Hello from the Other Side...

I made it... linking up with Love Made My Home.  Happy Days!  I am DONE (or mostly done!).  These last few weeks have been horribly stressful and I am still crashing.  I think I have to focus on the positives... because I still have miles to go.  Here's the latest and greatest since my last post...

1) My Evaluation?  DONE.  I am still waiting on the final results, but my pieces are all entered, uploaded, and complete.  I am SURE the rest is just formality.  I can check that off the list.

2) End of the year paperwork?  Well... still a work in progress.  I am hoping for GREAT things this weekend.  Time.  I just need time.

3) National Board?  DONE and SUBMITTED.  YAY!! I won't hear whether I passed or not until the end of the year (which seems like an eternity!), but I have packed it all away now and will find a way to put it out of my mind until after Thanksgiving.  The relief that it is done is indescribable!

4) My Cousin?  Apparently, a person can have brain surgery and walk out of the hospital less than four days later to recover at home.  She is my hero... sheer will and determination are pulling that girl through.  A week after her surgery, she went to her daughter's kindergarten performance because she "had to be there".  Her kids are her world and she will let nothing stop her from doing what she needs to do to be there for them.  She has healing to do, but she is okay and getting stronger each day.  Sending thankful thoughts out into the universe :)

 
5) Me?  Crazy.  Still.  I went to yoga this week.  For the first time in a month.  Oh, how I needed it.  There is zen at the end of this wild ride... I can feel it.  Just a little. bit. longer.  Miles to go until I get there, but summer vacation is there, within reach.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Fraying Around the Edges

I am frayed... or fraying.  Past tense would be great, but I think it's still happening, so fraying it is.  Have you ever felt like you're unraveling?  That's where I am.  I don't even have the words to truly sum up how scattered I am.  I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel but I've said it before... I hope that light is not a train.  I need a serious break, before I break.  Let me count the stress....

1) I have tons to do to wrap up my evaluation at work.  The paperwork is crazy.  This concept of "teacher accountability" being shown through Student Learning Objectives, rubrics, data collection, observations, formal lesson plans, etc. is crap.  I am way too OCD for this and I'm making myself nuts. 

But... it's all due Friday, May 13th.

2) The end of the school year is coming, which means more paperwork.  Class ranking sheet to place kids for next year, placement cards to complete, portfolios to sort through, final report cards, etc.  We don't end until June, but the deadlines are starting to pop up. 

First item due?  Friday, May 13th.

3) National Board Certification... this is a biggie.  I am close, yet so far.  Working through the last piece, which is a reflection.  All totaled, there are 7 sections.  Four are "done" and two still need to be edited.  Then there are miscellaneous components to complete.  Attestations forms, classroom layout drawings, evidence samples, and then the formatting to submit it all.  In addition to the work, the learning curve for some of the technology requirements has been huge.  I am tired and frayed is quickly becoming fried.

My goal?  It's due May 18th.  I am working to get it all together for Friday... May 13th. 

Why not?  That sounds like a great date!

4) Another biggie.  And the most important.  My family is in crisis.  My cousin has to have surgery on Tuesday.  Brain surgery.  The procedure will last for a minimum of 4 hours.  We are all trying to look at the positives.  This should alleviate her headaches, exhaustion, and the wide variety of symptoms she has had for a very long time.  But... the what "could" happen?  The possible wait-and-see negatives?  Scary stuff.  Send prayers. 

Four little nut shells.  That's the summation.  There are other (and many) satellite stressors floating around, ready to zap at me, but I am trying to ignore them or deal with them in small bits.  I want my "regular" life back.  Just keep swimming!

May 10th will be the fist hurdle of the upcoming week.  Once my cousin is on the other side of this and things start to go as planned with her, the rest is all the icing on the cake. 

May 13th is going to be a big deal around here... I see wine and a fancy restaurant in my future.