A breath of relief

Yay - the extra long weekend of Thanksgiving is here. Yes, "Black" Friday is in there (maybe Obama will do something about that name), but I basically avoid leaving the house anywhere you can use money for the whole weekend, so I can avoid crazed shoppers. This year I think will be worse than usual.

The relief of not having to teach is palpable. I don't get to sleep any later, and have plenty to do at home, but not trying to juggle teaching and behavior management (and feeling guilty that the kids aren't listening/learning and that it is my fault) plus all the day-to-day paperwork (of which there is a ton...yesterday turned in the team notebook which includes weekly lesson plans from the four teachers, all conference reports filled out during parent meetings (of which we have at least 3 weekly), copies of any exams, logs of telephone calls to parents (again, several daily)...you get the picture - somebody doesn't think we are doing our job, so it gets complicated by PROVING we are doing our job, which takes away from our job, which makes us look bad)...

Tomorrow I get to relax by cooking. The house will smell good, we have a small crowd - only 12. The usual simple things, turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes (recipe from Cooks Illustrated), somebody else making green bean casserole, ditto with stuffing (tired of hearing how somebody's mother's is better), maybe up to 3 pies for dessert. Then pick the carcass, store the meat and brown the bones and leavings to make dark stock....mmmmmmm.

Monday it was pouring down rain in the morning, so I didn't bike (although the brake situation is fixed), and just was lazy yesterday. Probably will do a fun ride or two over the weekend just to keep the muscles from forgetting things. Enjoying driving the car more than I should - the accomplishment of smoothing shifting...in my early driving days I dreaded shifting. I would avoid potential stops on inclines, I would do anything not to downshift. Now I am having fun doing "real" driving for the first time in decades. It all comes back, just like riding a bike (see how I brought all that back together...and you didn't think I could do it).