The daily grind- Dad inspired

In response to my dad's comment on my last post, here is a brief look at the "daily grind" of my life at the current moment. Before I begin, let me preface with the fact that I'm pretty much always exhausted :( I'm hoping my body and mind catch up soon so I'm not so wiped all the time. Here we go:

Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I get up at 4:45 am to get in the cardio portion of my workout. I workout from 5-6 and then shower and get ready for school. I leave my apartment between 6:45 and 7 and get to school about 7:20. I used to get to school at 7 but have recently lost the ability and motivation to do that :)  I get ready for the day and do whatever needs to be done before kids come in at 7:45. The chaos of school ensues for the next 7.5 hours. Everyday is completely different and full of its own wonderful surprises. After school on Mondays I either stay for a faculty meeting or a training that recently started. Tuesdays and Thursdays I pick up some 4th graders from the cafeteria and tutor them in Math (yes, ironic I realize since Math was my worst/least favorite subject in school...) until 4:45. Then I race to the gym for a sculpt or water class. Class finishes at 6:30 and I head home. Frequently I have to make stops at the library, CVS, or Kroger so it's about 7 by the time I get home. The rest of the evening entails dinner, shower, getting things ready for the next day, etc. If Kevin doesn't have to work late, then I see him around 9. Of course, most nights I don't last very long- I'm usually falling asleep after about 30 minutes or so. That's good for a relationship....

Wednesdays are pretty similar except I actually have time to do work after school and get things done. They also start at 6 instead of 4:45 :)  On this Wednesday night, I did cardio at the gym and then came home to lots of domestic things that had to be done. The dishwasher is running, cookies are baking in the oven for school tomorrow (yes cooking, not burning!!), and several other domestic type events are occurring. If I had a washer/dryer, I'd be doing laundry and dying white t-shirts brown for Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast. But I don't so that will have to wait til Kevin isn't working so I can use his :)  He's at another show and as much as I wanted to go to sleep, I figured I should wait til there weren't cookies in the oven. Hopefully they'll be done soon so I can get to bed!!

Most days I have work that I could do when I get home for school. However, most days I'm also too exhausted and burned out to want to even think about school. I'm trying very hard to make teaching what I do and not who I am. I want my brain to be able to separate life from school. I think it's the only way I'll keep my sanity. Of course, if something absolutely needs to be done, I'll do it; I'm not going to put anything at risk. But I'd like to try to separate the two if I can. It's a hard thing to do. I spend all day with 5 year olds- and very interesting 5 year olds at that.  It's hard not to tell stories about them; they're pretty funny and do some unbelievable things.

Fridays are my catch up days. Even though I'm dying to run away from school on Friday afternoon, it's usually when I can get the most work done. The copiers (if working) are available, the halls are quiet, and my brain is focused on checking things off the list for the week. It makes no sense, but I finish everything up for the week and get ready for the next week so I have a fresh start and clean to-do list. There is a lot I do on the weekend, but whatever I can only do at school gets done on Friday. Last Friday I was there til 5! It worked out well though b/c I was able to run some errands and then meet Kevin for a dinner date :) That doesn't always happen though. If I muster enough energy to get to the gym after all that catch up work, I usually come home and crash after that.

So that's a not-so-brief overlook at a typical  Mon-Fri week for me. The most exhausting part is stated in 1 simple sentence- "The chaos of school ensues for the next 7.5 hours."  It doesn't sound nearly as exhausting as it actually is!