after 10 by the time we left and I was exhausted and very thankful I don't live in metropolis. I just don't think skinny jeans, leg warmers, and crimped hair are a good look for me, or for anyone really. But, I am no fashion guru so what do I know? This morning we didn't get out of bed until a quarter til 9! We got home after noon and our kids survived. I don't think they even knew we were gone. I think we definitely need to do this more often.

My New Do

I got my hair cut on Friday, complete with a new style. It's been probably 10 years since I've had a new style. At first I wasn't crazy about it, but after restyling it, I think I like it. Pat isn't crazy about it. It's too short for him, but frankly if he wanted a girl with long hair he shouldn't have married me. The last time I had long hair, I'm talking shoulder length, I was a freshman in high school. Not a good look for me. We also did family pics Friday evening, so I'm anxious to see how those turned out.

Happy Anniversary

Four years ago today, I married my very best friend. Yes, I remember the weather too. We had rain, sleet, snow, and lightening. It's been an incredibly four years. We've had our ups and downs, like everybody does, and we are still going.


We've survived new jobs, a move, and created two of the cutest boys ever ( I may be biased).

Top: Our engagement photo 2/04

Bottom: Our honeymoon in Mexico

Happy Anniversary, Pat! I love you.

What to do?

I have been sitting here struggling with my homework off and on all afternoon. We only have about 4 weeks of class left and I am stressing out. I didn't do well on my last two tests and now I feel like I'm so far behind I don't even know how to catch up. It's all very overwhelming and makes me want to quit completely. I've been thinking about taking a break from school and going back later, but I know it will only get harder. I've already had to sit in on a few classes that I already had credit for just to refresh my memory. I know it will be the same way if I quit now and try to go back later, which makes me think I ought to just quit for good. I'm so close to finishing the math requirements, but the classes I have left are pretty intimidating and will require a lot of time, which I don't have much of. I just don't know what to do. I would love to make school a priority, but it falls pretty low on the list. There are just too many other things that have to come first. I have always been a good student and when things are busy at home, I've always been able to do enough to get by. It's starting to get harder to just 'get by'. Any advice out there? My husband sure isn't full of any. I know he wouldn't be upset if I quit, and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I hate struggling through my school work. I know, math is hard, but for me it's always come pretty easily with minimal work. I just don't know where to find the time to do the work without one kid screaming for food and the other for attention. I just don't know what to do...