August 8- Stresses #1-5

My lower back is aching, my jaw is clenching and the red wine tastes REALLY good! School must be starting!

Getting some SUN!

Getting a new classroom ready for a new grade is extremely stressful. Not only do you have to set up the classroom, but then you have the extremely hard task of actually teaching the students a new curriculum to you! I have done this four times in 8 years and although this current situation has been self inflected, it still give me stomach cramps. I have even gotten desperate enough to "hire/pay" my sister and brother in law to come in to my classroom next Wednesday to do some little organizational stuff for me.

Another reason for my jaw clenching is my wonderful JCPenney job. Now, I bet you think that being a receptionist of a salon is a lot of magazine reading and nail polishing (which it was, "once upon a time"). However, the wonderful people of JCP decided to perfectly plan FREE KIDS CUTS for August. My boss had offered me all sorts of extra hours, but unfortunately I had vacation, and this little "teacher" thing and I had to limit myself. I felt so bad for saying "no", but I would wind up in the looney bin if I said yes! Thankfully she hired a wonderful, former JCP receptionist that everyone will love!;-)

Stress #3: My poor Molly is getting spayed tomorrow. I am so sad for her, not just cause she can't eat till the following day, but because tomorrow night she has to sleep over at the vets office. I am going to miss her and it is going to be eerie here without her. Hopefully the spaying will help her with this whole leaking thing . My Mommy instinct tells me that it will not, but I am going to be extremely hopeful!

Stress #4: Since my sister has moved to the San Francisco Bay area, no one in my family has visited her. It is mostly because she is practically in Chicago once a month! In fact, I saw her last week and then she is coming in again this weekend. Now, since Joel's family lives out there, and they are engaged, it is probably wise for a few of us to at least meet them before the wedding. They aren't getting married till next Labor Day, but with my school schedule it is really the only time that we will have to go out there and visit before "real" wedding stuff starts to set in. So...my Mom and I are planning a trip to Cali on Thursday (Yes, 4 days before I have to report to school and crazy JCP) . In a perfect world, we will fly in at 8am and leave by midnight. However, I have flown stand-by so many times before, that I know that it doesn't always work like that. (Hold on...my back is cramping again.) We still have Friday to get back, but I still feel that I need to be in my classroom getting ready. I am super excited to go though and meet Joel's family, plus I will be excited to fly on a plane and actually read a book (it will probably be a school book though).

Stress #5: I am really going to miss being with my Babies! There are so many things that I felt that we would still have time to do.  I definitely could not be a stay a home Mom, but I am really going to miss having the freedom to take 3 walks a day, play in the backyard, or go shopping whenever we want. I am so glad that my Master's is over, so that I will have an extra night to be home and also not have to stress about getting my writing or reading done, but it is still not enough time! Oh well...just like before, I will just have to prioritize my time! When I am home, I am going to have their full attention!

Reagan playing in the Water Table