Day Nine: Thankful for the Weekends

                            

It's Saturday!!  Which means I didn't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn this morning.  I didn't have to go to bed at a "reasonable" time last night.  I get to hang out in my pajamas for a while and be as comfortable as I want... until it's time to worry about doing anything that requires me taking a shower and getting dressed.

I absolutely LOVE my job, but I also absolutely LOVE the fact that I have weekends off.  Not everyone has that privalege, and it's definitely a perk to being a teacher.  

However, just because I don't get up and drive to work on Saturdays and Sundays doesn't mean that I'm not working.  In fact, I don't remember a weekend since the summer where I haven't spent some of my weekend sitting at my desk grading papers, writing lesson plans, or sorting data on growth and areas of concern.  

But, I am very thankful that I can spend my weekends working in comfort, in my home, on my own time schedule.

Last week, Hubby and I found some small side tables at Wal-Mart that were on clearence.  They are the kind that slide right under the furniture, and that can be pulled right up close.  They also have this cool little stand-up thing on the end that can hold a tablet perfectly.

Here..it was easier to take a picture of what I'm talking about, rather than try to explain it....

                             

Would you believe that these things were on sale for $5 a piece??  I kid you not!  And we bought 4 of them.  

This little table has been an answer to one of my many prayers.  Because it has transformed the way I now spend my weekends, working.  Up until this point, I would sit at my desk to work.  My desk is in our home office, which is away from the living room, away from the TV, and away from where the rest of the family spend their time.  Sure, my office is a quiet place to get work done... but when I'm working in there, I actually feel like I'm working...and not spending any time off.

Now, with my new fancy little table thingy, I can work in the living room and be completely comfortable... right in front of the TV.

Last night, I sat in front of the TV with Hubby and graded papers.  I spent a lot more time than I normally would writing little notes on the papers, giving feedback, and writing in grades.  Because I was comfortable, because I felt like I wasn't really working...it was something to do while sitting in front of the TV.

And I pretty much have the same thing planned for today.  Just relaxing and working at the same time.  

Of course, I'm not just thankful for being able to work on the weekends in comfort.  Yes, work takes up a good portion of my weekends...but not all of it.  

Here, lately, we haven't really done much on the weekends besides grocery shopping, cleaning, and laundry.  That's my normal weekend in a nutshell.  But, occasionally I'll venture out and see family and friends.  I try to make it over to see my parents at least once every other weekend.  I'll be heading over there tomorrow to take Butter, because he has a doctor's appointment Monday morning that my mom will take him to so that I don't have to miss work.

Next weekend, however, will be the weekend I look forward to the entire year.

Next weekend is the weekend I finally start Christmas shopping!!

That time is spent alone.  Just me.  Shopping all day long, hunting for treasures and surprises to be opened on Christmas morning.  It is, hands down, the most exciting weekend of my entire year.  Followed up closely by the weekend after, that is spent shopping for Thanksgiving.

A few years ago, I was someone who tried to break up Christmas shopping and have it done as early as possible.  In fact, it wasn't uncommon for me to be completely done with the bulk of my Christmas shopping by October.  That's because I was smart, and bought a few things here and there with each paycheck.  Then, I realized that if I just put some money away for a while, I could do my Christmas shoppig closer to Christmas...which is what I prefer, because it gives me a boost of Christmas spirit and really fills me for the upcoming holiday season.

Call me crazy, but I think that being out Christmas shopping when the weather is cold and there are Christmas decorations up and Christmas sales taking place is much more fitting to the occasion.  I blast Christmas music in the car, and stop for some kind of festive hot beverage while I'm out.  And it has become an important holiday tradition for myself.

But, enough about that... back to my being thankful for Weekends.

Most people would probably think that my weekends are extremely boring, and wonder why on earth I would be thankful for such.  But, when you spend your week working your tail off, leaving early, coming home late, barely having enough time to breathe let alone anything else....a couple of days of doing hardly anything is something to be very thankful for.  It's nice to just slow down the pace.  Relax.  Collect my thoughts.  Take care of stuff that gets neglected during the week.

The youngest two kids often spend time playing video games, or are outside riding their bikes or playing basketball.  The oldest child spends time listening to her music, talking to her friends, or hanging out with them.   I used to worry that we weren't doing enough stuff together on the weekends.  That I wasn't devoting time to doing family activities or taking them places to enjoy their weekends.  And, then I realized that the weekends are just as much downtime for them as they are for me.  

We did begin a new "thing" a couple of months ago, and that was Saturday night movie night.  Every Saturday night, we rent a movie and watch it together.  That's our one family activity for the weekend, and even though we're not talking or sharing or really interacting with each other during that time.. we're all in the same room, enjoying the same thing together. 

We get plenty of sharing and talking time each and every day with the 30 minute drive to and from school.

I am thankful that I no longer worry about being that person who worries so much about what I should be doing on the weekends, rather than just enjoying what I don't have to do on the weekends.  

If my kids want to laze around all day playing video games or watching TV, I'm OK with that.  During the week, the only "TV time" they get is about an hour before they all pass out.  By the time we get home, eat dinner, finish homework,  take showers and stuff it's pretty close to their bedtimes... so they spend a little while watching some TV to wind down.  So, I don't mind one bit if they enjoy their weekends being completely lazy.  Some will disagree with that mindset, but oh well.  

And, I realized that I got off on another tangent there that really has nothing to do with today's post.

So, I guess it's time for me to wrap it up.  I'm thankful for weekends.  Because it gives me time to think.  To relax.  To destress.  To clean up my house.  To spend the day in pajamas when I don't have to get dressed, or to spend my day in sweats when I do have to get dressed.  To visit family.  And anything else I want to do.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!