Grateful Thursday

 I know I'll be too tired to post anything tomorrow.  I have got to conserve the crumbs of energy I have....

This has been a rough week.

1. fighting a head cold
2. migraine
3. parent teacher conferences
4. eye infection flare up 
5. oh, yeah...and cancer

I talked to Adam on my way home from my 12 hour day on Tuesday.  My voice was pretty much gone and I felt so very awful.  He heard me croak hello and he said, "Uh oh."

My voice rebounded and I am grateful.

Adam was gone and I'm very grateful for Mark.  That kid lifts me up.

(I'm grateful Adam came home last night.)

I'm grateful for my people at school.   Yesterday we had a faculty meeting after school.  Before we started there was heated discussion about the proper way to eat cereal and Jeff was indignant because a 5th grade class said his bald head was as barren as a desert when they were practicing similes.

We had a guest for the faculty meeting, which no one really realized until Matt introduced her.  (Then we felt sheepish about our nonsense.)  She said, "I go to a lot of schools and this is the most lighthearted school I have ever been to."

I guess lighthearted is one way to describe these people are so tired they are getting a little hysterical.

I love those guys.

The most heart melting and gratitude inducing thing that happened this week was yesterday when we were jostling out the door to go to lunch, I accidentally collided with a student.  I said, "Oh, I'm sorry."

He said, "That's OK, Mrs. Davis.  I love you."

Tired, cranky, short tempered, watery eyed and walking around with a headache all week.  That sweet boy still loves me.

They're better than I deserve. 

Pushing through

 I'm still sick.  I'm taking medicine like it's my job.  I'm convinced there are two types of people in the world.  People who take medicine and people who don't.  I don't know anyone who is neutral about medicine.  

Last night I made a Citrus Pear chicken soup.  (Melanee told me about Citrus Pear and I'm grateful.  Frozen meals that you cook in the instant pot.)  I packed away some for my lunch today.  Chicken soup heals, right?

Today is a 12 hour school then parent teacher conference day.  It takes all my energy.  Last night Mark read the Book of Mormon to me before we went our separate ways.  He was reading in 2 Nephi 28

Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

Before I went upstairs to bed, Mark kissed my forehead and said, "Go rest.  Drink a lot.  Rest, drink and be merry so tomorrow you won't die."

Sound advice.

 

When you're up your up; when you're down you're down

 Friday I went to school feeling fine.

About mid morning, I got super dizzy.  The dizziest I've ever felt.  Every time I stood up, I sort of staggered to stay upright.  It was awful.

Adam came and got me and I had someone take my class for the afternoon.  I sat in my chair at home, totally incapacitated.  Then, eventually, gradually, it lifted.  By evening, I was feeling all the way better.

I have no explanation.

Saturday, once again, I was fine. 

Sunday morning, I woke up feeling awful.  Stuffy head, sore throat, fatigue.

I have been too cavalier.  I don't want to wear a mask and I don't want to be uptight about germs.  But here we are.

I laid low on Sunday.  I have a big week ahead with parent teacher conferences.  And Adam's out of town.  

I started to feel sorry for myself.  Why can't my body just cooperate and do what I want to do?!?

I had planned--at long last--to get together to do family history with Marie Louise.  I had been collecting stuff for months and I had things to share with her.  I texted her, with my apologies to cancel.  She texted back that she loved me and that I had lots of people in my corner, praying for me.

I texted the primary presidency, even though it wasn't my turn to lead the music, to let them know I wouldn't be there.  They texted back messages of love.  They wondered if they could do anything.

My stellar ministering sisters texted that they hadn't seen me in church and hoped I was OK.

So even when I'm down, I'm not out.  I am buoyed by the wonderful women who give me love and support.  I'm buoyed by my family and their prayers.

It all made me feel like everything is going to be OK.

Mark also makes me feel like everything is going to be OK.  Adam flew to Nashville last night.  Mark drove him to the airport and Adam almost missed his flight because 1) he always cuts it close and 2) there was a 9 car accident on the freeway.  Adam called me from the plane.  He said he was grateful Mark got him through it.

I said, "Mark's good in a crisis."

And it's true.  He is steady and easy company.  I'm grateful he's here.

I don't really feel better today, but I don't really feel worse either.  School is a lot this week, so I'm grateful for all the you're not alone, we're thinking of you, I'm praying for you reminders I got this weekend.

Grateful Friday

 Earlier this week I was feeling discouraged.  

I felt weighed down by concern for people I love.  It is a helpless feeling when loved ones suffer.

I felt weighed down by the interminable cycle of: chemo, feeling awful; recovery, feeling tired; feeling better; scrambling to catch up and get ahead before chemo starts again.  It's physically and mentally exhausting.

I felt powerless to change any of it.  I didn't even know what to pray for.  It is what it is.

I did pray for help though.

The next day, sweet Hannah sent me an encouraging text, telling me she loved me and is praying for me.  Later in the day, Marie Louise sent me an encouraging text.

They were valuable reminders that I'm not alone.  Things are hard, but I can do it.  Even if it's one day at a time, I can do it.

I am grateful for those reminders.

Agents of chaos

 My class knows how to bring the chaos, especially some of them.  Pro level.

I can only imagine the state of some of their bedrooms.  A few of them have a pile of detritus under their desks every day.  They get a bandaid and just let the wrapper fall to the floor.  (I tell them to pick it up.  I try to say it nicely, but it's possible I have a tone after it happens a few times.)

They lose pencils seemingly mid assignment.

There are about 5 jackets that no one claims as their own.  They just languish on the hooks and someday I'll just give up and give them to lost and found and they'll make their way to Goodwill which is the eventual destination of lost items.

The computer situation has been better since the sticker system, but a student lost his computer and we looked everywhere and it was in another student's desk.  He had put it there the day before.

But why?!?!?

Yesterday kind of took the cake in the chaos masters' repertoire though.  During literacy, two of them lost a tooth.  Two. In a span of about ten minutes.

Of course they had to show everyone the tooth they lost and then open their mouths wide and show the bloody spot left behind and everyone clamored around for the exciting event.  I told everyone to go sit down over and over until they finally recovered.

I never know what's going to distract them. 

I just know that something is going to distract them.

Top ten

We enjoyed our trip!  Here is a top ten list of trip highlights:

1-Seeing Amy in the airport and giving her a hug before she flew back to Utah.  She passed the baton to us and I love that we share that sweet family with another family we like so much.

2-Hearing QE squeal excitedly and run to the door when we knocked.

3-Holding the Young Prince.  He is so tiny (even though he isn't that tiny).  He is very chilled out and calm.  He cracked us up by opening his eyes occasionally and giving us a side eye.  His resting face seems to be one of suspicion and we're here for it.  He is adorable and we love him!

4-Letting Braeden and Anna nap.  

5-Playing with QE.  It involved a lot of magna tiles, bows in my hair and blankets covering me (completely, even my face) when I was sick and she was the doctor.

4-Trying my best to remember princess stories and make up spooky stories because she loved to have stories told to her and those were her genre of choice.  (Spooky stories for a three year old are a little tricky, because they can't actually be spooky....)

5-Helping to fold the impossibly small laundry of YP.  But then Braeden brought me YP to hold, so forget the laundry.

6- Enjoying the vocabulary of QE.  We were talking about lunch and she said, "What else will we have?" I said maybe we could have some oranges and she said, "Yes, obviously we will have oranges."  At a recent well child visit, the doctor asked if she had started using complete sentences....

7-Reading to QE.

8-Spending time with Adam.  He is my favorite travel companion and I love being grandparents together.

9-Introducing QE to her first milkshake.  She kept saying, "This is delicious!"

10-Witnessing the parenting of Braeden and Anna and the good life they have created.  Braeden married well.  (So did Anna.). I love those two--those four!

Grateful Friday

 I think spending the day with my team was just what the doctor ordered.  I love those ladies.

I hadn't slept well (because that is a fun side effect of a terrible day), but they kept me going through a long day of sitting still.  (I heard many teachers say some version of, "It is so hard to sit all day!")

We met at a closed elementary school and during a bathroom break in the pint sized elementary bathroom, I had to take a picture of my tall teammates drying their hands.  So funny!

 

For an object lesson we had to sketch a picture of a cat.  They were amazed by my cat.  (It wasn't that great, I just spent a certain part of my childhood drawing.) Later, when we went to lunch, I drove and I needed Miriam to navigate every turn and tell me which lane to be in.  We were in the actual town that I live, but I needed guidance.

I said, "I am terrible with directions, but I guess I can draw a cat."

Because that's a useful skill I will use every day....

We wrote each other notes on sticky notes and got parent teacher conferences scheduled (with a lot of mutual hand holding--Skyward isn't a friend of ours).  We compared notes on how things were going and I can't imagine teaching third grade without them.  I am very grateful for my dream team.