So here we are on Saturday at the end of another spring break. This is how spring break looked this year in this household.
1. For me it started a day early - sort of. A statewide sickout happened on Friday after our state legislation passed a bill behind closed doors, late at night regarding state pensions. It seemed questionable that this bill would be good for education, and educators across the state called in sick leaving districts with no choice but to close schools. For me, it came as a surprise. One of my colleagues actually called me from the parking lot to ask what was going on when she arrived at work to find nobody there. I had already received the alert and returned to bed at that point.
My colleagues would probably not be happy to learn that I did actually spend an hour or so at work that day. It is ordering season, and I was receiving POs in my email that I needed to print and file. We are blocked from work email this entire week while they update it, and I was afraid those POs would disappear. Blocking us from email also kept me from completing a training I needed to do this week, but maybe that was for the best as you will see if you read on. I also needed to unplug the laminators - just not comfortable with leaving those machines plugged in and unattended for a week.
2. This was probably the laziest spring break ever! I came into it just newly recovered from a mysterious illness that had plagued me for six weeks. It dropped 10 pounds that I could definitely afford to lose off of my frame (went down a size in jeans), and lots of expensive testing left me without any answers. I think that it was probably aggravated by stress even though I didn't feel particularly stressed about any one thing. I certainly had several small stressors that were weighing on me. Just to name a few - the reality of being the sole librarian responsible for every major decision in a library for one of the biggest schools in the state really started getting to me recently. My pension and the future of education in my state is on the line and may involve big decisions for my future. Being sick and facing hundreds of dollars in medical bills at a time when we are facing the reality of one serious surgery for a family member and likely a pricey surgery for another member of this family scared me. Our expenses are going up significantly in the next few months, and I am not sure how to offset them. Finally, we are closing in on the final chapter of settling my dad's estate, and there is lots of stress around that.
All this to say that I think I needed the lazy days more than I realized. I regret that some household projects remain on hold, but I was really tired heading into this break.
So what did I do?
Lots of reading. The first few days I read lots about the pension bill trying to see all sides and figure out what it means for me and what I need to do or not do because of it. I get all sides on this issue. I just am not sure that I am getting the truth from any side on it, and the bill itself is really difficult to read. It's been a long battle to this point, and there are no easy answers. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate politics? All this to say I have some real problems with the bill as it is now. As a side note, this is frustrating and scary, but what is happening in Oklahoma schools should truly embarrass that entire state. Those teachers are grossly underpaid, and the resources available to those students do not reflect a state that wants students prepared to be productive citizens in the 21st century. Believe me I am quick to say that you can't throw money at school problems and fix them, but hello, you have to have money to run schools.
I read for fun. I am a youth librarian, so my fun reading was also for work, but here's what I read.
Inhuman by Kat Falls - This dystopian book is interesting. Dystopian is not my favorite genre, but my book club girls chose this book. To be honest - I am glad it is behind me. However, I may want to see how the author handles the characters in the sequel if she ever releases it.
Hamilton and Peggy: A Revolutionary Friendship by L.M. Elliott - I am ramping up historical fiction at work because one of the teachers uses it heavily with her classes. I liked the real letters used throughout the book and the fact that the author researched it so heavily. I think it was a mostly fun read, but I don't think the kids will like it.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart -I am just over halfway through this book. I really like it, but the story is so very sad. Savannah recommended this one. It reminds both of us of our big family where the four oldest cousins have grown up with each other as this book has a similar family dynamic.
I also started Jennifer Rothschild's Hosea study. Lifeway bookstore is offering the video sessions online for free. They just started them on Thursday, so there is still time to join the study. I had forgotten how meaty Hosea is. This will be a very good study over the next few weeks.
We used to take the kids for a day outing on spring break. I just never got it together to plan anything this year. I tossed around the idea of a cave outing or animal park outing, but the reality is that it's been a cold, wet week and there is snow on the ground this morning. I had one plan to splurge this week and that was for a mani-pedi for me, but when looking at the forecast, I realized that it's still boots season, so I am going to give that one another week. I will head out of town next weekend to celebrate Savannah's birthday with her, and we will do that together.
Workouts - I went to six classes this week and plan to hit another one within the hour. With my illness working out was hit or miss - every workout depended on how I felt at the moment. Therefore, I fell slightly behind and ended March with less than 45 classes. I spent this week catching up. I plan to hit my 50th class today. My goal this year is four classes a week, but I realize that that is impossible many weeks, so I try to get to 15 classes a month.
One other thing from which I really needed this break was my second job. I really love it, and it is only three hours a couple of Mondays a month and five hours one Saturday a month, but I've worked extra Mondays lately. My Monday schedule is really hard on Andy as he has to leave work to pick Julia up from school, return to work for an hour and then leave again to get Wyatt. We all just needed the break from that.
Finally we did try one new thing this spring break. We tried Dragon Breath which is just cereal balls soaked in Liquid Nitrogen so that you can blow smoke out of your mouth when chomping on them. It was a fun novelty, but I doubt we will return. They don't taste very good, and the ice cream was just okay, but I have some fun pictures and videos of that adventure to end this post.
Wyatt and Julia each stayed overnight at a friend's house. Julia and I enjoyed a couple of shopping trips. We did not buy anything except for a dress that we both liked. If we both like it, and the price is right, that's a no brainer. We have to buy it :) Andy and I keep telling her that it would make a great swim banquet dress - really trying to get her to swim this year.
I plan to see a movie with Tiffany today. Andy and I finally watched
Brooklyn last night. We had waited because the rental price on Amazon was too high. It finally came down, and the movie was so good that we regretted not buying it as it paused to buffer a lot. The story and cinematography was just beautiful.
And did I mention that I awoke to a dusting of snow today? I know we should never complain about the weather, but come on already! Where is spring?
This was taken when we took Julia out for some fudge. It was a fun place where the employees sing about making fudge. My mom and paternal grandma always made the Hershey can fudge, but their fudges were always completely different from each other. Mom preferred more cocoa in her fudge than my Grandma Jewel did. I grew up thinking that there was really no other way to do fudge as the Hershey can was the best. I have since learned that I really like fudge no matter how it is made. Mom hated marshmallow creme, so she was never fond of fudge made with it. I am grateful that both making and buying fudge is pricey, so it's a very rare treat. I have to say that yesterday I really missed both of my parents. I had dreamed the night before about getting Dad's house ready to sell, and I really wanted to tell them about the kids, what they're up to, what Andy and I are up to. Julia spent some time this week dreaming about her future wedding, and it grieves me that my parents won't see this family expand through weddings.
Time to go. I will dance off some stress then read some off in Hosea and finally relax with a movie alongside Julia and Tiffany. Hopefully, I will be ready to greet my students with a relaxed smile on Monday.
