Today I did pretty much nothing. And it was nice. And dare I say, needed. But now I have so much to do. Sometimes I wonder if do-nothing days are worth it. Yes, you get to rest and recharge, but then you’re faced with even more the next day.
At least it is a three day weekend, so I still have 48 hours to get some stuff done. And next next week is Thanksgiving break, so whatever isn’t done at the end of the weekend can probably wait until the break.
I’m trying not to let the looming to-do list stress me out too much. Everything will be okay, eventually.
The long weekend has officially begun and I am here for it!!!
I was able to leave work easily – it felt different knowing my student teacher was in charge of the two periods, NOT that I was in charge of making the two periods work for someone else.
The high school tour was fine. I don’t really get them, but I’m glad we went. And my daughter had friends there to bounce thoughts and ideas ofd of so that was good.
My parents came up and got the kids. And now date night begins. We’re definitely getting a drink and having dinner, but we’ll probably come home after that to chill out with some home made cocktails (my husband’s speciality) and furikake popcorn (my speciality).
Last night I meant to do work but instead I snuggled with these cats and watched some TV. #noregrets
I’ll get the work done this weekend. We have three days. I am so here for this long weekend.
I hope every who gets it has exactly the weekend they need. Cheers!
I committed to NaBloPoMo on Friday, after assisting until 6:30pm at the dojo. On Saturday I left at 9am to wine country, and didn’t get home until Sunday at 5pm. Monday night I taught the Basics class at the dojo and last night I went to sparring. Both ended at 8pm. I have been sleeping badly, despite the fact that falling back usually helps me sleep better. I’m pretty sure what I thought was allergies is actually whatever dry cough is making the rounds (and ho boy is it ever – this bad boy is catching!) Its been a whirlwind first week of November!
I’ve had 95 assessments burning a hole in my expandable folder, and all my Day of the Dead stuff reminding me that I have to put it away. I have been feeling VERY underwater this week. And I’ve also been trying to accept that feeling and let it go. I knew that today would provide a little space, and that I just needed to wait for that space.
Today I came to school not feeling great, but I was determined to get out from under the piles that have been accumulating all around my classroom. And I kind of did! All the Day of the Dead stuff is packed away, and the 12 kids who were absent last Friday took their assessment today.
I ran on the way home. A short run, but it felt pretty good, considering how awful I felt this morning. I ran two unpleasant errands on the way home, and it feels good to get those out is the way.
Tomorrow I’m leaving work early, but I had no trouble getting coverage for my two block periods because my student teacher is teaching. Thursday is my long, hard day because I have four block periods and no prep. I’m pretty thrilled to be missing half of it. And it’s a long weekend!
I’m leaving early for my daughter’s last high school tour. There are certainly worse reasons for leaving early (like taking both cats to the vet, which I’m doing on Monday). The kids are going to my parents’ house tomorrow afternoon for a spend the night, so my husband and I can spend some quality together. It’s been a long time since our last date night. I’m looking forward to it, and to the long weekend.
Today I introduced my “Pirámide de Participación” at school. It’s the crown jewel of my Spanish program. I’ve been tweaking it for several years and now I just need to make sure it works with over 125 students.
Of course the kick off was more hectic than I was hoping. But in the end I think it went well. A couple of my more reluctant learners were very engaged. They had a lot of questions and we’re already planning how they can strategize to win the most prizes. Some even asked if they could take books home!
I wore my Profe Pulpo hat in all its glory.
I had their boards ready in their hanging files.
And of course I had the library ready.
I really hope this year is a success. I struggled to keep up last year, and when I saw my numbers for this year I immediately started brainstorming ways I can streamline the process for larger classes. As I was telling the kids today., if everyone reads the required five books this year I’ll have over 600 responses to process. The reality is it will be more like 1,000 because many of them will do extra. It’s a lot. But hopefully it will go well and be rewarding for them and for me.
I’ve spent the last two weeks (maybe more) managing a raspy throat, wondering when the actual cold is going to hit. But it never does. And then I remember that the same thing happened in the spring and I finally decided it was allergies. I even went back to my allergist, who I haven’t seen in years, to see what she thought. So maybe this is allergies? Except I don’t have many other symptoms (my eyes are fine) and everyone and their mother has a cough that sounds a lot like my raspy throat clearing. Maybe I’m not getting the full cough because I’ve had this particular bug before?
I just wish I knew. I wish I had a diagnostic system that could tell me what is going on, so I could commit to the appropriate treatment, instead of taking Umcka and Airborne for four days and then doubling down on Allegra and Nasacort for another four.
I get allergies shots already, so the thought that I could have symptoms like this again twice a year is a giant bummer. Maybe that is why I’m in such denial. And if I get retested at the allergy department, and they find a new allergen I need added to my shot, I have to go back to newbie status and get them twice and week and then once a week for I don’t even know how long. It’s been years since I had to go that regularly. I wonder how bad I’d have to feel to do that.
I told my son I wished I had a diagnostic system to tell me why I felt like I did (he has similar undiagnosable symptoms) and he said, why don’t you just wish you didn’t feel this way at all?
The weekend was a success. I enjoyed myself and I think others did too. I’m really happy I went, and I didn’t even return home exhausted!
Each kid was with a set of grandparents so my husband isn’t exhausted either. That is good because last week was looong and tiring and this week will be busy too.
And we get an extra hour!
This evening is back to real life. I have planning to do and projects to grade. I’m at the dojo Monday and Tuesday, after an unplanned hiatus last month. I need to get coverage for my last two block periods on Thursday because of a high school tour. Then a long weekend!
I really need a long weekend. One where we don’t go away.
And I need to sit down and figure out when I’m going to write posts and reply to comments and read other people’s blog posts and write comments. I can do it all, but I need to be strategic about when. And I don’t want to go to bed too late doing it because this is a time when I try to reset my sleep cycle a little earlier. I need to take advantage of this opportunity to get more sleep.
I thought I’d start NaBloPoMo (on the fourth day) with a little intro post. My About page is… playful? Fun? Annoying? Definitely not helpful. So if some new people are going to stop by this month, I might as well let them know who I am.
And I just can’t get the caterpillar from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland out of my head. So I’m adding him too.
So who am I?
I’m a 43 year old middle school Spanish teacher. I live in San Francisco (the super expensive doom loop city!) with my husband (of 15 years this winter!), my 13-year-old daughter and my 10-year-old son. Oh, and my two kitten cats (they just turned one this summer) and a bearded dragon. We have a house on the south (aka more affordable) side of the city, that we “bought” (feels weird to say that when it’s not even half paid off) 11 years ago. We had to rent out our in-law unit to pay our mortgage for a while, but after a $20K buy out we get to walk behind our car to our bedroom! Four years later and it’s still glorious to have two bathrooms, for real for real.
I am around middle schoolers ALL DAY so I sometimes talk like them. No cap.
Who else am I? I have ADHD, which I treat with a Ritilin-equivalent. I was on anti-depressants for over 10 years before my ADHD diagnosis and none of them worked and I’m SO THANKFUL for ADHD medication. It saved me.
I started blogging 15 years ago when I was trying to get pregnant and processing my ectopic pregnancy. I found an incredible online community around that and wrote copious amounts of words a week on my previous blog. I closed shop there a while back and briefly tried posting under my real name, but shut that down pretty quickly. I’ve been writing anonymously again in this space for close to a decade. I don’t post photos of myself or my family here, and I’m not on social media (at all) because I’m terrified of my students finding me and making me miserable. Also social media is not my friend. Or even my frenemy. The fear is real and I will never overcome it.
But blogging was my literal world for several years there. When that community of ALI (Adoption, Loss, Infertility) bloggers slowly fell away (as people just stopped writing after they completed their families with our without children), I was left with a rather sizeable hole (gaping felt like a strong word to use in an intro, but it’s appropriate).
I’ve kind of stumbled along here despite never really finding that community again. I think part of why I’m excited to participate in NaBloPoMo this year is I love the idea of finding some of that online comradery again.
We shall see…
Sorry I’m ping ponging all over the place. Turns out it’s hard to pin down who I am…
I have lived in SF for over 20 years. Before that I was at UC Berkeley and before that at my parents’ house on the peninsula (near where I now work). I spent seven-ish years in Hong Kong as a kid, when I was very young and then from 2nd to 7th grade. I really loved living in Hong Kong and thrived on the independence I was allowed there. I had a hard time in middle school when I got back. 7th and 8th grade were truly some of the worst years of my life. I find it kind of hilarious that I ended up there in perpetuity.
But I love my job. I really do. My native language is not Spanish, but I fell into this job 20 (!!) years ago and am so grateful I did. I get to fly under a lot of the radars that regularly force public school teachers out of the classroom, and I get to flex my creativity when I have the time and energy to do so. I’ve built a really popular program that exploded this past year and I’m learning what “be careful what you wish for” really means. But I don’t regret it. At least, I don’t want to.
I work out a fair amount. Right now I run and strength train and practice martial arts. I’m a blue belt at a dojo that blends karate and tae kwan do. I also run for run because how can you not when the weather is beautiful all year round. I swam competitively in high school but destroyed my shoulder and stopped (I was never very good – I swam mostly for the friends, and the endorphins). I cycled a lot with my parents in my 20s and have ridden several centuries. I love to run and have completed one marathon and several half marathons. I also dabbled in rock climbing for several years. Basically I love to move my body and feel strong, and exercise is my number one go-to for mental health management.
My relationship with San Francisco can be complicated. I love this city, but it can be really hard to raise a family here. Especially on the salaries of a public middle school teacher and a city employee. We’re both pretty high on our salary schedules, but it never seems to be enough. We live in a pretty modest house, and only have one car, but we’re also in one of the most expensive areas in the US. We’re lucky we got into our house when we did. We plan to leave when we’re wheeled to assisted living (if we make it that long). Our kids go to public schools in the city, and even though the district can drive me all kinds of crazy, I believe strongly in public education and that is where we intend to keep them.
My husband works for the city, where he was born and raised. You don’t meet a lot of born-and-raised San Franciscans who still live here. He’s a unicorn. He loves the city. His job is centered around trying to improve it. It can be demoralizing to attempt to do that. But he always knows what is happening and we really do take advantage of our urban lifestyle. We go to museums and music events regularly. Our kids are learning to get around by themselves on the buses and trains they take with us every day. I love this life for them, and I’m glad we’re lucky enough to be living it.
I have to stop now, and I’m sure there are things I’ll be shocked I forgot to mention, but I’ll feel those feelings when it they hit. Because right now I need to schedule this, shower, and start some laundry.
This is how excited I am about NaBloPoMo. I hope you’re more excited to be here than my cats. 😀
If my commitment post going up on the 3rd, and no post at all on the 1st, is any indication, this might be a mistake. But I have shown up for many a NaBloPoMo, and the amount of minutes I’ve been spending trying to reach “Genuis” on the NYT’s Spelling Bee suggests I do have the time. I think I might have the inclination as well, especially when there is such an organized push this year. (There probably has been this push before, I just didn’t know about it!)
I’m excited to show up here more. I’m determined to respond to all the comments. I’m stoked to read so many new blogs! I think this might be a really fun month in blogland!
Which is what I need. I need something that feels good right now, and this could be it.
I just spilled coffee all over my keyboard, which doesn’t feel like the greatest omen… but my computer still works so maybe it’s a metaphor!
This weekend I’m headed to wine country with some people from work. I almost wrote friends, but that doesn’t feel like the right word. I’ve known many of these people a long time. I’m sure I could call them friends. But I’m also nervous about spending the weekend with them. I can be very socially awkward – I talk too much and interrupt if I’m not careful. I’m also loud. Ho boy do I struggle with my inside voice! It’s booming! I’m just a lot, and it’s hard for me to manage myself and still have fun. With good friends I feel a little more comfortable because I know they are choosing to be with me for a prolonged. With something like this I feel a lot more self conscious.
But I’m trying to get out more – in real life and in blog land. It’s fitting that I signed up for NaBloPoMo the day before this little getaway. Bring it on, November.
Halloween 2023 is in the books. It was filled with firsts for us, and I had some big feelings about them.
The biggest change was that we didn’t meet at my friend’s house to pre-party and then to Trick-or-Treat with the girls in her neighborhood. This year the friend who usually hosts went out with her younger daughter’s friends. I ended up going out with my younger kid as well. And our girls went out with their school friends, instead of together. That part felt especially hard.
I like our usual Halloween hang out not just for the company but also for the low key vibes. We usually stayed our about an hour before heading back to the house to hang out.
Last night my son and I joined his friends and they do Halloween differently. We were out for three hours and we hit up two of the craziest neighborhoods for Halloween. I ended the night walking to bus stop in my socks, because I just couldn’t wear my boots any longer.
That we partly because I wore them all day at school. Our staff theme this year was Barbie and people went all out. I wish I could post group photos but as you know, that’s not how I roll. I will say that I love my staff. We really bring it when it comes to dressing up.
This year I was weird Barbie, because all my Barbies ended up weird eventually. When I saw Weird Barbie in the movie I thought, oh yes. There she is. That’s my girl.
I made me own Weird Barbie costume and I spent exactly $5 on it – for the patch that I ironed on the dress, so people would know I was Weird Barbie and not just a weirdo.
Everything else I had. I used a dress I didn’t love and spattered it with paint, that I already owned (and was able to find in the shed!) I threw on some crazy leggings and a wig I had at school for skits. The final touch was my white go-go boots which I wore as Princess Leia and my daughter wore as Cher from Clueless and which barely had another use in them. My daughter and I spent last Sunday drawing all over them, and they were a big hit.
The dress, before I hung it on a tree to splatter the back. The boots.
My daughter was a Pokémon she already had the onsie for, which means the only costume I had to buy was my son’s. He went as Glamrock Freddy from FNAF. It was a pretty intense costume and I worried he’d have second thoughts but he rocked it at school and on the streets.
We met up with his friends early and we’re our Trick-or-Treating by 5:30. We started near their house in the Mission. All in all there were four 10-year-olds and their parents. It was the same group that spent the night for our son’s birthday.
After walking five pretty packed blocks we said goodbye to one family and headed up the hill to Fair Oaks, which might be the most popular Halloween neighborhood in San Francisco. People come from all over the Bay Area to Trick-or-Treat on these six blocks.
We headed up there because one family had a friend in the area. We stopped there to use the bathroom and get some more real food in our stomachs. Most of the adults stayed at the house while I went back out with the boys. We hit up about half of the blocks that were closed off. There were DJs playing in some of the garages and dance parties in the street. It was truly nuts.
Just one of the many dance parties we walked past. (This is a gif but it only plays on the site.)
Back at the friend’s friend’s house the boys counted their candy.
So much candy.
At 8:30, when it was clear no one else was heading home, I bribed my own son with an episode of The Simpsons if he’s head back with me. And this is when I took my boots off and walked the five blocks back to the bus stop in my socks.
Yesterday morning we were all really tired but luckily my class was finishing up Coco at school, so that was manageable. I always love that our Day of the Dead unit ends with Coco right when Halloween requires a break. It’s my favorite unit for a lot of reasons.
Last night my husband and I went to a concert of Spanish-language groups, including an Aztec punk band. It was a lot of fun, and I would never have gone to something like that on a Wednesday if most of my classes weren’t finishing Coco today. Yay!
Aztec dancers that performed between sets. (This is a gif but it only plays on the site.)
Today is Day of the Dead. I really love this holiday. I’ve had my ofrenda up in my classroom for a few weeks, with pictures of my grandmother, cousins and cat. It’s been nice to see their faces and think of them this month. I wish our culture provided more opportunities for us to remember the people who are no longer with us.
I’m back on the elliptical so it’s time for a post!
I really did mean to write earlier this week, but I felt like I was coming down with something on Thursday and last night, so I went to bed really early. I’m still not sure if I’m fighting something off, or just really tired (or maybe it’s allergies?), but I’m getting my Covid booster today regardless, which is why I’m working out now, so if (when?) I feel horrible later, I’ll have my work out done.
Working Out Right Now
I’m a little disappointed that I’m only on the elliptical today. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day and I would have been at the dojo, except there is an adult test today so no classes. And I would have ran, but again I’ve heard this new Covid booster lays you out so I don’t want to wait to run and then feel too sick to do so. Maybe I can run tomorrow.
I’ve been struggling to show up at the dojo for a few different reasons. They have had some unexpected closures due to roof work. I’ve had some unusual commitments on the weekdays and weekends. Work is also requiring more of me at home this year, which has led me to skip a few evenings. I’m trying to take it in stride – it’s good to get a break, especially for my back/leg pain, but also for my overall commitment to it. It is expected that I stay at blue belt for a long while, so I’m not in a rush to learn anything. And my friend I train with is even out right now (injury), so she’s not blasting ahead of me either. It’s really fine that I’m not showing up there like I normally would. I’m letting myself process that.
Ditto with running. I love it, and I do think I can make more time for it if I change expectations, but it’s okay if I’m on the elliptical more for a little while. I mean we have an elliptical! It’s good to use it! (My husband is on it regularly so it’s getting used regardless). Monday I went for a quick run before I took my son and his friend to the dojo. It didn’t go great, but I did run for 30 minutes and I ran fast so maybe that is what a during the week run will look like this winter.
The reality is I’m not training for anything, so I don’t need to add stress to my workout regimen. Right now I’m just trying to maintain my physical and mental health (and keep the winter holiday weight gain at bay, let’s be honest) and if that looks like less time at the dojo and running so be it. And maybe, once PT starts (in mid-November) my goals will change even more. And that is okay too.
Trunk or Treat
Part of why I was really tired last night, was surely due to the two hours I stood outside in the increasing cold for Trunk or Treat at my daughter’s school. She and some of her friends are going as Pokémon this year (she already has an Evie onsie), and my son has been a huge fan for years so we have plenty of Pokémon stuff around the house (including enough stuff for me to dress up as Ash!) so we made that our theme. I also had a bunch of Trick-or-Trade card packs from Costco, which felt like a sign. Finally, I found a Gengar Trunk-or-Treat decoration and Pokéball balloons on Amazon so that sealed the deal.
It was fun to participate this year, since it’s her last at the school. And I’m sure I can use it all again when my son is at the school in a few years.
Apologies for blacking out our faces – I was reminded recently how much I DO NOT want my students, or my kids’ friends, to ever find identifiable photos of us online.
It was a nice day, but by 6:30 it was pretty cold to be out there in shorts. When I got home I bundled up with some hot tea until I passed out at 10pm.
This weekend and the coming week
Today we’re getting vaccinations. My son and husband are getting both flu shot and the Covid booster, I’m getting the Covid booster (I already got the flu shot) and our daughter is just getting the flu shot (she’s a little sick so we didn’t think the Covid booster made sense this weekend). I have nothing else planned this weekend and even next week is pretty light at school, as we rap up our Day of the Dead unit with the movie Coco (always great to show a movie on Halloween too!) I definitely need the time to catch up on grading and get ready to launch our free reading program, which requires some tweaking this year with the large classes.
I also need to plan for the classes (and sometimes full days) I’ll be missing for high school tours. They are of course, during the school day, which is a giant pain in the ass for me. But hopefully, after we tour, we’ll feel confident in our rankings on the application. I’m trying to schedule a little something for myself on the days I’m away from school, so they are not just stressful and annoying. I also still have my student teacher around, which makes me gone a lot easier.
November and beyond
November starts this week and while the first half of it is really busy with high school tours, a both-cats vet appointment and starting physical therapy, it slows down by the Thanksgiving Break. We don’t usually do much that week, so hopefully then I can recharge before the winter holidays.
I have been uploading pictures to a Best of 2023 album on Shutterfly all year, which means making the calendar over Thanksgiving break should be WAY easier. Last year I spent several late nights going through the THOUSANDS of photos from the year before to grab the best, but this year they are already curated! I’m so glad I thought to do that last year and actually stuck to it this year. Yay for 2022 Noemi bullying me via my reminders app into doing twice a month!
And my time on the elliptical is over, so I have to go shower. I hope you all have a great weekend!
