Sunday, March 26, 2023
A fabulous end to this week off
Monday, March 20, 2023
This might be my favorite day of the year
I am on spring break. It is a break that could not be more needed. Work has been crazy, and as my boss put it, logistically challenging on nearly a daily basis. Last week I was standing in a classroom trying to determine whether or not we were going to be able to have school in that classroom because there was no water in the building due to plumbing issue. One of the teachers said to me that she was sorry I was dealing with that, and my response was that I was sorry it wasn't the worst thing we were dealing with that day. That would've been the long-time student who needed to be suspended. Yep, lots of stress.
But now, we are off on an entire week. It was a fun weekend with all basketball, all the time. There were some good upsets, and I enjoyed the fact that I really had nowhere to be all weekend, except for taking Thomas back to college yesterday.
I had trouble sleeping last night, and I allowed myself to really sleep in this morning. I've had nowhere to be today. It really felt like a perfect day, and a day just entirely for me. The sun is shining, and it's just been an amazing day. Andrew has a baseball scrimmage, so he won't be home until about 7:00. I needed this day that was just 100% for me. I need to get to the office for some payroll later this week, and I need to take my grandmother to a doctor appointment, but today is absolutely nothing. I can't even describe how relaxing my day has been. And it's just the beginning of the break!
Sunday, March 12, 2023
It's been three years since things shut down
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Sunday afternoon drives
I just took Thomas back to school. He was home for spring break this past week, which was ridiculously early. But I always love having time with him, and enjoyed having him around.
He's been home every weekend this semester except one. With his cat not being there and the one friend he had ending communication (not entirely sure why), he is lonely. It is heartbreaking for a mom, but I can't change it.
I also don't judge. I went home every weekend (almost) my freshman year, and so I am not about to tell my son I won't do for him what was done for me. I handle the Friday evening pickups, usually, and I've also handled about half of the Sunday afternoon returns as well. And I really don't mind. Today was a lovely day and I truly enjoyed the drive home completely by myself. It's a nice opportunity to just have some quiet and sing along with the radio. I remember my dad, who took me back to school nearly every Sunday, tell me he never minded those Sunday afternoon drives, and I get it. Missing him today, but always feeling he is with us. I'm blessed to have my family.
Our lives right now - it's been a lot
I didn't write much in February. It wasn't necessarily that I didn't want to write, it was just that there was A LOT going on, and I spent most of the month being absolutely exhausted. The good news is that it was mostly only work related, and for that I am grateful.
Our February at work was absolutely insane. We have one employee who was hospitalized and has yet to recover. We had one employee who had COVID, along with three family members, and her family is still fighting strep and other things, and her father is entering Hospice care. We have one employee whose son needed to be hospitalized for suicidal ideations, and of course that is an ongoing concern. We have one employee who had surgery two weeks ago, and the doctors did not handle some things well. We have one employee who had surgery three weeks ago, and also developed strep this past week herself. We have one employee who had COVID, and her daughter was hospitalized with illness as well. We have one employee whose daughter was diagnosed with a chronic illness last fall and needed to be hospitalized again for a few days. We have one employee who lost her grandmother three weeks ago, her husband had surgery this week, and her step-father passed away Wednesday. All of this was just in the last month! I mention this because it means I worked extra hours to help clean, I covered classes as needed, and I worked to put pieces together so we had enough people working where they needed to work.
At home, it's been less crazy, but I can't call it peaceful. The biggest challenge has been having Thomas's cat here. She jumps on everything, and we've had to put away all of the picture frames, which I don't appreciate. Additionally, she and one of our cats are constantly fighting, and the howling/hissing/running into things sounds are not remotely peaceful. Our sweet pup has had her slipped disc issues again, although we caught it early and she's on the mend. My grandmother was in the emergency room on Monday due to some reactions, and it's hard on her. My mother was in the emergency room Thursday after taking a serious fall and doing a face-plant. Thank goodness my kids were able to stay with her overnight Thursday so I didn't have to miss work. I can deal with all of these relatively minor things, but it's hard after coming home from work which was challenging all day.
This past week we had a lady from church who was going to be evicted if she didn't get her apartment cleaned. We were able to do some cleaning ourselves and get a company hired, and many generous members helped to fund that. That was a blessing.
And we were thrilled that Catherine passed her state STNA exam. She is looking for a job locally, and we are thrilled for her and proud of her. It's a step in the right direction.
I'm hoping this week is much calmer, although I laugh because I thought that last week as well. Monday brought a tornado warning where the students and staff all had to take cover, and Friday I had to clean up vomit at school. So who knows what this week will bring??
I'm especially grateful that we have no students tomorrow, and that March and some lovely weather have arrived. Looking forward to calmer times!