Monday turned Funday (or Dancing in the Rain)

Look at me, two posts in one day. 


This day started out frustrating and exhausting but has taken a strange turn for the better. Maybe it is me and Paul's celebration of our Tequila Anniversary. Maybe it is the fact I got to talk to three of my favorite people today (thank you president's day!), or maybe it is the 3 very tiny glasses of red wine I have had. Either way, it is 22:19, I am nearly ready for bed and stumbled across this quote:

and it brought me back - all the way until I was 16. I went to boarding school for a year. It was based in Vermont but we also lived in Costa Rica, Greece and West Virginia. The second week we were at school it was absolutely pouring rain from the sky. It felt like bucket after bucket was being dumped on the ground outside my dorm in Vermont. Remember, I was young and impulsive back then. So I took off my shoes, ran out the door, and danced in the rain. I danced to my own music, my own beat, and was completely soaked in 5 minutes. I was loving it. 

Then I stepped on a big sharp rock and bruised my heel. Okay, not the best ending. But the fact that this brief, strong memory has stuck with me for the last 9 years says something. I don't often dance in the rain. It is cold and then I get wet, and I am no longer a child that lets my mom clean my clothes up for me. Dancing in the rain never sounds very fun, but at 16, I couldn't think of anything better than that. It's clear to me that I don't dance in the rain enough - if I did this memory wouldn't be that easy to recall, it would be clouded with all the other times I danced in the rain. Most of the time I think that sunshine is happiness. It is warm, comfortable, clean and easy. This weekend, sitting on the piste in my t-shirt and snowboarding clean and easy I was loving the sunshine. I guess its good to remember that every now and then it is good to dance in the rain :)

Monday, Not Funday

Its 18:25 and I am finally home. I got up at 7, was at work before 8, and never had a moment to breathe. 


What makes Monday such a terrible day? It is really just a day like any other, right?


Wrong.


My Mondays slam me like a semi truck on an icy road. I can see them coming but I am helpless to do anything. All Sunday I work furiously to get enough work done to be ready for my Monday, but no matter how much I do, something always goes wrong. I must have been quite worried about this Monday because my jaw hurt this morning. Clenching my jaw all night on my sleep to Monday is not a good sign.


Monday is by far my longest day - I have back-to-back classes (with a lunch break) from 8:10-4:40. That means I must be 100% ready for each and every class. I make all my preparations, leave them carefully in my classrooms and folders, and hope for the best. 


So what happened today, you might ask? Everything was going smoothly (well as smoothly as being a zookeeper in a monkey cage) and my third graders were far too wound up to be studying science. They had their science test first, then we moved on to English lessons. I gave them the photocopies I had made weeks and weeks ago.... and after taking the pretest I realized I had been testing them on 4th grade words! So we recycled all those papers, and I didn't have time to make more, so we scratched next week's test. Isn't the day off to a great start?


Then it was lunch time. I tried to make new copies of the 3rd grade spelling words to give on Wednesday. We have a new printer system at Champittet that makes it as difficult as possible to make copies. You send your file to the printer system, go to a printer of your choice, and then wait in the massive line behind all the other teachers waiting to put in their code and print out their documents (it used to just print automatically!) So I got on the one free computer in the school and sent the document to the printer. I found the line for the printer in the primary building 5 teachers long, so I ran across to the "big building" to print. I chose the quick printer, put in my code, clicked "secure print" and chose my document. When you print a job, it automatically deletes it. So it deleted my job, but didn't print anything. I ran back to the primary building to find all the computers taken. I went back to the big building to look for a free computer. In the third room I found one computer, logged in, and tried to print the document. Unfortunately, THIS computer was not set up to print to the new Secure Print system. Frustrated after 25 minutes of trying to print ONE piece of paper I gave up. I'll just do it tomorrow.


At this point it was 12:45 and I thought... it's time for some wine! But no, that's not right, I still have 4 more classes to teach. I clawed my way through the rest of my classes, including my 3rd grade history class that is currently using the computer lab to look up information about dinosaurs. Although this sounds fun, I must log in each student using my own username and password (eu\elizabeth.szczypka with an equally long password 17 times) because the kids don't have one. Then find the right information site for each one, then answer their questions, teach them how to copy and paste pictures, explain, reexplain, and deal with constant interruption. Wow, what fun! Once class is over, and the kids have gone home, I got to spend another 20 minutes trying to save each document to a place where it wouldn't get deleted (like it was last time). Are we having fun yet? Can you see why I hate Mondays?


I hate to be a moaner. I think your perspective and attitude in life can really change how you feel about it. But no matter how positive I try to start a Monday, they always end up, well, like this. Frustrating, exhausting, and I get home needing wine. How can I change that? Can a positive attitude really make me like these terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days? 


Luckily, next Monday I will be in ski chalet in Tignes, France, not running around like a chicken with its head cut off. It will be the first Monday in a long time that I will enjoy. 

It's Sunday, Posting Day

It's Sunday again. I am amazed at how quickly the weeks come and go. Every few moments I look up from my classwork, school work, teacher work and think, "WOW, that week is already over!"


I don't have much to share here, as I haven't managed to get surgery, a highly contagious virus, or any other number of weird things to happen to me. Well except my neck/shoulder/arm thing, but that isn't new or exciting. I just think it is important to keep writing, even if I am not sure what I have to say. I'm always thinking a million things, and it feels good to put them in writing. Dad says we are a family of singers, writers and artists. I am proud to be part of that family and I want to keep up the tradition. Today while I cooked dinner I was singing. While the lasagna was in the oven I was drawing. And now, here I am, writing.


Here are some random thoughts from this week:

Teaching

I absolutely love teaching - I am so glad I chose a profession that makes me so happy. I wish everyone could be as lucky as I am. There are also many things I don't like about my current job that could be remedied should I switch schools. I don't like the bureaucracy, the low trust of staff, or the amazing amount of preps I have (7! That is a LOT of preps!) I don't like working with coworkers who don't pull their weight and put more trouble on everyone else. I don't like psycho parents who think their children are such geniuses that they should be able to take a test and then get an A without doing any work in the class. Luckily, my love of teaching far outweighs all of those little pesky things.

Travel

Even though I know Paul and I will probably stay here in Switzerland for a few more years so I am able to get more experience in a school, I am antsy to travel. I am tired of weekend trips - All the planes and buses aren't worth it for 1 or 2 nights away. I want to do a round-the-world trip, one that takes me to new and exciting places. Paul has agreed (maybe a bit reluctantly, but agreed all the same) to take 3-6 months for a little trip after we leave Switzerland and before we start our jobs in a new place. In my free time yesterday I spent a few hours looking at the places I would like to visit. I have a very long list of places (I have never even been to South America or Africa!) but I might have to concede and not go to ALL of them at once. It won't be the last vacation of my life - just maybe the last without kids :)

Cold Weather

I am a California girl through and through. I can't get away from that. Up until this week I was doing just fine - I now own scarves, gloves, hats, closed-toe shoes, leggings, and all the other its-cold-out fixins. It still doesn't help! The temperature outside on Friday was -8 (without windchill) and -23 (with windchill) and you can bet I can feel that wind. I have counteracted this by choosing not to go outside at all. I stay in my nice warm apartment in my sweatshirt and fleece pants and socks and hat and mittens... okay, maybe not the hat and mittens. Still, it is much too cold for my liking. I would like Switzerland to warm up a little. Please? 

Well folks, that's about all, I am including my most recent drawings.... some took more time than others :)