Kids
Both kids started the school year strong. The 15yo is handling all of her classes nicely, including her first AP class (World History). She has some friends in some classes and while she got the Math teacher she didn’t love last year again, she’s handling that disappointment with grace.
The 11yo has done an incredible job navigating his SEVEN classes on an insane schedule that rotates through the seven classes with five a day (so Monday is periods 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Tuesday is periods 6, 7, 1, 2, 3, etc, with fewer classes on Wednesday, which is a minimum day). He didn’t even blink when they messed up his schedule and he had to start two new classes mid-week (he wasn’t put in the Spanish Immersion classes). He is on the baseball team and practices are kicking his ass, but he said last night that baseball was his “high” and it made my heart soar. I’m so proud of the work he did and is doing to participate in a new sport first thing.
Home
Things have been a little stressful and tense at home, but looking back on the blog at Augusts past (I was looking for pictures of what I drew on my classroom windows!), its been a lot worse. The first week is always stressful, as we return to our routines. The husband and I need to start planning the week again, especially dinners. We also need to pick a day to sit down and look at all the other stuff that requires both our brains. We should probably put that meeting on the books when we’re looking at the next week.
Last night, after the 11yo mentioned baseball was his “high,” my husband thanked me for all the work I did to help make the experience positive for him, like setting up the batting coach, and taking him to the batting cages to practice, and to the park to hit off the T, and getting him the glove and rebounding net at the beginning of the summer and making sure he knew how to set it up and put it away. I really appreciated the recognition for all of that, because it was a lot of work, and I was proud that I was proactive about helping him feel more comfortable playing baseball, while the husband just lamented the fact that we didn’t push him to play little league as a kid.
I front loaded a bunch of chores last weekend so I wouldn’t have them this weekend (changing the sheets, cleaning the bathroom, etc). I also did quite a bit of shopping last week, and I ended up grabbing a couple things that came in clutch, like a pair of sneakers for the 11yo at Costco when they were on sale, and some school supplies. I’ve been making last minute orders on Amazon, which I hate to support, but I think I’m done with that for a while. Everyone has what they need now, including me!
Work
My first two days of school went pretty well. I wasn’t as prepared as I could have been, but there were no crises to avert. My 8th grade classes are small (21 kids each), which I appreciate very much. I don’t love the order my classes are in, but it will be okay. I spent a lot of time on Monday and Tuesday working with my former student teacher, but she hasn’t texted me, so she’s clearly doing well on her own. I do plan to check in with her tomorrow to make sure she’s feeling comfortable with what we’re doing next week.
Tech has deemed over 10 of the Chromebooks in my cart are not fixable, but instead of returning them to me to make due until they are replaced, they just gave me back the cart with only 19 Chromebooks. Two of my classes have 32 students, so that won’t do. I really hope I can figure something out for Monday.
Perhaps the biggest deal though is that the “cooling system is works! It’s real air conditioning has kept my room in the blissful low 70s despite it being in the mid 80s the last two days! I honestly cannot believe that they actually installed real, working air conditioning in our rooms. Truly, it’s a miracle, and I don’t take it for granted.
Oh, and I got a new TV mounted and I’ve been using it for two days and it’s just as amazing as I’ve been dreaming of for these past four years. I’m so glad I splurged and got a new TV and put it up there. Absolutely worth the money.
Health / Well being
I just got my blood work done and my thyroid numbers are well within normal range now. I guess the medication amount is working, so we won’t need to fix it. The slightly lower amount of estrogen (0.75 instead of 1mg daily) keeps the hot flashes at bay, but without the breast tenderness. I was not able to fully fill my ADHD meds this week (there is yet another national shortage) and I finally emailed my psychiatrist about possibly going back on Strattera, which is not a controlled substance like Ritalin, which I need to fill at the pharmacy every month. Between filling my daughter’s Concerta, and the national shortage, I just don’t think I can manage two prescriptions that require so many tedious, time consuming steps to fill. I took Strattera for my ADHD years ago, and I’m sure going back to it would be fine. My psychiatrist has been “out of office” for over a week, so I guess she’ll follow up with me about it when she’s back.
I’ve been struggling a little to get my workouts in since going back to work. There have been some 30 and 45 minutes sessions when before they were almost all 60 minutes or more. It was so hard to get off the couch and go to the dojo on Wednesday, but I managed it (and was glad I did). This weekend there is an adult test, so there won’t be adult classes, and I’m kind of looking forward to a weekend without four hours of martial arts. I went for a run on Tuesday, and I finished four miles feeling fast and strong, despite battling heartburn for most of the day. It felt really good to finish four miles with the energy, and enthusiasm to keep going. I would have run longer if I’d had the time. Yesterday I immediately started a 45 minute bike bootcamp when I got back from work, and was finished with it right when the 11yo needed a ride. It felt good to be done working out before 6pm.
Coming up
There are a lot of events coming up, honestly I need to check my calendar constantly to make sure I’m not double booking. My Back-to-School Night is next Wednesday. We’re going to a Valkyries games Labor Day weekend. I’m away in Oregon from Friday to Monday in early September at the Advanced Retreat through the dojo. Both kids’ schools have their BTSNs in mid-September. I might miss the 15yo’s BTSN to take the 11yo to a John Scalzi reading in Santa Cruz (we’ve listened to many Scalzi books together, but Starter Villain is our favorite). The husband found a free middle school baseball clinic on a Saturday, and that same afternoon Shaboozy is playing a free concert at Civic Center (a BIG day for the 11yo). The husband is traveling (for work) to Philadelphia at the end of the month. September is going to be a BUSY month. I’m trying to brace myself.
I don’t really have time to read this over, but I’m going to schedule to post because perfect need not be the enemy of good enough. I’m embracing good enough these days, and it’s been pretty good to me.
I would go to a free Shaboozy concert! That is awesome. It sounds like a positive launch overall. Baseball for your son sounds like a huge win.
SOLIDARITY of how annoying it is to source ADHD meds every single freaking month (in my case not for me, but annoying nonetheless).
It’s so annoying. You have to wait for the right time to put in the refill request. It can’t be too early, or the system won’t let them process it, but if you wait too long maybe your doctor is out and doesn’t approve the request for several days. Then, once it is approved, most of the time Kaiser’s pharmacy won’t actually fill it for you, because of the scarcity, so you have to call them to ask them and talk to a liver person for them to actually do it, or just show up not knowing if they have enough to fill it (that is what happened to me this week. I had to forfeit half of what I was subscribed because I was out and couldn’t wait until this weekend or next week to come back.) It’s infuriating. And I’m at Kaiser every 4-5 weeks to get my allergy shot, but it still never seems to workout for me to fill my prescription then. Add in a second Rx that requires all the same uncertainties and opportunities for error and it’s crazy making. I’m over it. I need to change something and it’s not going to be my daughter’s prescription, because Concerta is working really for her. Blerg. I remember when I could get three months worth at one time. I miss those days so much.
That sounds like a lot going on but mostly good. Just wanted to say getting prescriptions for controlled medications is a real pain. Plus with Kaiser you don’t have flexibility for which pharmacy to use. We’ve found a small independent pharmacy here and they have made the whole process much better than when we were with a major grocery chain.
I, too, have adopted the “good enough” mantra and am surprised at how well it is working for me!
I AM SO HAPPY for all your successes! You have worked so hard to set things up and be pro-active. Really a delight to hear things are going so well when so many activities are going on and the potential of problems is so high. And how great that you and spouse are alert and planning to avoid some problems and that your hard work re sports was acknowledged!!!!
This is a banner report in a stressful time. So happy for you all!
My dad always pointed out to me that he didn’t even start baseball until 8th grade and then he played all through high school. This idea that everything has to be started young or else it’s “too late” is one I’m really trying to dissuade my kids from adopting but it’s hard when our culture is, also as my dad used to say, determined to take anything fun and monetize it (pickleball was his fav example of this, lol).
Wow, that middle school schedule sound COMPLICATED. There are so many school schedules nowadays- I remember when my daughter was in middle school it rotated which period was first- in other words, they had every class every day, but started with period one, then period two, etc. High school used to be “EOREO”- even, odd, regular (every class period but shorter) even, odd. Now it’s just even, odd (even periods one day, odd periods the next) and that’s manageable. Sheesh- way more complicated than when I was in school!
Sounds like things are going relatively well- but oof, that’s annoying about your prescriptions. The last thing you need is a lot of complicated steps to get your meds!