Life and Joys ending the week of September 26th

 Life. It is something I often think about. I ask myself questions like:

Am I living the life I want?

Am I living the life I am capable of?

Am I happy with my life?

Is there something more I should be doing with my life?

Is there a way to live a "better" life(and what is that)?

These are all questions we ask sometimes.

I often wish life was easier. I think it's because it seems incredibly hard right now. In my existence anyway. That's the thing. My life really isn't bad. I have frustrations, but there are many things I have to be thankful for in this life. For instance:

I would like a new refrigerator. The seal on my freezer is weird right now and it leaks, so there is a small puddle on the floor. Then the water in the drip tray freezes, and my freezer food gets iced over. I take everything out, put it in coolers and then defrost the freezer. It's a pain. But....... when I really step back and look at it, I have a way to keep food frozen, I have food in my freezer. In my short-sightedness, I saw a pain in the butt freezer, but I have luxuries many don't. 

When we came home from church, the dogs had wrecked a piece of furniture. It can be fixed(and honestly, I wanted different cushions anyway). I was exhausted just looking at the mess. But, when I stepped back and looked..... I have chairs to sit in, I have a dining room table that fits many family and friends. 

I look at some people and think to myself, "They are so lucky because they are......(fill in the blank)."

 I'm sure you've done it too. 

or "If only I would have done (fill in the blank) I would have been able to (fill in the blank again). 

I need to stop looking at others' lives, and create my own. The life I was given. I need to do the best with it. 

So, that's my challenge for you and me this week. Ask yourself those hard questions about life. Then start living the best life you can. Starting with finding joys is always good. It will get you prepared to go out and live that best life.

Joys for the week ending September 26th

1. I didn't cry everyday so we're making progress.

2. It was a rough week with neuropathy, but I saw my Pain management team Monday and we are working on a plan.

3. I love the cooler weather.

4. I was able to take some time Saturday morning to snuggle in my favorite chair with a cup of coffee.

5. I made some wonderful homemade French Onion soup. I love Fall!

Have a great week, and I hope you can #findyourjoy

Crying and joys ending the week of September 19th

 Some say crying is good for the soul. If that is true, then my soul should be very good. Since school has started I have cried everyday except last Friday. This is hard. I knew why but also didn’t know why. Last year we were hybrid. That had its own challenges but my class sizes were smaller. I could connect with kids much easier. I also was making connections with kids through chats when they were online. Now that we’re back to “normal” my class sizes are as big or bigger than they were pre-pandemic. I guess I forgot how hard that was. 

Last year I barely ever had to remind the kids to keep their masks on. Now I say it 50 times a day at least. It’s exhausting. 

I hope I start getting used to this, because I need a life outside of school and need to not cry every day. 

Finding joys was hard this week, but I found them and here they are:

1. We installed our new pastor on Sunday.

2. My student teacher started teaching her lesson and she is doing great

3. The students are beginning to play ukuleles in class and they love it

4. Movie night on the deck and a gorgeous moon

5. A Saturday with nothing to do but watch what I wanted to watch

As always I hope you can #findyourjoy 

Oh the tiredness and Joys ending the week of 9/12

 I am tired. This partial week at school kicked my butt. In my 30 years of opening days, this by far was the hardest. There are too many reasons why so I won't go in to them. Some I could have controlled, but many I could not. That is why I'm so tired. Trying to control the things I have no control over. I just saw Frozen on stage at Sheas yesterday, and my husband says" not to sound like a jerk, but you can't control everything and sometimes you just have to "Let it Go"". After I rolled my eyes at him. I had to sit with that thought. What did I conclude........ I don't like that. I wasn't surprised. It is VERY hard for me to Let things Go. It's something I am constantly working on. I do okay with some things, but when it comes to a situation where I have been hurt..... hurt by words that someone has said to me, especially when it is something I am passionate about..... those words HURT and it is hard to Let them go. So, I continue to work on it, because not letting go means I am weary. I am weary physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

Even in the midst of a week like that, I did find Joys. I am fighting like mad to hold on to those and let the other go, so if you could send some thoughts and prayers my way for strength to do that, I would appreciate it. 

here are my joys for the week:

1. Sunday and Monday were amazing. I drank my morning coffee while in the hot tub. I love slow mornings!

2. I met my student teacher and she started. She'll be great. She is making connections with kids already and at the age level I teach, that is huge in my book.

3. I made it through 3 days of school.

4. We celebrated my dad's birthday Friday. I made his favorite meal and we played dominoes(always fun)

5. Mark and I took two of our nephews to Sheas Saturday and then to dinner. They loved the show and we had awesome conversations about the technical aspects of the show and how they did certain things. One of them has been to the theater a lot, the other one had never been to Sheas to see a broadway production. His awe and wonder of it made my day!

Here's to being able to stay rested and focused for this week, and as always, I hope you can #findyourjoy

Am I Ready? and Joys ending the week September 5th

 Am I ready? Are my colleagues ready?

Ready as we'll ever be. As we head into another unprecedented school year, there are things I'm excited about and things I am still concerned about. 

I am a planner. It's how I manage to balance all the things I do. I have cut way down in the last few years as I need to make sure I am taking care of me, but there's still a plan. When you are a planner in the middle of a pandemic.... well, that throws a lot of things awry and taking care of myself becomes more important. 

I am concerned at the number of students that will be in my room during some class periods. Not for me, but for them. We are used to being able to teach with the students at tables in groups, but cannot, so there are desks facing forward. That is so hard for teaching the way I'd like to.

On the positive side, I do get my chorus back. In multiple sections so I can fit them in far enough apart to remove masks. I'm used to multiple groups though, so this isn't too bad. I kept my chorus total remote last year, so it's nice to have them back.

I am ready. I am ready as I can be. So I move forward. I take care of myself mentally and physically, and move forward.

Here are my joys for the week:

1. Being in my classroom getting ready.

2. Seeing Donna everyday. It's weird when we don't see and talk everyday. Here's to year 22 teaching together!

3. Starting my 30th year teaching! It's surreal

4. Starting year 26 at Pioneer. 

5. Leisure mornings to sit and drink my coffee.

Hope you can #findyourjoy this week!