Tuesday, September 26, 2006

In a rut...

It seems that I am in a rut. I get up, take a shower, eat cereal, do my hair, get dressed, and go to work. I become Mother Hen to over 150 kiddos each day. I give them my all, grade papers, go to meetings, counsel and love and then I go home. Sometimes I feel so bad for not being able to give Tyler more. Sometimes I am so tired, I have nothing more to give. This makes me worry.

What will it be like with a little one at home? Will I have anything left to give? I worry.

This year is my third year teaching at the school I have grown to love. I am known by all the students and can't go down the hall without being recognized or loved on. I love that. I need that. My kiddos have really become my life. They are so special to me. I care about how they feel and what they need. But sometimes I wonder if I give too much. I have never been this busy so frequently before. I am in a rut.

I miss making my Layouts. I don't have the energy to drag out all of my supplies. I miss that. I need to do it. I need to create. So tomorrow, after midterms go out, I am going to create. I don't know what pages I will do, but I need a release. I need to let go and be myself.

Tyler is making macaroni and cheese from scratch and I am melting into my couch. My very good friend turns 25 today and I only can wish her the best. Lord knows how I will be in 2 months when mine comes around. House hunting is starting to slowly make its way into our everyday lives. Realtors are being iffy. We will see how that goes. Thanks for reading, if you are out there. I needed this :)

Monday, September 4, 2006

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend has been so nice. We have been busy from the beginning of our break, but it has been a good time. Friday night, we decided to play some tennis with Josh and Audra. After warming up, I did alright. My knee held in for about an hour or so and then started to act up. So, all in all, it was a successful attempt. Then we all headed out to Steak 'n Shake for dinner and on to Walmart for some serious tailgating shopping. We picked up burgers, buns, brats, hotdogs, potato salad, deserts, beer, and lots of ice. Your typical plunder for a great day of tailgating. This year Tyler decided to get season tickets to Illini Football, so hopefully we will get out moneys worth.

Saturday morning we packed up the Jeep and headed out to the stadium. We got there a little bit before Noon and settled in at a beautiful spot that was shady and had plenty of room. Josh, Audra and the crew started showing up around 1 and we drank, grilled and goofed around until the 6pm kick off time. It could not have been a nicer day, company or weather-wise. The game turned out great, U of I crushed EIU (sorry Josh) and our seats were in the first row on the aisle, so all held up to be true.

Sunday we tried our best to get up early and be ready for the Arthur Cheese Festival down south. We made it up and got going relatively early for having such a long day before and headed down. There were more types of cheese than you could imagine: cranberry, blueberry, swiss, salami, all types... We had a nice time visiting with Tyler's parents and ended up shopping in Tuscola at the Outlet Center. We then came back to Urbana and grilled out with Josh and Audra to use up some of the leftovers and went to a movie called, Little Miss Sunshine.
This movie about killed us. We were cracking up so much at how funny/tragic something could be at the same time. Many times we didn't know if we should be laughing or not because it was such a tragedy, but it was just too much. I won't give away any spoilers, but it was worth the money to go. After we checked out the downtown scene, we headed to a local hangout and ended the night playing cards at the apartment.

Today was a little slow getting going, but it has been so beautiful out and just nice to not have anything scheduled. I just love weekends like this. Hope yours is nice as well. Bye for now!