New beginnings...

are stressful.  I am excited about going back to school.  Lots of changes that are positive and I am strung out unable to sleep, focus on what I need to do, or relax.  I had a lovely massage and the more she tried to get my body to relax the tenser I became.  (Note to self: No massages the week starting back to school.)  I also flunked my blood pressure test.  Tomorrow, I get blood tests and I suspect I will flunk some of those too.  What was I thinking to have the tests done during a high stress week?  Stress does all sorts of nasty stuff to the body insomnia, higher cholesterol, sending up blood pressure to name a few.  I don't know how not to worry about being ready when I watch the teachers wander off to all their meetings and I am trying to get the rooms ready.  Regular class rooms involve making sure bulletin boards are current, papers ready for first week, and general other activities for planning.  Not so with career classes.  Fashion is getting all the sewing machines, ironing boards, new fabric and other stuff ready for students.  Change of furniture means rearranging and shifting cupboards....custodians don't help so teachers do it.  (Custodians are not hired to help teachers therefore, we are on our own.)  Early childhood education is even more stuff.  To prove to people at the district that we need stuff there is a 15 page print out of items required for hands-on-lets-do-stuff  preschool.  The space we need to cram everything into is about half of what we need.  I believe science teachers can sympathize.  District big wigs want dynamic learning but are clueless what it requires to do everything.  Then there is all the yearly paperwork, forms, and required meetings.  I was thrilled to be allowed to miss one of them.  (Have I ever mentioned that I fall asleep in meetings?  Not cool.  I wish I could fall asleep at night as easily as I fall asleep during those meetings. Maybe I can add visualizing being in a meeting as part of my night time routine.)  Deep breath.  Blow it out.  Monday will come and so will the students and if there is a mess in the room it is not the end of the world. 

Marching forward