And now we wait

The pediatrician saw us quickly and then sent off Korra's urine to a lab. Glad we got the ball rolling before the weekend and holidays just in case it is a UTI. 

Mindful strategies

Really had to put my SEL (social-emotional learning) strategies into practice to pull myself together. I ate some lunch. I took deep breaths. I called a couple people to talk through my feelings. I made a new plan. I listened to Christmas music to distract myself from negative thoughts and reset. 

Took Korra grocery shopping. Called the old pediatrician at 2 and made an appointment for 3:15. Made an appointment to get the oil changed on Monday. Not the day I had hoped and planned for but not the end of the world either. 

What plans?

Today I had a half day.  I was going to take the car to get an oil change, go grocery shopping, maybe even pick up a fancy coffee for myself.  Right as I was about to leave, Korra's teacher brings Korra to me. She's sobbing.  Says it hurts when she pees.  Another UTI.  So I can the pediatrician around the corner. The one I was planning on transferring to anyway (just not today).  They say to come right over. After filling out ALL the paperwork, they tell me they don't accept our insurance.  So I call our old place to see if we can come in.  They're closed for lunch until 2 (it's NOON!)  I can't drag a crying kid who has to pee every 3 min around to run errands while I wait until then.  So do I go to Urgent Care?  Do I wait until 2 and call and hope they can squeeze us in?  Oh, and Korra has totally stopped crying now so does she really have a UTI anyway?

Threat

Friday morning we have the end of quarter awards ceremony. I told the kids that after that we'd be writing essays for the rest of the day. I'm not telling them outright that they should go home with their parents after the program but I'm trying to nudge them in that direction. Let's see if it works. 

Administrative Tasks

This time of year (like the beginning and end of the school year) are filled with administrative tasks. Entering grades, putting test data into spreadsheets, making lists for honor roll and perfect attendance, evaluations and surveys to complete... Whew. It's not even the kids who are making me exhausted. I'm ready for this break. 

Disorganized

A parent accused me of losing her child's assignments. Right after she said she was surprised he had a D because her son never gave her the biweekly progress reports. Yeah, because 35 year old professionals are way more disorganized and irresponsible than 12 year old boys. That's definitely the most logical assumption. 

Blog Scrolling

Spent about 15 minutes this morning scrolling through my old blog posts to figure out Austin (NA), Alquida (AL), and Danny's birthdays and then putting them on my calendar.  Thinking about each of them extra today for some reason.

Yoga

Tonight I went to my first yoga class in probably about 2 years and it was the best class I've been to since moving to Atlanta. It was so relaxing and intimidating (so much like the vibe in my neighborhood yoga classes in LaGrange that I loved so much). And maybe best of all, it was at a place I already had to be for an hour. Korra has Girl Scouts on Monday nights at our church. This yoga class is in the church basement at almost exactly the same time. 

Neighbor Friend

Korra decided to go outside to play this afternoon and I was able to arrange for a 3rd grade girl who lives in the next building to join her (she's also an only child). They played soccer and hopscotch and then went inside to play Connect Four and paint. Both girls had a great time and plan to hang out again. I'm extra happy about this because it feels like a bit of "real" childhood- going over to a neighbor friend's house and just knocking on the door to ask to play. Playing outside without constant adult supervision. Sometimes I feel like living in a big city limits some of her Independence, so this feels like a big deal. Hoping it's the first if many playdates!

Christmas cards

Today I wrote cards to all 23 of my students. The hardest part was making sure they don't all sound too much alike. What wasn't hard was saying how thankful I am to teach each one of them. 

Photos from Franklin

Pretty cute for a girl who doesn't believe in Santa. 

Family photos

Lots of hugs

Not sure why but I've been getting lots of big hugs from my students the last few days. It's been nice. They like me. 

Eye Doctor

Annual eye check-up. 

He who smelt it

I farted and then watched my students blame each other. 

I don't think that's right

One of my students said, "Ok, Boomer" ... to another student. 

Migraine Day

Went to school for less than 2 hours. Came home because yesterday's headache is a full-on migraine. Laying on the couch, listening to an audiobook with a heating pad on my neck and head. 

SHEL

The band that opened for Jars of Clay last night (they also collaborated with them on the new Christmas album) was AMAZING. 4 sisters, harmonies, mandolin, violin, BEATBOXING. I'm kind of obsessed. 

Korra loved them, too. She got them to sign her CD (though she didn't know what a CD was at first)

Here are some videos so you can get obsessed, too:

https://www.npr.org/2016/05/22/478738888/four-home-schooled-sisters-one-awesome-metallica-cover

Four Home-Schooled Sisters, One Awesome Metallica Cover : NPR

https://youtu.be/wIruMEXx7Nc

🎥 incredible female beatbox- Liza from SHEL rocks it out

https://youtu.be/-sikjsW4jiI

🎥 SHEL - When The Sky Fell (Official Music Video)

VIP

Thanks to a monthly donation to Blood: Water for the past 10 years, we got VIP tickets to the Jars of Clay Christmas concert. Neither of us have ever been VIPs before so this is extra exciting. We got to go in early for food (really delicious) and drinks (cocktails made with local whiskey) and have special reserved seating in the balcony (the rest of the concert is general admission). We also had the opportunity to get family portraits made before the concert. 

Christmas Parade

While exploring downtown Franklin, we learned that this afternoon is their big Christmas parade!  It was fun but quite long (how does such a small town have so many marching bands and dance teams?!) 

Because of traffic

We have hotel reservations in Franklin Tennessee tonight. Even though we were both home by 4:30, we decided not to leave until nearly 7 to avoid sitting in Friday rush hour traffic for an extra couple of hours. We won't get to the hotel until almost 10:30 but hopefully it'll be a much less stressful drive. It'll be even less stressful if Korra will go to sleep...

Persuasive essay

Today I had my students write persuasive essays about what their parents should get them for Christmas. It was mostly to practice correct essay organization but they seemed to really enjoy it.

Just a generally good day

School was really good today, mostly because of an encouraging one on one conversation I had with the executive director.  It made me feel freed of some pressures and constructing expectations and energized for the next semester. 

After school Korra and I walked to the library and then I made tacos, banana muffins and peanut butter cookies. I also got some post-illness house cleaning done which makes me feel much more back to normal. 

Back to Normal

I'm back to feeling normal again.  Nate's on his second day home from school but I think he's on the up-swing.  That means tonight I'll be washing all the sheets, cleaning the bathrooms, and spraying everything with Lysol so that maybe I can sleep in my own room tonight (I've been bunking with Korra since Sunday).

Low Energy

Woke up feeling totally fine this morning, but was about to lay down on the nasty carpet in my classroom before homeroom even began.  I've spent the whole day teaching from my rolling chair.  Super thankful for my student teacher (who was very helpful) and my students (who were calm and gracious).  Going to nap and then order pizza as soon as I get home.

Other side

I've come out on the other side of this illness (which in now starting to suspect it's actually the flu) but Nate's even worse. He spent the whole day in bed. I spent most of the day on the couch. Korra and I watched 2 Christmas movies and decorated the tree (Korra did most of it). I also watched about 6 more episodes of Veronica Mars in between very slowly folding laundry, taking out the trash, putting away the groceries, and making a frozen pizza. That's about all the energy I had today which doesn't exactly bode well for teaching tomorrow.