Back Up and Running!!

Well, my internet is finally back up and running.  I was finally able to upload the blog posts I wrote yesterday morning only ten hours ago...but that's only because silly me went off to work without taking my iPad with me, so I could upload them once I got to work.

And now I've just realized that it's only been ten hours since I got home from work, and a little over an hour from now I'll be heading out back to work.  Feels weird knowing I spend less time at home than I do traveling to and from and being at work.  

I got the kids' sport schedules all put on my calendar yesterday, and Holy Cow!  I am going to be one busy mother during the months of September and October.  Peanut's season starts September 12th and Butter's starts the 17th.  One week later, I'll be attending three games a week for three weeks, then two games, and then the last game of the season will be October 22nd.  

I may need to take out a second mortgage on the house just to cover the gas for my car.  Not just my car, but Hubby's car too.  Because on several nights, there are conflicts in which I'll be at a game and the other child will need to be collected from practice.  So, Hubby will have the job of picking that particular kid up.  Then I just have to pray that I can make it home in time before Hubby has to go to work.

Thankfully, it's just until the end of October.  Then I'll have my life back.  I'll be able to leave work at a reasonable time and not have to spend a gazillion dollars a week on gas so that I can drive all over Southwest Missouri.  Unless, of course, the kids decide to play basketball.  Gulp!

Yesterday was a crazy, busy day in my classroom.  Because I had so much trouble staying on schedule and fitting everything in last week, I made it a point to get EVERYTHING in yesterday.  Which ended up making me feel like I was running around like a decapitated chicken.  And that's minor compared to how my poor kids felt.  By the end of the day, I promised them that I'd re-evaluate my plans for the rest of this week...and I'd not be spending any more days cramming their brains so full and piling on so much work just to meet my lesson plan requirements.

In my opinion, it does no good putting that much on their shoulders in one day.  That don't have the ability to absorb that much information, or keep up with that many demands in terms of work.  I'd much rather cut the work load in half, be behind, and know that they are learning what they need to learn.  Just because I cover all of the standards in the set time period does NOT mean that they learn the objectives connected to them...especially if we're racing through them at lightening speed.  

And I have so much on my to-do list for the two hours I spend after work, while waiting on the kids to get back from practice.  Yet, I never manage to fit it all in.  I have so many ideas that I want to start implementing in to the daily schedule, that will help with getting my students where they need to be, but the time just seems to fly by.  By the time I wade through all of the paperwork that's piled up, once again, on my desk, and enter in grades, and prepare absentee work packets... time's up.  And before I know it, Peanut and Butter are back and ready to head home...and I leave feeling like I didn't accomplish anything.

By the end of the school year, last year, I'd finally grasped using my time wisely and was able to get a lot of work done without having to spend two hours in my classroom each night.  Yet, apparently over the summer I completely forgot how to do that.  And so I'm starting back at square one to figure out exactly what it was that I did last year that enabled me to get so much done in such a short amount of time.  Now that I have nothing but time at the end of the day, why is it I'm still so frazzled by my ever increasing work load?

It's OK, though.  I know I'll get there.  Back to school is always a crazy time...and it takes me a few weeks to adjust.  I'll find my bearings, again...sooner rather than later this time around, though.

I might need to make a to-do list for my to-do list.  Maybe setting up certain days to work on grading and paperwork, and certain days that I just focus on the projects I want to bring to life.  

An idea I might try today, maybe.  We'll see.

Right now, though... I should probably think about going to get ready for work.  My coffee cup is empty, which is my cue to head on in to the house from my patio and start preparing for my day.

Happy Tuesday!