Unfinished Books

I've gotten more than an hour into 3 audiobooks in a row and just couldn't get into them. 

I hope I can find a good one before our 5 hour drive to Jekyll tomorrow. 

Field Trip

Today is our first field trip in over two years. The kids are beyond excited. We're taking a charter bus to Montgomery. They packed tons of snacks. 

The only problem is that their excited energy does not match the destination: the Legacy Museum and Lynching Memorial. 

Thankfully the kids were engaged and respectful and thought the trip was "good" even if it wasn't "fun."

Unfortunately, we ran behind and now we're not getting back to the school until after 5:30 (over an hour later than expected). 

Polar Pie

My search for the perfect ice cream cake may have ended. The Baskin Robbins Polar Pie (brownie crust, vanilla ice cream, cookie dough pieces, hot fudge and caramel sauce). It was amazing. 

Happy birthday to me

A student brought me Revolution Doughnuts and a coworker bought me an orchid!

Cold

Nate came down with a cold a week ago. Despite a valiant effort, I started feeling sniffly yesterday. I made it through the day today, but went ahead and took off tomorrow. Fingers crossed I'll be back to 100% by Friday when spring break begins. 

Fixed it

I can't believe I stared at that cross-stitch for weeks and didn't notice that I misspelled "little." It's fixed now. 

Friend Reunion

A friend from LaGrange (who currently lives in Seattle) is in town this weekend and we got to spend the afternoon with him. It was so nice to catch up and reminisce. 

Cross-Stitch

I finished a cross-stitch project!

Windy Morning

This morning I went to see a few of my students play soccer and then took Korra to a park for some roller skating with 2 classmates. It was incredibly windy (which made it feel cold) but was otherwise a lovely way to spend the morning. 

Nachos at the Playground

This afternoon we celebrated our reading bowl teams with a nacho bar at our favorite park/playground. The kids had a great time. I'm exhausted. 

Spare Me

Nate started feeling sick on Sunday. He's had a bad cold all week. I might have made him sleep on the couch and we've kept all the windows open. 

Korra started feeling sick this afternoon. 

I pray I will be spared. 

College and Career Week

It's been a tough week. Every day we've had 4 speakers (over Zoom) to tell the students about different careers. Some are cool. Some are boring. All cause daily schedule changes (which makes middle schoolers as ornery as toddlers who miss nap time). Add in that I was required to give a unit test (with TWO essay questions) where the text was an article about how underrated James Madison is... lots of meltdowns in ELA. I'm so ready for this week to be over. 

Longer Days

More sunshine = happier Katie 

40 days

I have 40 more days of school this year. 40 more days until my Sabbatical (that's what I've decided to call this next season. Slightly more professional sounding than the runner-up: Gap Year). 

Teacher Twin Day

Allergies

I took a walk during lunch and another walk with a friend before Girl Scouts. After sitting on the balcony with Nate for a bit after dinner, my eyes were itchy and watering and my nose was running. And that's even with 2 different kinds of allergy medicine every day. Ugh. The pollen makes the beautiful weather so much less enjoyable. 

Boring Teacher Work Day

I finished all my work. I had one meeting from 8-9 and another from 3-4. 

It's only 10:00 and I'm so bored. 

Spring!

Korra and I enjoyed the spring weather with a walk through Grant Park yesterday. 

Pseudo Interviews

I've had 2 pseudo interviews in the past week or so. Both for administrative assistant/secretary positions. Both HR people told me I was overqualified and applying too early but both were also extremely helpful, encouraging, and enthusiastic. They both told me to contact them again in May/June to see what is available and told me over and over again that I have many valuable and transferable skills. Both phone calls made me feel more at peace about my decision to leave teaching and more hopeful about my prospects for the future. 

I have friends, I definitely have friends

Yesterday morning we went to a birthday party at a park. Then we met Nate's brother and niblings for lunch. 

After that, we went to K&R's house to watch the new Spiderman movie in their home theater. 

It was a really great day. 

Day Off

Yesterday I took the day off for a doctor's appointment. Then I had to cancel it because I realized the doctor isn't in-network anymore, so I just had the day off. I watched tv and cross-stitched. I walked to Trader Joes. I took a nap. It was very nice. 

In there afternoon some friends came into town. We had dinner out together, Ryan and Nate went to a concert, and Dani and I talked and drank wine while the kids slept. It was a really great day. 

Today was Tough

Daylight savings time means sleepy, ornery kids. Then add a teacher who was out and no sub (so extra kids in every class who aren't usually there). Then add the fire alarm going off.  It was a very long, very exhausting day. 

Birthday Cake

I ordered my birthday cake. This year's ice cream cake will be from Baskin Robbins. 

Hallway Art

The school printed big canvases of photos of the kids and put them all over the school. They look so good and made everyone feel happier. 

I particularly love this one 

I'm tired

I thinki could have fallen asleep at 4 when I got home from work and slept straight through until morning. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. 

Barre

I tried a barre class. I did not like it at all. 

Declined

Despite the promise of a $9000 raise, I declined my teaching contract for next school year. I have so many feelings. I feel irresponsible. I feel so sad that I just can't do something I love. I feel relieved I don't have to do something so hard next year. I feel terrified about the uncertainty of the future. Mostly I feel like crying. 

Mask Optional

We did a full year of virtual learning. Then we did a full year of masks. Now that we're almost exactly 2 years from the beginning of the pandemic, the mask mandate has been dropped for students. Today was the first mask-optional day. I only had 3 students who didn't wear one at all. And it was actually so nice to have one less thing to nag the kids about. 

More time outside

This morning Korra and I had a playdate in Piedmont Park and this afternoon we went on a family hike. 

Hammock Time

The weather is gorgeous so we're all taking turns in the hammock!  Plus- a full cookie sheet of nachos for dinner!

Reunion

I'm doing this workbook called Artist's Way. It's been really wonderful. One of the things it directed me to do was to think about my "champions." As I'm using this book to work through my feelings about teaching, this lead me to my mentor teachers from West Side. Amazing women who encouraged me, praised me, fought for me, supported me, taught me, and inspired me. I decided to write them notes so I texted my friend/mentor/former neighbor to ask for her address. The texts immediately reminded me how much I love her so we decided to get together. (She only lives about 40 minutes away now). Our visit today couldn't have been more amazing for my soul. When we saw each other in the parking lot today, we literally ran to hug each other. We walked and talked for an hour and a half and then had an hour and a half long lunch together. It's been 5 years since we've seen each other but we've already made plans to see each other again in a month. 

How's your evening?

We went to friends' house for dinner and a movie (in their amazing home theater).  It was lovely. 

When we got home I started to wash the dishes and sliced my pointer finger pretty badly. Not quite stitches bad.  It is very painful. 

How's your morning?

A student screamed at me that he's going to kill me and I'm a snitch. 

I introduced another student to satire via an Onion article and he laughes so hard he fell out of his chair and said I'm the best teacher ever. 

Phone Jail

Today I took up 6 phones. My new personal record!

Read Across America Day

To celebrate Read Across America Day, I took all my students outside to read our new novel, The Crossover. It was a gorgeous day and the kids liked the book. Win-win.