Sanity Sustained

One week ago I was feeling a bit stressed and hoping to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.  What a difference one week can make!

All the book reviews are graded (all 105 of them), lesson plans for all but one class are complete for the next week, the garden is cleaned out for the season, and this weekend should be refreshing although busy. We were home every evening but one.  Mary started work every morning at 5 except for Monday and Wednesday.  Those early mornings and being home in the evening have been a tremendous blessing.

Last Sunday afternoon we hiked Neversink Mountain with a group of friends. They were at our house for lunch (they each brought something to contribute), then we hiked the mountain; we came back and enjoyed a quickly thrown together supper of pizza and salad and whatever else we could find in the house and some relaxation time in the hot tub. The hot tub was intended to keep them from getting too stiff muscles from the rugged 4.5 mile hike we took them on first.

Monday morning I was all geared up to clean out the garden as soon as we got home, but it was raining. Tuesday it didn't happen either because we had plans right after work, but Wednesday we tore into it as soon as we were home and were finished in two hours. It is so nice to have that done.  After school starts my garden is routinely and severely neglected.

Tonight is the BBQ Bash at school.  I plan to be here most of the evening. Tomorrow we are both going to a seminar and then have to clean a section of the school.  Sunday we should be able to relax again unless, of course, we make plans between now and then.

 Anyway, my sanity has been sustained (thanks to help from several important study hall supervisors and newspaper staff) and the world looks brighter.

Going Crazy

The last few weeks have been crazy, and, I fear, they have had an adverse affect on me. We have been to the cabin the last two weekends to loaf; however, that did little to alleviate the work load that I have had.  I am nearing the end of the first round of book reviews--a major cause of stress.  In the last few weeks, I have had 105 book reviews to grade ranging in length from 2-10 pages.  We are slightly more than one week away from the end of first quarter--another major cause of stress. I am a half lesson ahead of the students in two of my classes--a third stress factor. I must have the quarter final exams ready for next week--why am I spending any of my time writing a blog. . .

This week Mary has been starting at 5 AM each morning which gets me to school by 4:45 each day.  I have made significant progress most days with that early start, but it has not allowed me to have the amount of sleep I would like.  In addition to starting early, I have been trying to increase the length of time on the treadmill to walk off the excess calories I consumed over two cabin weekends.  That has done little to avoid the sleep deprivation.

This weekend will not be a catch-up weekend at all.  We are going to the Warmth and Light benefit supper this evening to enjoy a Russian meal and program, but only after we load the trailer for tomorrow. We plan to be at school Saturday morning by 5 AM to set up for the annual yard sale.  We really hope to sell lots of the things that have been taking up space in the garage, shed, and enclosed trailer. When we get home from that we must do our cleaning and mow the lawn. I hope to finish grading book reviews some time on Saturday.  Sunday morning we are going to another church for communion since we were not able to be at our own church for it.  Then we are having company for lunch, followed by a hike up Neversink Mountain.  I think we will crash Sunday evening.

Not all of life has been stress.  Last Sunday was my birthday.  This week I got a card that made me laugh.  It is a parody of the "Red Hat" poem:

When I am an old cat I shall wear

a diamond collar and shall leave my footprints

on white couches; I shall drink my cream

with a touch of brandy and spit out my vitamins;

I shall sit on the laps of dog people

just to irritate them; I shall nap on top of the

neighbor's petunias and perch on top of

birdbaths and grow charmingly chubby.

 

But for now I must tolerate the dog

and use my litter box and not sharpen

my claws on the sofa, so no one can doubt

the truth that cats are superior to dogs.

 

But every once in a while I wonder

if I should be naughty now and then

and nip a few toes, so my humans

won't be too shocked when suddenly

I become an old cat and

start to wear a diamond collar.

 

 

I think I will postpone going crazy for now, but don't be surprised if I do a few crazy things along the way. . .Like last night when we were ready to go grocery shopping.  I could not find my purse.  That was a problem since my paycheck and all of our cash was in there. We decided I must have left it at school; we made a trip to school to look for it.  It wasn't there. . . We searched at home again.  Finally, I told Mary to call my cell phone so that we could find it.  I knew my phone was in there and turned on.  We heard it ringing but she had to call the second time before I could locate it in--of all places--a closet!  What was it doing in the closet?  Then I remembered that I was ready to go shopping before Mary was, had my purse on my shoulded, decided to get something out of the hall closet, my purse fell off my shoulder and I set it down.  I never picked it up again. . . until an hour later.