Monday, August 25, 2008

Workin 9 to 5

Actually, it's more like 8 to 3, but who doesn't love Dolly Parton??

I started work last Monday.  We have teacher workdays until the day after Labor Day.  Around here there is a "Busch Gardens law" that restricts school from starting any earlier than Labor Day.  The powerful amusement park lobbyists complained that they were losing a ton of money (and all their 17 year old employees) because school was starting too early.  So, the kids start after Labor Day.

All we've done so far is meetings.  I think I've gotten a total of about 3 hours in my room, and that is not enough to get everything done!  We've gotten our laptops, learned about the programs on them, gotten trained on the SmartBoards and Senteo, had a roundtable discussion with other teachers from the school, discussed the budget, and set goals for the school year.  My school-issued laptop didn't work when it was given to me, so I took it to the tech guy.  He "imaged" it, and gave it back.  Then it wouldn't connect to the internet, so I took it back to the tech guy.  He "authorized" it and gave it back to me.  Then my login wouldn't work.  Guess where I went??  Yep- I took it to the hole in the wall where the tech guy's office is...and while he "fixed" my computer I got to see pictures of his racecar that he races on the weekends.  Fabulous.  Did I mention I need to be in my room doing work right now instead of looking at your dumb racecar??  Sheesh.  I've also met all the other Orchestra teachers in the school system (all 5 of them- YIKES!) and we made our plans for District Events, All-City Orchestra, etc.  I can tell that this "half-time" job is going to take more than half of my time.  SIGH.  Hey- at least my computer works now.  Too bad it's not a Mac.

Maddox went to Kris's (the sitter) house for the first time on Tuesday.  I was pretty sad about leaving her, since I have honestly been with her every day since she was born...and really only had a few hours away at a time.  I am proud of that!  Common sense tells me that she's perfectly fine in someone else's care for a few hours a day, but my mothering mind tells me that she'll be miserable and no one can meet her needs or possibly know how she feels like I can.  BAH! When we got to Kris's house she immediately started playing with toys and ignoring me.  I said goodbye about 4 times and then just stood there before I realized that it was the time that I was supposed to actually LEAVE her and go to work.  Bummer.

Here's a sample of my crazy morning schedule (only Mondays and Tuesdays when she goes to Kris's house instead of being home with Marshall):
MONDAY
5:00am- Marshall gets up and goes to the gym, and straight to work from there
6:30- I wake up and curse a few times
6:40- get in the shower
6:43- out of the shower, wondering whose idea this "going back to work" thing actually was.
6:50- dressed, hair brushed (but not dried) run downstairs, let the dog out and feed her
6:55- go back upstairs and wake up the baby (you should never have to WAKE UP a sleeping baby- what an idiot I am)...change her, and feed her.
7:10- back downstairs, bribing Macy with a treat to get her to come back inside because she's not stupid and she knows I'm going to put her in her crate.
7:15- packing school stuff and baby into the car- wishing I had eaten breakfast
7:35- drop Mdx off at Kris's house
7:45- at school, check my box and email and head into first meeting of the day.  
3:00pm/as soon as possible: leave school to go get my baby and take her home!!

TUESDAY- lather, rinse, repeat.


Now- this was only the teacher workday schedule, it will be delayed by about an hour when school starts, since I won't have to be at school until 9 at the earliest.

We get a paper "Daily Report" from Kris that tells us how Mdx's day was.  She tells us what she ate, when she ate it, how much she drank, how many diaper changes/poops/pees, when she slept and for how long, what she did (blocks, books, shapes, music time, dancing, loved swinging!), etc.  The comments for Mdx's first day said: "Awesome day!  Mdx really enjoyed herself.  She's so sweet and happy, very cuddly too!  Loved showing off and making everyone laugh!".  The comments for her second day were very similar, except.... next to the food section, where it said that Mdx ate yogurt, cereal, cheerios, sponge cake, bread, chicken noodle soup, applesauce, and graham crackers....it said "What a piggy!".  Ha!

I love my little piggy.

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