WNBP: Back In The Swing

There isn't much to say about being back in school full time.  It is what it is.  Getting up every morning pays the bills and it is actually kind of nice to have a routine in place.  Sort of.  I mean, let's face it.  The pace you set for yourself is always much more palatable.

But the time for that is over.  This week is the first full five days of school in a row and it's time to get back into the swing of it all.  I don't think the sunny days of summer would be half so sweet if I didn't have the school year for contrast.

At least that's what I'm telling myself.

And, as part of my dedication to looking at the bright side, I am forced to admit that a regular work week makes Wednesday easier to spot.  This year Wednesday should actually stand out a bit more, given that it is going to be a different kind of work day.  I might even start remembering the Wednesday Night Bullet Post before the sun starts to set and prime time television begins making its way towards my screen!

Here's your bullet points for this week:

*Our school district is using Wednesdays to accommodate two hours of staff development time this year.

*That means a two hour delay for students.

*But a longer work day with less prep time for staff.

*It's worth it, though.  We are saving literally tens of thousands of dollars on subs and finally able to keep up with the teacher training that needs to happen in any given school year.

*Daycare is being provided for families who need it.

*The community, for the most part, is on board with this.

*Today was the first delayed start day.  It went fairly well.

*Only one staff person forgot and, by my count, only one bus screwed up the later run.

*Of course, it happened to be my new teaching assistant's daughter that got left standing by the curb.

*Which meant that my new teaching assistant had to leave school to go get her because she was hysterical at the thought of missing school.

*I honestly don't understand the kids of today.

*In my day, when the bus didn't pick you up you stayed home, watched cartoons and you liked it, by God!!!

*Wait...I have to go get the lumpy, misshapen biscuits out of the oven.

*There.  Now I have lumpy, misshapen biscuits.  Life can go on.

*I brought the car back in on Saturday to finish up all the work required for my state inspection.

*I'm in for five hundred bucks now but the car passed.

*I spent Sunday driving around so I could wave gaily at the local police on patrol.

*I think they appreciated my pointing out my shiny new inspection sticker.

*The Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty loves the shiny new sticker.

*The cost of the car repair meant I had to cancel the dental cleaning he had scheduled for today.

*I love the AGK and it shames me to no end that we have reached the point where a dental cleaning is necessary.

*It costs more to clean a cat's teeth than it does mine.

*I do not require full anesthesia for a cleaning.

*Although, considering my dentist, I should probably consider it...

*I'll be bringing the foul-mouthed feline in next month, lest you think I am a bad mother who doesn't care if her baby has gingivitis.

*For all my grousing about the new school year, I really do have to say that I kind of like my new job.

*Still an intensive caseload, but intensive in a different way.

*Like I said in the teacher's room today:

I can't believe no one has thrown a chair at my head yet!

*Tomorrow we have been invited to shuck corn in the cafeteria's kitchen.

*It's Celebrate Local Produce Day.

*I don't have to come up with a lesson plan for shucking corn in the kitchen.  I just take the kids down and we shuck corn in the kitchen.

*Which is good because my school-issued laptop isn't printing with any kind of reliability and lesson planning has been something of a crap shoot now that I can't share any of my brilliant materials with the eager pupils.

*There is a fire drill tomorrow.

*Which I have only just realized is scheduled right in the middle of corn-shuckin' time.

*That should go well.  A bunch of kids still getting used to the new schedule...corn...shrieking alarm bells...

*Yeah.  I can't possibly envision a scenario where things go badly.

*The cats don't seem disturbed in the least that I am leaving them every day.

*In fact, they seem kind of happy about it.

*Which makes me wonder exactly what the heck goes on around here all day when I'm gone!!

*I have less time for reading these days, but I'm doing my very best.

*I finished A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy).

*With time to spare before it needed to be digitally returned to the library, I might add.

*Probably going to cut it a little close with the sequel, though.

* Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy Book #2) is really good, perhaps even better than the first in the trilogy.

*But I've had the whole school thing going on and that has seriously cut into my reading time.

*We have a sustained silent reading period at school, but it seems that I spend most of my time signing bathroom passes and telling people they should be reading.  

*Oddly, I find I can't make much progress on a story while at school.  Weird, that...

*But, the bills will be paid this month (if you don't count the whole crusty-mouthed-cat-thing) so I'm going to accept the situation for what it is.

*And remember that there is bound to be a vacation week hidden in the school calendar somewhere.


Well, I must dash.  Part of staying in the swing of things is making sure that I have clean underpants for the work day and figuring out if there is anything in the fridge that might constitute a lunch.  You have to allow enough time for that or you'll end up with underpants in your lunch bag and no one wants that.

Trust me.

SA