Back to School ... and HOW

My poor blog.  I have been so obnoxiously, insanely busy that it has been the victim of much neglect.  Here I sit on a Friday night (we don't play football until tomorrow afternoon this week), and I should be snuggling with my kids (for ONCE) and yet I thought, "If I don't check in on my blog, the memories will be gone forever."

First Day of School - 8th grader, 6th grader, 4th graders, and a 1st grader!  Dang, they're getting big!

I don't have time to get into it now, but let me just sum up what's been going on the past 8 weeks:
1.  Offered a job (2 retirements = 1 job for me!) teaching and being the "librarian" (I put that in quotes because I have no training in library whatsoever) end of July.
2.  Scrambled to find, apply, and get into a grad school program for the library licensure early August.
3.  Painted the high school library, tried to become oriented to the card catalog system, AR reading program, checking in new books, procedures, budget etc. for 3 short weeks in August.
4.  Introduced to the new curriculum guide for 8th grade English Language Arts and began planning to meet the Common Core Standards last week of August.
5.  Started teaching first week of September.
6.  Started grad class first week of September.
7.  Had my first nervous breakdown (crying jag) first weekend of September upon realization of the extreme workload of the grad class.
8.  Three weeks of teaching, running between 2 libraries, planning for grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 library skills and 8th grade (English/Reading).
9.  After-activities, sports, piano, practice, games, Mark's season, football fundraising, sorting, distribution, late-night reading and posting for my class.
10.  Sleep? what is that?

I am very grateful for the door that God opened for me.  Someone else turned down the position, and I am thankful that our administrator thought I would be a good fit for the job.  It is an honor and a joy to teach where we live, as I really am proud of our school and community.  Plus I get to teach Ally every day and try not to embarrass her:)  However, I am truly overwhelmed with the 24-7 stress and workload of the wheel which I stepped off of to stay home with the kids over a decade ago.  I miss the days of helping my husband, being there for my kids, and having a few moments in the middle of the day to think, create, and cuddle my kids.  It truly went by too quickly.

There is so much more going on in our world and in our extended family's world.  Prayers for peace, sleep, and not snapping at each other.  Prayers for a clean house...somehow, someday.  Prayers of healing for grandpa & his new knees, for the kids' aunt battling ovarian cancer, for their cousin flying out of Texas next week for a year in Afghanistan.  So so much.  May God carry and squeeze us all into recognition and slowing down and not having to be busy all of the time! (and getting rid of this guilt I keep feeling that I'm not doing something to get caught up for my grad class right this very minute)! Oh please Ms. Instructor, please remember when you were raising a family and how hard it was to do this full-time job and night-time school thing.    Life is too short not to enjoy it!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.--Philippians 4:6