Sweet, Frustrating, Exhausting

Sweet: Yesterday morning, I was busily getting ready for my school day when two of my students, girls, came through my classroom door. They were holding a small plate covered in aluminum foil and smiling a bit sheepishly. One of them spoke up, “Mrs. Reed, we made you some strawberry bread.” A slight tinge of pick colored their cheeks as they passed off their little gift to me, and I gushed with thanks. What sweet girls!

Frustrating: After a long day of classes and an afternoon tutoring, I had decided to meet Mom out in Rivergate to go to the Old Navy there. Yes, there are Old Navy stores which are much closer to me; however, I had checked online and found that this particular store had a maternity section. I had been looking at their sundresses and really wanted to go pick up a couple. The one at Opry Mills has a maternity section, but I hadn’t been very impressed the last time I went, before the new spring line came out. Anyway, I drove nearly an hour to get out there and discovered that the website had been wrong! They do not have a maternity section! So, I just bought a couple of larger dresses with room for a growing tummy, and I’m going to wait to wear them or remove the tags until I check the maternity section at Opry Mills. I really want some cute, roomy sundresses without looking like I’m wearing a muu muu! (I actually had to look up the spelling for that word.) It’s easier in our modern times to find cute maternity clothes, but I can still be rather picky and have a difficult time finding things that work just right. Both Mom and Chris know to never buy clothes for me; gift certificates are much safer.

Exhausting: We’re working on research papers in my class. At CPA, 7th grade is their first experience with research papers. I feel really good about that because our new student teacher told us today that she was teaching a juniors’ honors class to do research paper for the first time at the high school where she just had her first assignment! Anyway, I told my students today that the week after we finish these papers is spring break, and by that time, after all the craziness with these papers, we (and by we I mean me!) will have earned a good break! If you’ve never gone through this process with a room full of seventh graders, there is no adequate way to describe just what a delirious process this is. At the end of my classes every day I feel like I’ve had a full mental workout. I drag myself to lunch and try to decompress and fuel myself up to finish the rest of my day with some amount of humor and willingness to tackle the rest of the tasks before me. I am desperately hoping that I can finish grading these papers before spring break so that I can rest. I do so need to relax.