Has it really been a week? I guess it has. And I am struggling to get words down on this screen right now. That is probably why I haven’t come here in so long. It was a busy week. My first full week with students. The kids’ first week back at after school activities. Oh, and I injured myself. Again. Blerg, it’s been a lot. I’m not even sure how I’m going to make this post a “five on Friday.” Let’s see what I got.
Work. The first full week went pretty well. One of my classes is really struggling to meet behavior expectations, and I’m going to have to be very clear and consistent with them this year, but otherwise I’m enjoying my classes a lot. There is a new purchasing process that requires THREE approvals at the district level, and evidently a lot of requests are not being approved. We’re being told to use our PTA stipends to buy general supplies that we should not be spending that money on. It’s creating a real atmosphere of scarcity, which isn’t great. Also, the tech department informed me that, because I teach an elective, they are not responsible for replacing any computers in my Chromecart. They can attempt to fix them, but they can’t give me a computer when one is beyond fixing. Evidently, my site is responsible for that, but our admin has told us that we absolutely do not have any extra Chromebooks or the money to buy Chromebooks. My computers are in horrible shape, so this is a bummer to hear. Wednesday night was Back to School Night, which means I was at work for 13 hours, only to return the next day to my hellish four-block-periods-with-no-prep schedule on Thursday. Friday was a minimum day thank god, because I was fried.
Home. The kids had another good week. Daughter went to swimming three times. It was hard to get there from school on public transport, and she was late twice, but hopefully next week will be better because the light rail tunnel closure will be resolved. In the fall one of the light rail trains will be running again after year(s)-long improvements so that should help too. Son continues to walk home from school without issue, but to argue with me about reading and playing outside once he’s home. He came home from school sick today, but now seems fine. I’m wondering if he just said he was sick to get out of martial arts this afternoon. We made sure he was super bored today, so hopefully it won’t happen again. Husband continues to feel overwhelmed and to seem down most of the time, but this week did seem a little better. Maybe that upward trend in mood will continue!
Reading. I don’t usually write much about what I’m reading, but I can’t not mention The God in the Woods, which I believe I put on hold because Lisa mentioned it (she did list is as a favorite in her “What we read in August” post today, so maybe I’m remembering correctly! A first!) I was totally obsessed with the audiobook. I wanted to listen to it all the time. It was just so, so good. Such a great mystery, and so full of interesting, well-developed, characters. I’m seriously really sad that it’s over. I could not get more than 30 minutes into Sandwich and will probably return it without finishing it. I just can’t stand the book’s narrator, especially they way she talks about her grown children. Oh well. I just started listening to Un Mundo Sin Fin (Ken Follet’s World Without End translated into Spanish), because Jenny keeps talking about Fall of Giants (which I have on Audible and never finished) and has now started Winter of the World. I LOOOOVED The Pillars of the Earth when I read it (maybe 20 years ago the first time) so I decided to read the second book in the Kingsbridge series, which I’ve heard can be read before or after Pillars of the Earth, which is good because I don’t remember much about it at all. I also grabbed Marina, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón from the library today, because it’s his only book that I’ve never read and I adored La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) and the other books in the Cementary of Forgotten Books series. Our book club books is Tommy Orange’s newest book, Wandering Stars, which I started reading a little while ago, but couldn’t get into. I listened to There, There and really liked it, so I’m hoping the audiobook will work better for me than the actual book. (Oh, and this is where I admit that I started I Capture the Castle, but was a week late and could never catch up to the CBBC posts, and then I got busy and I kind of think I won’t finish it, even though I was like it well enough. I guess I’ll just read about the second half on Engie’s blog.)
Injury. Ugh, things were going pretty well, and then I injured myself again. This time it’s my right shoulder. I think I have an ACJ sprain or separation. My shoulder was tender Tuesday evening (after sparring), but I didn’t think much of it. Wednesday morning I noticed how tender it was when put on my bra, but I couldn’t quite figure out what exactly on my shoulder hurt. Wednesday night I noticed my collar bone was kind of sticking out and started googling and quickly self-diagnosed myself with an AC joint injury. Thursday I called the sports medicine desk at Kaiser and made an appointment for next Tuesday (9/10), then I promptly ordered myself some KT tape, because I hope taping it will keep me in the game while I wait to figure out exactly what is wrong. The good news is, I’m not in acute pain. It’s definitely tender and sore, but so far no normal arm motion sets it off. I’m terrified of frozen shoulder though (which is evidently a possibly if I don’t let it heal properly), so I’m fairly freaked out by this.
Exercise. Monday – 30 minute bike boot camp interval + arms with Tunde. Tuesday – Sparring concepts + Sparring. Wednesday – rest (it was 80* down by work, so I didn’t try to run, shower at my parents’ house, then come back. Plus I had already trashed my classroom even though it was only the fifth day with kids). Thurdsay – 30 minute lower body strength with Jess Sims. Friday – 30 minute HIIT run with Jess Sims. Saturday – I’m supposed to stay at the dojo after I teach the teens class, but I may bail because of my shoulder. If I don’t stay I’ll do a 45 minute bike boot camp that doesn’t include arms. Sunday – off (I’ll be with my kids at the water park’s last open day of the season!).
And that’s all I got for now. This post took me longer than I expected, and I was hoping to get some work done tonight. I’m trying to take last year’s school planner and get each trimester’s weekly plans typed into a document for my 1A and 1B classes, so I can use that document to plan this year, instead of carting around TWO school planners. I’m only half way through the first trimester for one class and I’m exhausted just reviewing all we’ll do before Thanksgiving. God we cover a lot. No wonder I always feel underwater…
Sorry to hear about the shoulder.. That’s something you don’t need on your plate right now. I am meeting the students this coming Tuesday, Sept 3, and the ball will start rolling with curriculum. In Spanish 2 we cover 8 chapters, in Spanish 3 H also 8 but with about 9 literary pieces that each has to be read, translated, analyzed and synthesized. (Think Quevedo). The pace is definitely fast in high school, assessments happens every other week.
I will keep a work life balance this year, meaning I will not let myself check email after 3PM. If there is an email where someone is angry at me I don’t need to see it at home, it literally robs me of my happiness and presence with the kids and husband. Please hold me accountable on that goal :))
That is super fast pacing at the higher levels. What kind of assessments do they get every two weeks? How much time does it take to score them? I absolutely support your “no work after 3pm plan.” I can definitely support you on that!
Daria: Good goal. Remember, if you backslide, you just get back on the abstain again bike!
Noemikjames: The picture of your shoulder looks wrong to my non-medical eyes. Hope they can change something so it heals correctly. 9/10 is a long time to wait. Might you write to your sports medicine doc and include pictures telling when your apt is and ask if there is anything you can do in meantime and if it is ok to wait to be seen until 9/10? Not to answer to me and you may have already thougtht his through…. but it definitely looks wrong in the pictures.
The overwhelm at this point of school year is normal for you historically. New students, parent meetings, new schools for both your kids. Adding no support for chromebooks on top is really tough. Am guessing you cannot ask parents of your students for assistance with either repair or replacement. A shame as you are in a part of the state where there are some people with that knowledge/connection/funds. School policy may not allow that question to be raised however! Be wary.
Hope new week and end of tunnel closure makes commute easier for your daughter. How grownup and responsible she is becoming!
Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder Fascinating book. VERY discuss-able for a book group. Also highly timely with some clearly wishing a return to that time period/way of life. The author’s children’s response (in 2022) to author’s research is also well presented. The library in SF has it, so no cost to read. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR FINDING THE TIME AND ENERGY TO WRITE THIS POST. Sending you much support and hope your husband finds his way to less depression. (??might light therapy help him?? SF can be grey. Not for you to answer here!)
Yeah, that is my collar bone separated from my shoulder blade. Not great. And sadly I can’t send anyone photos or get any info about it before 9/10 because my sports med doctors left Kaiser (she went to the Olympics! And then opened her own practice!) so I have an appointment with someone else. And I’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to tape it, while I wait. It will have to do.