Teaching is hard, but I knew that going in. Teaching is also fun and very rewarding which is why I love it.
The first couple of months were crazy. There were several days, weeks, even months that I left for school at 6:00am. There were also countless mornings I woke up before my alarm because I was too worried. The nightmares have almost stopped completely.
One thing that I've learned through this process is that there is always something to do. No matter how prepared you are, something will always come up. Why waste every waking hour of every day planning?
I have had to learn to make time for myself. After working a long day, the first thing I do when I get home should not be to clean the bathroom or do laundry. It can wait which is sometimes hard for me. I feel like I have finally been able do things that I love for the first time in a while.
This month I read 2 books for pleasure. No, these weren't books explaining how to treat others kindly or what respect means. I probably should have been reading a book teaching me how to identify 20 rock types because apparently I'll be teaching this to my class in less than two weeks. Yikes. Wish me luck...
Andrew and I read, "The Martian" by: Andy Weir together. We enjoy reading out loud and Andrew uses quite the voices. There was a good amount of scientific information, but luckily I married a chemist who was eager to explain everything in great detail. It was fun to see the movie after finishing the book and the plots aligned nicely. (FYI-- There is quite a bit of swearing in the book. We had to get creative while reading aloud coming up with substitute words.)
About 45 minutes ago I finished reading "Twenty Wishes" by: Debbie Macomber. I like books that deal with relationships and real life situations. This book was a really positive and hopeful book. The main character and her group of friends decided to write a list of 20 wishes. At first, the main character could hardly think of anything she even wished for. Her life seemed pretty tragic and horrible. Throughout the book, she was able to find happiness after the death of her husband. This made me want to write my own list of 20 wishes. I'm working on it. (Sometimes my dreams are a little too realistic and budget friendly so it's hard for me.)
I'm on the hunt for my next book.
I also started working out again. After teaching and standing for several hours a day, the last thing I have wanted to do is exercise. Many nights I just put my feet up and basically refuse to leave the couch.
We joined the gym this week. Now that I'm a grown-up and don't have a free gym at college, I'm taking my gym commitment pretty seriously. If I'm paying money to go to the gym then I'm going to. It's nice to get my stress and frustrations out by working out even harder. (Maybe I should ease into this gym thing better next time because I am super sore.)
Off to enjoy my weekend work-free!