The Randomness Rundown of the Past Oh-SO-LONG Week!

I have never been so happy for a Friday night! This week has sure been a doozie and I'm certainly glad it's over! Not that I expect the next week to get much better, but as Em's cast will be coming off on Tuesday, I'm sure it will put me on "cloud 9" for awhile! 

I will explain why this week has been hard:

For one, I started back to work full-time. For those of you that don't know, I am a Title One preschool teacher. Don't know what that is? Don't worry, it's going to be explained in a bit. 

And although I do not have kids coming yet (like my fellow elementary colleagues and friends, ours start after Labor Day), my days have been filled and completely consumed by: Meetings, trainings, conferences,  planning, the oh so dreaded testing, and of course the never-ending classroom prep. The last two being the worst, but I'll explain in a bit.

For some of you, I don't have to say that being a teacher is among one of the most stressful jobs there is. If you can imagine not only being responsible for what you do in work, but also the responsibility of up to 40 children in your "able" hands. You are responsible for their safety, their well-being, and among most important, what they learn. And what they take away from their experience is being critiqued now more than ever. To understand, I need to tell you what "Title One" is: The shortest, and most to the point definition is- a school that has more than a certain percentage of the kids qualifying for free or discounted lunch. There are six Title One schools in Provo District. Which is a lot when you consider how small our district is compared to our neighboring districts. The statistics also show that Title One schools have on average lower testing scores, this is why the government intervenes. So districts with Title One schools get so much more money to put towards free and discounted lunch, after-school programs, among other programs and supplies. One such program that is funded under the Title One money is the one that holds my job. Well, we were told this year that in 4 years, they will start looking at if our program is viable. 4 years because 3rd grade is when "Standardized Testing" starts to count. So, they are going to see if the children that attended Title One preschool benefitted from it by their testing scores. So, as if our jobs weren't already stressful enough, we now have this resting on our shoulders. I really don't want to worry about this, we already know our kids do better. We are told by the kindergarten teachers whom are our predecessors. Plus, we get to see a lot of them from time to time, and I know I'm always proud! But, still, it's not easy to just forget.

Anyway, moving on!

The room prep has been stressful for a "few" reasons. This was the fourth time I moved in one school year (that's 4 times in 9 months if you're not familiar with a standard school year). This last move we were given, roughly about 6 hours to move. Needless to say, nothing that I unpacked was really organized, and I've ended up with a lot of things missing. Not to mention the last 3 boxes that I am unable to unpack, due to the overwhelming smell of vomit when they were opened. Don't ask! I'm not sure why they smell of throw-up, I don't think they smelled like that when they were moved from the last location, so I'm assuming it's from sitting in a certain area of a very old school for 3 months, in a very old classroom that I'm pretty sure hasn't exactly been inhabited since our program moved out over five years ago. 

The other thing that makes it really unbearable to work in our classrooms at our temporary location, is the fact that they are freezing. And I'm talking health department involvement freezing. Like temps in the low 50's! You should know that the health department does not like these conditions for public schools.....well, for that matter, neither do the teachers. I mean, I work with some women that NEVER get cold, and although it's 80 and 90 degrees outside, we're ALL bundled up with layers of sweaters, and thick socks. Most of us have to take breaks every hour or so, to warm up outside, because our muscles start to ache and seize up. Really hoping they get it fixed soon, because it's not going to be inviting to parents on our "Open House" day!

Testing-I consider myself "pro" at anything pertaining to Title One testing. I conduct them all the time throughout the 6+ years I've been working in the program. Special Ed testing is a whole other ball game. They in-listed my help and at the beginning of the summer because they had so many needing testing and not enough willing teachers in the summer. Plus, the extra money wasn't bad. I've been training and shadowing and today was nothing short of a tiny nightmare! Lets just say, that I had two of the busiest/defiant kids to get my feet wet! YIKES! 

So work has been consisting of long, chuck-full days, made worse by the fact that I miss my girl like crazy! Added in to the mix that I'm a little desperate at finding able people to watch her right now, I'm going a little crazy!!

Next horrible thing is that my house is a mess. Yes, not such a big deal, except when you consider that it needs to be ready to sell. Which means it needs to be inviting, spotless and make someone consider it to be their home. If any of you know me, you know that I am completely anal about my house being clean when people I know come over, but facing the fact that I'm going to have countless strangers coming in and appraising and critiquing every little thing about it......I'm starting to freak! It was ready and clean for awhile, but this was before Emarie's surgery. I am however happy to let you know that I did get the kitchen really clean tonight after my long day of testing......as for the rest of the house, well that's probably going to have to wait until the next break from school. Hopefully no one wants to see it before then!

One more sad thing to note:

Yes, that is my favorite little salt shaker that I broke this morning :'( One of the casualties of having to cart around a bean bag for one very deserving and cute girl! Mostly I am sad because I love this set (you can see it's siblings in the background). It was perfect with the decor of my kitchen. Sad more, because I know I won't be able to replace it, which will make it's brother (the pepper shaker), well, useless in my eyes. I know it's not possible because I have already searched for more pieces like this (ie: napkin holder, butter dish, etc), with no luck. Oh well.....one good thing that did come of it- it is the reason I cleaned the kitchen. When I had to sweep up the salt and glass that was all over the tile, I figured why stop there, and so the kitchen is spotless :)

Some good did come of this week though; I have found that one of the awesome qualities and features of my new car, is that it consistently gets at least 37 miles to the gallon, sometimes up to 40. That is around town as well as freeway. Pretty stoked about that, not gonna lie!

Too lazy to edit it enough to turn it, but if you can't tell, the trip odometer reads: 367.6 miles. I know you're all jealous that my car goes that far on only 9 gallons of gas!

And this makes me the happiest of all!

I know it's short, but I just wanted to give you a small taste since there's a more specific post on this coming soon....

So stay tuned!

But, did I mention, I'm glad this week is over??