Wednesdays

Wednesdays used to be my least favorite day of the week.
I'm worn out from Monday and Tuesday. And Friday still seems really far away.
In fact, I think I wrote a post once about how I always cry on Wednesdays. Because I do! It's bizarre really.
Wednesdays are when tired meets overwhelmed. And if you put Jenny in with tired and overwhelmed, you will get tears every.single.time.

But this year, Wednesdays are quite wonderful.
And here's why.

I walk in the door from school and the first thing I smell is Pinesol, with a hint of bleach mixed in.
I walk into the kitchen to find gleaming counters, a shining sink, and a spotless stovetop.
There are perfect little vacuum lines on all the carpets.
The couch cushions are pleasantly fluffed.
The bathroom glistens.
The boys' beds smell of downy and are neatly made.
The wood floor are spotless.
The game room floor is devoid of the millions of grass pieces that are trekked in by the dogs.
Dust has been banished.

You get the picture.
On Wednesdays, I pay Kylah to clean my house.
And it's the best thing I ever decided to do.
I couldn't find a maid. She cleans like no other. It just worked. :)

And, now, well, now when I walk in the door on Wednesday, all is right with the world.

Truly, it's amazing how much having someone clean my house has helped in so many other ways. Because she comes and will be coming again, the house stays picked up. Because she does all the real cleaning, I've organized and cleaned out closets and done those things that used to be left undone because I could barely just surface clean.

But more than anything, it's just given me such a peace of mind. It just feels so good to have a clean house. Like super clean. She's amazing. Like, you have no idea. And to know it will feel this clean again the following week is just the sweet little cherry on top of the best sundae ever.

I can admit that I have a lot on my plate. Not as much as some by any means, but still a lot. And I just wasn't getting it all done...Also, I've never liked cleaning and never been very good at it so it was always this source of...well, shame. Does that make sense? So, now that it's being done and done well, I just feel...better. Like, because this one major thing has been taken off my plate, the rest of it seems so much more doable.

Wednesdays are quickly becoming my very favorite day of the week.

Thank you, Kylah, for doing so much more than just cleaning my house.
:)

Now, are there any takers for paper grading? Anyone? Anyone? Hello?
:)

Word Wall, phase 1

Isn't it cute?! One of the special Ed teachers(aka Lifesaver) made those posters for me and is going to type the words to put up there! I'm so excited! I've wanted to make one every year and just kept putting it off. So yay for me actually asking for help! And for wonderful sweet people who do WANT to help!

(little note: The reason I capitalized want is because I have a terrible time asking for help. But people do want to help! And I need to remember that. I just didn't want anyone thinking I was somehow complaining about non-helping people...or whatever. You got that right?)

My Tuesday "Done" list. As opposed to My Tuesday To Do List

This morning my alarm clock went off at 5am.
I was out of bed at 5:18.
I threw on jeans and a bra. Meaning, yes, I kept on the shirt I slept in.
If you need to stop being my friend, I understand.
I rubbed the mascara off the bags underneath my eyes, threw my hair in a ponytail(or something distantly resembling a pony tail), grabbed the car keys and my grocery list and headed to HEB. I pulled into the parking lot at 5:32am.

You see, I have The Plan. The Plan to get it all done. The laundry, the groceries, the photo shoots, the teaching, the mothering, the running, the...everything.
A plan.
A beautifully designed, well thought out plan that takes into account Troy not getting home till after 10 at least three nights a week and that he leaves for work at 6:30am. A plan that works with photo shoots on weekends and teaching all week. A plan that allows for long runs and laundry doing, grocery buying and meal preparing.

However, The Plan was beautifully written before school started.

The Plan failed me last week. Miserably.

I won't let it beat me, though. Sunday The Plan started all over.
Sunday was laundry and long run. Good job.
Monday is get-a-little-ceasars-pizza-and-work-at-school-with-the-boys-until-they-can't-stand-it day. Check.
Monday is also supposed to be groceries day. Fail.

So, hello Tuesday.

So I arrive at HEB. It's closed until 6 am.
I return home take the world's quickest shower, put on make-up, throw my wet hair in a bun, put the jeans back on and, you'll be happy to know, a clean shirt, and head to HEB again. I buy all my groceries in, like, 26 minutes, because I have to be back home before 6:30 so Troy's not late.
I was successful!
I put away the groceries.
Work clothes on, hair done, boys up and dressed, guzzled the coffee, and on our way by 7:10.


Bell rings.
Serve breakfast to 16 4th graders.
Teach a three part, fairly interactive review lesson on Nouns and Verbs to my first class.
Meet with the other teachers during conference.
Reply to about 11 emails during conference.
Teach my second class.
Eat lunch while reading 16 very comical journal entries (My mom is extreme. Totally. My dad is chill, though.)
Write note to parent regarding student while nibbling on dessert.
Blog about my sweet sleeping boys. 
During Homeroom, meet with students to discuss AR goals.
Teach my third class.
Host 20+ 4th graders for inside recess because IT WILL NEVER BE COOL AGAIN.
Read a chapter of a book to the kids left after the bus bell rings.
Dismissal.
Call FOUR different numbers to find someone to pick up a student who wasn't picked up.
Then I submitted a technology help ticket, registered for two workshops and submitted the paperwork, requested the subs, emailed a few more people, found my desk, made copies, prepared for tomorrow...

Picked up Grant.
Cleaned our very disasterous front porch.
Grilled Fajitas for dinner.
Played Wii with the boys.
Marveled at Big Ants with the boys. (They seriously carried an entire potato chip into their home. We were way impressed.)
Ran 4 miles.
Showered.

And now, I'm about to edit a shoot.
and I've blogged twice today.

And I say all of this not because I want you to think I'm superwoman.

I'm saying it because I need me to remember that I'm human.

Because if you could see all the things I didn't get done today, you'd realize how ridiculously behind I feel. You'd understand how I could look at my Still To Do list and think, "I'm just not good enough at any of this."

And so I'm writing all of this down, because that's just stupid for me to feel that way. Look at all I did today! And thats another reason I need to write this. Look at what I can get done when I have a plan, when I set goals!
I just hate this time of year and love it at the same time. It's such a great time to start fresh, get in a routine, and set some goals. But that means it's also a great time to feel like a complete and total failure when you...fail.

But even though I didn't grade that stack of papers or hang up my word wall...still...or make those manipulatives, I still did a lot. And that's something to be celebrated.
I'm just sick of my To Do list stealing my joy.

So, it's just not gonna no more.
Said the English teacher.

Morning snapshot

This I what I found this morning.
Grant, who, yes, is sleeping in a pull-up because, for some reason, he pees in the bed if he's not wearing one but never pees in the bed if he is wearing one... well, grant can't seem to stay in his own bed anymore. He's either kicking me and Troy or snuggling up next to bubba. It's sweet...most of the time.
But really I took the picture for two reasons:
1) grant's legs are so long and it breaks my heart because I want him to stay tiny forever.
2)I want to remember them like this forever. Sweet sleeping boys.

Lunch

Because I couldn't stomach the thought of cafeteria chicken nuggets, this is what I had:
Pop tart.
Ritz bits, of the cheese variety.

On my to do list:
Stop forgetting lunch at home

Art Friday

Apparently, it's art day at our house. Grant is coloring with his favorite color, indigo, which he declared you must have to make a rainbow.
Mason is putting together a rather expansive box hotel city sculpture thing. No box is safe in this house. Tell me-where does one store such a thing? :)
And I'm... Well, I'm in my pjs at 8:16pm and that's as beautiful as art to me.

Amazed

I find it amazing that in the middle of everything he must be doing, God still makes skies like this for His children.