Finally Friday
I actually managed to get myself out of bed at 4:45 a.m. on Wednesday to run my scheduled training (a 7 mile speedwork workout, which I like to do) and was rewarded with a progressively more painful knee throughout the last half of my first mile. I was going to push on for another mile since often the pain goes away...or at least a new part hurts instead. It hurt enough at the end of the mile that I cut my run short and headed back to bed. I'm sure my husband loved having me climb back into bed with legs that were icy from the 34 degree morning! Of course, I snuggled right up to him to warm up. I think I may have heard his teeth chattering as I drifted back to sleep...
I was afraid that I was just wimping out, but my knee has been bothering me ever since Wednesday, so stopping the run was a good choice. It's weird. It's not my knee so much...but when I lift and bend my knee (like going up stairs), I get a pain that shoots down from my knee along my tibia (?). It's been feeling better today, so I'm on the fence about a run tomorrow. On one hand, I'd like to get a decent run in before Thursday's 5K and Saturday's 10 mile race. On the other hand, I'd like to be able to run the two races and not reinjure myself first.
As grateful as I was to have an excuse to sleep in on Thursday (instead of running again), I miss being able to run. And I think not running shows up in my mood. I've been feeling really overwhelmed the past few days, not by anything huge, but by a lot of little things. If I could have gotten away with it, I'd have come home and climbed into bed every night after work. Since these people in my house actually expect to be fed, instead I relied on a bottle of $5.00 Riesling. As I mentioned on facbook, cheap wine beats no wine, but not by much.
Thursday, I opted to skip J's cub scout pack meeting. He was very excited to receive the fabulous marshmallow crossbow (pictured at left) that he earned for selling over $600 in popcorn. As an aside, despite being very happy for my little boy for setting and meeting a goal and winning the prize he wanted, after being pelted repeatedly by stale marshmallows by the 7 and 16 year olds, I'm totally over the marshmallow crossbow. Just saying.
Why did I skip the meeting? Well, in addition to the reality that pack meetings are akin to the Dante's 7th ring of hell, I had a turkey to roast.
Ahhhh, turkey! Why exactly was I roasting a turkey a full week before Thanksgiving? Because every year my class has its own Thanksgiving dinner. We make the pies the day before, I make the turkey the night before, and we prepare all of the food in our classroom. It's amazing how much food you can cook using only crock pots and a 2-burner hot plate!
Each family sends in a small part of the feast (2 boxes of Capri Sun, or 3 cans of corn, etc.). While I may sometimes have trouble getting homework back, every single family contributed to our feast. Not only that, but they got their "assignment" the day before I needed it. I was very impressed! We celebrate Thanksgiving as a class because they celebrate the "big" (aka classroom party) holidays with their regular classes. That's important, but I want them to have a sense of community in our class as well.
The feast can be a hassle, but it's well worth the trouble...and today, it really wasn't even a hassle. I've done this now for 7 years, so my aides and I are something of a well-oiled machine. We did some projects in class: creating a disguise for paper turkeys so they wouldn't be eaten and coloring feathers for headdresses. We read some Thanksgiving stories: A Plump and Perky Turkey and "How the Turkey Got Its Tail Feathers". I made felt pieces to go with the latter story, and the kids loved it. We played "Pin the Wattle on the Turkey". And we cooked. Well "cooked"...our Thanksgiving dinner comes out of boxes and cans. I'd love to make real mashed potatoes with them instead of from a box and cook my mom's stuffing recipe instead of using Stove Top, but I haven't gotten that ambitious yet. Maybe next year. Our principal and asst. principal came to eat with us and then spent about 15 minutes just hanging out with the kids and talking.
It was a great day. Rather than being busy moving from one task to another and trying to fit everything in, we just took the day at our own pace. We hung out together, cooked, made art, and listened to music. Instead of being at their desks, the kids spread out across the floor. One moment that I loved
came when the "ABC song" started playing. All together and on their own, the kids started singing along. It was like our own little concert. I really love this group of kids. I'm going to miss them terribly when they move on to second grade.
The sunset on my ride home was beautiful. This picture doesn't do it justice, but at least you get an idea of what it looked like.
We had a quick dinner (Thanksgiving leftovers, before Thanksgiving...how lucky am I?), I got a short nap--much needed...I was afraid to close my eyes at stoplights on the way home because I thought I might fall asleep, and then we headed off to N's basketball scrimmage. His JV team got creamed by the varsity...hopefully that's a sign of how good our varsity is and not how bad our JV is!
N is in black, I guess you'd call him top left in the picture. I think he made one basket and got a few rebounds. J, as you can see, was enthralled...just not with his brother's game!
I'm really excited to sleep in tomorrow...and I'm really looking forward to going for a hike! It's supposed to be a nice day, decent temperatures and sunny. Hopefully we'll have a good time (no guarantees of that with J...sometimes he has a blast, sometimes...not so much) and get some good pictures! Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do!
I was afraid that I was just wimping out, but my knee has been bothering me ever since Wednesday, so stopping the run was a good choice. It's weird. It's not my knee so much...but when I lift and bend my knee (like going up stairs), I get a pain that shoots down from my knee along my tibia (?). It's been feeling better today, so I'm on the fence about a run tomorrow. On one hand, I'd like to get a decent run in before Thursday's 5K and Saturday's 10 mile race. On the other hand, I'd like to be able to run the two races and not reinjure myself first.
As grateful as I was to have an excuse to sleep in on Thursday (instead of running again), I miss being able to run. And I think not running shows up in my mood. I've been feeling really overwhelmed the past few days, not by anything huge, but by a lot of little things. If I could have gotten away with it, I'd have come home and climbed into bed every night after work. Since these people in my house actually expect to be fed, instead I relied on a bottle of $5.00 Riesling. As I mentioned on facbook, cheap wine beats no wine, but not by much.
Thursday, I opted to skip J's cub scout pack meeting. He was very excited to receive the fabulous marshmallow crossbow (pictured at left) that he earned for selling over $600 in popcorn. As an aside, despite being very happy for my little boy for setting and meeting a goal and winning the prize he wanted, after being pelted repeatedly by stale marshmallows by the 7 and 16 year olds, I'm totally over the marshmallow crossbow. Just saying.
Why did I skip the meeting? Well, in addition to the reality that pack meetings are akin to the Dante's 7th ring of hell, I had a turkey to roast.
Ahhhh, turkey! Why exactly was I roasting a turkey a full week before Thanksgiving? Because every year my class has its own Thanksgiving dinner. We make the pies the day before, I make the turkey the night before, and we prepare all of the food in our classroom. It's amazing how much food you can cook using only crock pots and a 2-burner hot plate!
Each family sends in a small part of the feast (2 boxes of Capri Sun, or 3 cans of corn, etc.). While I may sometimes have trouble getting homework back, every single family contributed to our feast. Not only that, but they got their "assignment" the day before I needed it. I was very impressed! We celebrate Thanksgiving as a class because they celebrate the "big" (aka classroom party) holidays with their regular classes. That's important, but I want them to have a sense of community in our class as well.
The feast can be a hassle, but it's well worth the trouble...and today, it really wasn't even a hassle. I've done this now for 7 years, so my aides and I are something of a well-oiled machine. We did some projects in class: creating a disguise for paper turkeys so they wouldn't be eaten and coloring feathers for headdresses. We read some Thanksgiving stories: A Plump and Perky Turkey and "How the Turkey Got Its Tail Feathers". I made felt pieces to go with the latter story, and the kids loved it. We played "Pin the Wattle on the Turkey". And we cooked. Well "cooked"...our Thanksgiving dinner comes out of boxes and cans. I'd love to make real mashed potatoes with them instead of from a box and cook my mom's stuffing recipe instead of using Stove Top, but I haven't gotten that ambitious yet. Maybe next year. Our principal and asst. principal came to eat with us and then spent about 15 minutes just hanging out with the kids and talking.
It was a great day. Rather than being busy moving from one task to another and trying to fit everything in, we just took the day at our own pace. We hung out together, cooked, made art, and listened to music. Instead of being at their desks, the kids spread out across the floor. One moment that I loved
came when the "ABC song" started playing. All together and on their own, the kids started singing along. It was like our own little concert. I really love this group of kids. I'm going to miss them terribly when they move on to second grade.The sunset on my ride home was beautiful. This picture doesn't do it justice, but at least you get an idea of what it looked like.
We had a quick dinner (Thanksgiving leftovers, before Thanksgiving...how lucky am I?), I got a short nap--much needed...I was afraid to close my eyes at stoplights on the way home because I thought I might fall asleep, and then we headed off to N's basketball scrimmage. His JV team got creamed by the varsity...hopefully that's a sign of how good our varsity is and not how bad our JV is!
N is in black, I guess you'd call him top left in the picture. I think he made one basket and got a few rebounds. J, as you can see, was enthralled...just not with his brother's game!
I'm really excited to sleep in tomorrow...and I'm really looking forward to going for a hike! It's supposed to be a nice day, decent temperatures and sunny. Hopefully we'll have a good time (no guarantees of that with J...sometimes he has a blast, sometimes...not so much) and get some good pictures! Enjoy your weekend, whatever you do!
WOW, as always, you impress me beyond belief. Why aren't you in my school district?? Teachers like you should be paid the BIG BUCKS. PS: I LOVE tall people, just in the theatre I avoid them because well, I'm short and the kids, they are shorter. We all have long legs for short people so when we sit, we are shorter than normal. But it's better than the alternative of LONG torso, short legs.... :O
ReplyDeleteIt's not so hard to pull off something like this when you have a small class and aides. What's amazing to me is how my friend who teaches in a regular classroom manages this with her entire class.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hate sitting behind tall people in theaters, too. I feel sorry for people sitting behind me, so I try to slouch down. lol