Thanks for the Break, Fay!

Tropical Storm Fay has arrived! I won't lie, I welcomed her!

A little rain, a little wind and.... a day off! Oh the glory!

Instead of waking up at 4:15am, I got to sleep in with my little Bug until 7:45. Do you know how marvelous that felt?

**Side note**What makes this day off better is the fact that I have a "severe sinus infection." I was just diagnosed with that last night. For those of you that live here in the area, there is a GREAT clinic in the Walmart in Yulee. They take Tricare, it's never busy, and you just walk in. I was done in 20 minutes. Awesome! The doctor told me that I should have been seen oh....last week!!!....but what can I say? I'm stubborn!

Anyway...so I've got this sinus infection. I've been sick for a week now. I figured I'd just caught on to the cold that Jeremy and Noah were hauling around. Nope. So having this day off is great because it gives me a wonderful chance to catch up on rest. And....I need to do work as well!!

So Fay, thank you for giving me the break I so desperately needed. Thank you for giving my students some joy in their day yesterday as well. It was hilarious watching them yesterday as I announced (in the middle of their writing workshop) "School will be canceled tomorrow" stand up and cheer "Yay!! We get to sleep in!!!" So much for writing, they were done for the day. It was fine, though. I was just as happy for them as I was for myself.

We finished class, I packed up my things and headed for home. We actually got to spend a nice night as a family. It's amazing what happens when you know that time is on your side. After filling up with odds and ends at the doctor, we headed down to Jacksonville. We laughed at ourselves as we were driving down into the darkness and rain at 5pm. "Thanks, Fay!" I said aloud as we made our way into the city. "What's that for?" My husband asked? "If it wasn't for Fay, we wouldn't be together...right here...right now." He smiled and agreed as he held my hand. Sure, we'd be together at home, but we'd be in our usual rush to get things ready for the next day. Hurry up and eat dinner, give Bug his bath, get things laid out for tomorrow. Are clothes ironed? Did the dogs get fed? Finish grading papers. Get to sleep at maybe 11 or midnight. Tonight we had a chance to slow down and enjoy the time we shared together. It was so nice. Actually, it was more than nice, it was perfect.

Sometimes we need these times that force us to slow down. Last week for me it was coming home to find the power was out. So Bug and I shared some special time playing together. No TV, no music, no nothing. Just the two of us and maybe a few books. For 90 minutes, time stood still. Sure, I could have taken the easy way out and left the house, but I didn't. I just enjoyed the time we had together. This week, it was taking a trip to Jacksonville during Tropical Storm Fay.

Thanks for the break, Fay, our whole family needed it. For you readers out there, I hope you get a break of your own soon!

I'm Here, I'm Just...

....treading water.

I'll give you a visual. I'm swimming in a pool that's filled to the brim. The tricky part is, people on the outside of the pool keep dumping more buckets of water into it. So as I'm treading water, a bucketful gets splashed into the pool dousing me with water. For a few minutes, I can't breathe. I get myself composed for a little while, I'm cool with my surroundings again, and then another bucket of water comes.

That's how things feel these days.

I just can't get ahead. I just can't lift my head high enough above the water.

I committed a "cardinal sin" on Friday. I told a class of students that I was pretty confident that I'm a terrible teacher. Shoot. These days I'm feeling pretty terrible as a wife, mother, and teacher.

My students were awesome, though. They gave me just the boost I needed. They really are learning from me. Are they going to remember for years to come what the elements of a short story are? Or what Beowulf's name means? Probably not. But the life lessons I'm teaching them? Those things...they are remembering. My students are remembering discussions we've had about quotes I've posted. Political talks that have taken place. Things I've told them to get their days started on the right track. Those things mean the world to me.

Does it take away the feeling that I'm feeling so far behind and completely lost? No. But I'm glad I'm having an impact on them.

Now if I could just stop treading water.