152 Days......

I always find the days without students are the worse days of work.  I enjoy my time with the students. (please remind me of this on Monday when they are there!! LOL)  I like planning lessons that I hope they will enjoy... but on days like today when we have meetings about "teacher stuff" I always get discouraged.

Luckily, for lunch I went out with a great bunch of collegues... yep, food cures the blues everytime!!! LOL

The morning wasn't much of a trial run for me since I didn't have to get the kids to school or to the babysitter.  It was so nice to come home to the girls who were still in their jammies!  As soon as I got home Shallen was up on my back and the big girls were outside for a play.... pj's under the snowsuits of course!

Anyway... day one down.... 152 more days until Summer Holidays!!!!!

Belly up to the Bar.....

I think that title is very fitting for this entry.
Booze... Beverages... Cocktails.... whatever you call 'em, I need 'em! Hee hee

Yesterday I made the girls some hot chocolate after they came in from playing in the giant snowbanks. (bad momma didn't even get a picture!) I warmed the milk on the stove and added the chocolate syrup. Yep, they got the good stuff. No out of the package hot chocolate for them today.  After adding the minimarshmallows and filling their mugs, there was enough left over for me!  Of course, I had to add an extra ingredient to mine... Carmel Bailey's!  Yummy.

Anyway, that drinkin' got me to thinkin'.  I remember stories my dad (and mom) used to tell about when my dad used to be a young teacher.  They used to drink A LOT!  Afterschool on Friday was party time.  When I started teaching there was a group that would still go for beverages on Friday but now kids and commitments have gotten in the way.

A good friend of mine and I were talking about how beverages help us keep sane.  She and her husband have started a weekly celebration.  Every Thursday evening they toast that it is Friday the next day by drinking a bottle of wine together in the evening.  Hint hint, don't phone their house later on Thursday nights... they may be busy! *wink wink*

I need something like that!  So if you want to have a beverage some night to unwind, let me know.  If you are far away or if we can't get away from the kids, we can chat online or talk on the phone and have a beverage together and cheers to whatever the topic of the day is! Deal???

I dare you to drink only one of these yummy drinks that my friend Kristen makes. They are yummy Candied Green Apple Martinis. (ButterRipple Schnaps, Green Apple Sour Puss, Apple Juice and carmel sauce) I hope I got the ingredients right... about one ounce of each of the liquids... drizzle with carmel sauce.  These are OH so good!

I have to get to the Liquor Store to get the ingredients. I think I might be needing them in the near future.

Oh did I mention I start work on FRIDAY! Oh my goodness......

"I get by with a little help from my friends....."

My last entry made me think about how all moms should help each other out.  Without a strong support system it is hard to survive.
I am very lucky.  I have my parents, my mother in law, my sister and sisters in law all within a 25 min radius of my home. It is so nice to be able to call on family when momma needs a night out or a day away.  Luckily in my family we are all pretty used to having lots of kids around so I don't feel as bad when I leave my rambunctious bunch with family! Here is a picture of all 10 of the Grandkids on my side of the family. (and 2 of my siblings have no kids yet so there are more to come!)

I am also very lucky that I have a wonderful group of friends who I can call on when I need my daughters to go over to their house afterschool or for an evening.  Of course, when they need someone I am there for them too.

Even at work there are a group of ladies who lean on each other to get by!  We share supplies, unit plans... filler lessons and just support. I will be leaning on them so much when I return to work IN ONE WEEK!!! OMG!!!!

So I guess I just wanted to thank all you people, especially all those female people, on whom I rely so much!  You know who you are.... and if you are one of my "followers" you KNOW you are one of those people!!!!!

(have you noticed I over use ellipses... and explanation marks!!!!????)

How do you manage it all???

You probably would be surprised at the amount of people who ask me how I manage to do it all.  Sometimes people even say "You always seem to have it 'together', how do you manage?"

Well my answer for them is "I don't". LOL  Seriously, I might look like I have it all together and that I am "handling" it just fine. (what ever that "it" might be) But realistically I am just scraping by like everyone else.

I have two secrets I would like to share with you all when it comes to being a working mom (or dad).  The first is Neglect! LOL  My kids are luckily quite well adjusted and independent most of the time.  I feel that they are able to play alone or do crafts or what not without parental help because they are somewhat neglected.  They learn early to dress themselves and help each other because I can't be everywhere.  Yes, my almost 7 year old can make breakfast for my 4 year old. So what if the kitchen might get a little messy at least they are being fed.  Because they are neglected or maybe inspite of the neglect they are able to help each other and solve minor problems on their own. 

The second secret is to prioritize.  What is really important to you?  In order to survive with my sanity intact there are things I need to let go.  It is important to me that my kids are involved.  I want my kids to be involved in things since kids that are busy have less time to get into "trouble" I think.  So in order to be able to keep my kids involved I have had to give up some of my own personal time.  I don't go to the gym or take "classes" for myself. (and I couldn't do it before work... I prioritize sleep as very important! Tired momma = grouchy momma)  I also have prioritized a sparkling clean home as a low priority.  Cleaning is very low on my list.  Granted our house is not dirty just "lived in".  I decided that it is OK that the kids do the dusting and vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms.  Sure, it is not done as well as I might do it but seriously... it is done!

Now this really has just been a little pep talk for myself.  Reminding myself to Neglect and Prioritize!!!  You see, I went into the school today for a couple of hours.  I am trying to get the two little ones used to going to the sitters and I am trying to get my classroom organized for my return.  There is just so much to do.  I know there are things that I might need to neglect to do when I get back to work... and I must prioritize what is important to me as a teacher, in my class and in my home.

One other thing I know is that I can't do it all perfectly.  In order to find that balance I will have to give up "perfection" and just be.  It is all a balancing act.  You see if I put my all into being a teacher and be the best teacher I can be then I find that I struggle at being a good mom.... but if I work 110% at being a good mom I fall short as a teacher....  I need to strive for that balance so I can kind of be good at both. That will mean that I may not be the best teacher I can be and that my time at home might be lacking in some ways.... but I need to find where I feel comfortable.

And THAT is what this blog is all about.... boring... huh?
(I promise that I will try to find something more entertaining to talk about soon!)

I am a Follower....

Yes, I am a follower.  I have always thought of myself as a leader, but alas, I am not.  A few of my friends have blogs and I love reading them. I always thought to myself that I should blog but I could never decide what to talk about.  My life is pretty unusual and uneventful so who would want to read about that! (hee hee... other than you stalkers who are reading this right now)

As you know, I am heading back to work after a year long maternity leave in a couple weeks.  This is causing me some stress... ok, maybe more than a little stress.  So I decided to blog my return to work and my attempt to balance being a fulltime teacher and being a mom, wife, friend, daughter and every other thing that we women are. (notice I didn't include house cleaner in that!)

So I invite you to become a follower and subscribe to my blog.  Join in my journey and see how crazy the life of a working mom of four can be!