Home

I am a homebody.  I admit it freely.  I love being at home.  Going out is nice.  I like doing things, don't get me wrong.  But I love being at home.  I love coming home.

Tour was awesome.  I love love traveling.  I loved visiting my parents.  I love dancing in festivals.  But I was ready to come home.  And before I post about our exciting adventures in Europe, I want to list (as is my favorite way of describing life) the reasons I love being home, and a few reasons why I don't like being home, because not everything is always positive (as much as I wish it would be, or that I could make it so).

Why I love being home:

-  Feeling safe to sit on my toilet.

-  Feeling safe to walk in bare feet.

-  Washing clothes in a washer and not having to wash my unmentionables by hand in the sink.  Worst part of traveling, for sure.

-  Sleeping in my own bed, without worrying about the thousands of people who have slept in it before me.

-  Showering.

-  Jet lag.  I don't have to worry about falling asleep when I lay down.  It's like I'm already asleep before my head hits the pillow.

-  Air conditioning.

-  My hippo pillow, Rupert.  It's been a while since I've slept with him.

-  The food- All I want to eat is cereal and salad.  It'll be a while before I eat potatoes again.

-  Having a comfortable place to get healthy again.  Cold + Salmonella = Not a happy traveler.

-  Internet.

-  Phone service.

-  Unpacking all my souvenirs and figuring out where to put them.

-  Wearing clothes that haven't been packed in a suitcase for a month.

-  Driving my own car.

-  Deciding my own schedule.

Why I don't love being home (especially right now):

-  Coming back to real life and all the stresses and demands that come with it.  Especially now that I am a real adult (meaning, not a full-time student), it's hard to want to work.

-  Jet lag.  I want to sleep all day and stay up all night.

-  Having no husband with me.  :(  Josh is up at a boys camp in Oakley.  He has another week and a half before he comes home.  I never want to go this long without him again.  Ever.

-  Laundry.

-  Unpacking.

-  Cleaning the mess I left before tour.  I always hope it'll be magically clean when I get back.

-  Cleaning up what has happened since I left.

-  Trying to catch up on all the things I need to do, that I could have done, had I not left in the first place.

- No oreos for me when I came home. :(

I'll admit, there are many other things.  But I am a little comatose from traveling home- taking over 24 hours to get from Warsaw to Salt Lake is not the easiest thing to do and be able to function the next day.  I'm sure I'll mention more.  I'll also hide some others.  But for now, just know that I am happy, and stressed to be home.  It'll be an interesting month.

I'm done.

Let's forget the fact that I'm sick in the middle of summer.  Let's also forget the panic attack I had on Saturday. Let's just forget that the air conditioner is broken and the house is 89 degrees inside.  Let's forget that there are boxes piled in 70% of the house.  Just forget the weeds that are taking over the yard.  Don't look at the pile of laundry that hasn't been put away in a month.  Let's just forget all of that and remember that there are only three more days left of school.  And two of those are half days.  So it's really only two days left.  And one of those days is a field day.  So it's kind of like there's only one day left.

One day.

Things I have learned

I still have four more days to babysit, ahem, teach until school is out. Finally.  I came home early today because I am, yet again, sick.  Lovely.  But as the year comes to a close and I prepare for the new start in the Fall, I have decided to make a list of things I have learned in my first year teaching.... well, "instructing." Not in any particular order:

-  Teaching for 8 hours a day is hard.  Now- I thought I knew this before.  I've taught dance and swimming before, and those things were hard.  It's hard to leave your personal life behind when you teach.  But it's even harder when you teach full time.  There's truly no way (that I know of as yet) to really leave your personal feelings at the door.  I'm thinking that I will need to have some kind of reminder next year...

-   Teaching is fun.  I really do like standing at the board in front of those kids, pretending I know everything there is to know about anything: astronomy, grammar, you name it.  It can be very fun to teach things you don't know very well yourself.

-  Bribing children with candy is totally acceptable.  Sometimes that is the only way to get them to work.

-   Teaching from your desk is not an effective way to help the kids learn.  Especially when there's a phone in your hand.

-   It will always seem like every other teacher has everything together, is positive and successful with every child, and never gets angry.  But I am always doing better than I think (even when I come out of Math, shaking with frustration), at least I hope I'm doing better than I think.

-  Even with direct instruction, kids will find a way to space out.

-  Kids assume the darndest things about you.  Like little Johnny (not his real name), who thinks me and Ms. Cooke are best friends.  We are good friends.  Good work friends.  Only seen at work, though.  Besties for life.

-  Some children just don't get it.

-  Some do.

-  Being positive is always the best option.  Even when you're dying inside from various situations, being positive will always make it easier.

-  Someone else will always outdo your drama.  It makes me grateful for the simple life I have right now.  Hopefully it will always stay this way (wishful thinking?)  My drama is never as bad as others' (except for that one time.  I can't provide details, however, I provided endless entertainment for my coworkers for a couple weeks on some of my drama and complaining).

-  Waking up early gets easier with practice.  Look at me! I'm an adult!

-  Having an adult conversation is something I crave after being around kids all day.

-  Classroom management must start out uber-strict.  Or else the kids walk all over you.  You can lighten up after Christmas.

-  Even with a picture of you and your husband hanging by your desk, and your nametag saying "Mrs.", kids will still not know you are married.

-  Kids who wear uniforms judge what their teachers wear everyday.  "Cute outfit, Mrs. Park."  If I don't get a compliment, I know I've done something wrong.

-  Non-work-related emails will sit in the inbox for almost a week before I have time or energy to open them.

-  There are politics everywhere.

-  You need a strong immune system to be a teacher of snivelchiddlers.

-  Some of the kids who drive you the most crazy, end up being the ones you care about the most.

Just some of things I've learned.  There's much more, I'm sure.  But for now, this list will suffice.  I've learned many things to do, and many things not to do.  It's been a long year.  I hope I get all the suck-ups next year. I can't handle class clowns.

I've become a babysitter

I feel fairly free to admit this.  I'm 99% sure no one from work reads this blog.  And if they do, then oh well.  Nothing I write will be a fire-able offense...  Just maybe offensive.

I have become a babysitter.  My official title is Instructor.  That means I teach part of the time and aide the rest.  I don't have my own classroom, but I am there for a teacher whenever she needs me.  I've really enjoyed my job.  I love the people I work with (even with some of their quirks and drama).  I love that I was able to see whether or not I could do this teaching thing.  I love it.

However.

The past 6-8 weeks has been... rough.  To say the least.  The teacher I work with (who shall remain nameless, but for the sake of this post, we will call her Mildred) has checked out.  Now- all the staff at school right now are burnt out.  It's understandable.  It's been a long, eventful school year.  Much joy and laughter, tears and drama.  But Mildred has checked out.  I spend the day babysitting twelve year-olds because she has decided there is nothing else to teach them.  And yet, there are two and a half weeks left til school is actually out.  This is a problem.

So basically, I find any excuse to leave the classroom, and "prepare for next year".  I actually am preparing for next year, in which I will take the place of Mildred as the sixth grade teacher.  And I will actually teach until they tell me not to, not just sit at my desk and play on my phone while yelling at the kids to be quiet and work on their non-existent homework.

Yes.  I will teach.  Not check out.

Life

Life is challenging.  Life is hard.  Life is surprising.


Today it is all of the above.


And I'm not sure if it will end well in the short term.  Long term will always end well (if I can gain some patience back- see previous post).  But it's interesting what a two minute conversation can do to what you thought was your future.


No.  I'm not pregnant (I just think some people might think that, after reading this post).

Patience is Key.

pa·tience

 [pey-shuhns]

noun

1.

the quality of being patient,  as the bearing of provocation,annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss oftemper, irritation, or the like.

2.

an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness orannoyance when confronted with delay: to have patiencewith a slow learner.

3.

quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence:to work with patience.

I like to think I am a patient person.  A laid-back person.  Chill.  

Lately, I think that quality is running thin.  These sixth graders suck the patience out of me.  Everyday.  And then I come home and have no patience for anything- crumbs on the counter, laundry piled on the couch, evidence of wasted time (let's just forget that most of these things are self-inflicted).

Ask Josh.  I don't necessarily stay patient without complaint, loss of temper, or irritation.  At least there is only 22 school days left.  Then summer will come and I can stock up on the quiet, steady perseverance and even-tempered care before school starts again in the fall and I become the impatient teacher.

22 days.

Instagram Discovered

We've jumped the bandwagon and gotten Iphones, and everything that comes with them: Angry Birds, Plants vs Zombies, etc. etc.  I've joined the crowd of Instagrammers to turn my photos into vintage-looking, somewhat pretentious works of art.  I think Amy would hate it because it makes anyone feel like they are instant photographers...... which is true.  I do feel very artistic when I crop my photos and add the layers to make them look awesome.  Sorry, Amy.

Here are some of my recent favorites.

Our Cherry Tree:

Apricot Tree

And spring flowered walkway:

Josh's Sunday nap (my favorite. He's so handsome.):

Yes.  I try to be trendy.  And I love it.