Survived the First Full Week of School

I'm sorry I've been so scarce.  Late days, meetings, taking care of everything when I get home--including a cat that seems to be having food/potty issues again--and just when I thought I was going down the shore for a family reunion tomorrow, I will be attending the funeral of a family friend instead.  Not entirely unexpected, as she had been sick a long time, but it still sucks.  She was a straight-talking Irish gal (is there any other kind?) who often welcomed us over after church and made a fuss over me as if she were my grandmother.  I'll never forget the time not long after The Ex broke up with me that he came to church with his new girlfriend in tow and the first words out of this friend's mouth were, "She's so homely!"  (Well, she was, but it would have sounded vindictive had I said it.  Coming from her, it was the real deal.)


As for school, well, my students seem a bit less crazy than last year's crop, but the fourth graders were slightly needy.  Like third graders still, I guess.  And the sixth graders while a bit unsure of what they're doing seem fairly engaged--not to mention there seems to be less conflict among them--so that's a good thing.  The only thing that's really getting to me is the pile-up of things not related directly to my classes.  Paperwork, for example.  Some I have to fill out and some I have to create entirely from scratch.  On short notice, no less.  I don't know when they expect us to get it all done, honestly, and this is where my mind starts to drift into, "This is why you didn't want to teach in the first place. . ."  But it's my job, and it buys the cat food, so there you go.


I think if I can grab a moment to recharge my batteries a bit this weekend, it will help put this week to bed and prepare me for the coming week.


And I can't believe how much I want The Cat to take care of business in the litterbox.