Week 4 post for 9x9x25

Eating Ben&Jerry's on the couch on the pug is the only thing I'm good for right now.

It's Fall Break. I know, I know: most of you don't want to even hear about it. But if it makes you feel better, I only get time off of TCP --not YC-- so I'm still working at one of my two jobs, and I'm still grading for the one, so it's really only a quarter time off. Yeah, I know: waah, waah. But I'd still like to get as much time off as my YC peers during Winter Break. And Summer Break. So you have it easier than you think you do... ;)

What is it about breaks that make us feel so recharged? This morning, I finished reading The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan, I finished re-reading Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster for my novel writing class last night, I've graded an entire class of ENG101/Dual Enrollment essays today, and tomorrow will complete the other class. I'll also be grading my Junior English's Scarlet Letter debates this week. On Monday I had an eye appointment, today I had a vet appointment for the pug, and I have a doctor appointment/check-up on Thursday. Today I finished filming a digital workshop for Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) which starts in just a few weeks. Other things on the To Do list involve buying and hanging stained glass window film for my classroom (the South-facing windows blind my students in the Winter), and buying succulent soil so I can transplant a few of the succulents on my front porch stifled by vegetable potting soil (my bad). Tomorrow, I'll probably go to the gym and have the luxury of working out for as long as I feel like. This doesn't happen as often as I like (and then we wonder why teachers gain weight progressively through their career). I get to meet a friend for dinner on Thursday night.

Welcome to a life of teaching: time off isn't really time off. Time off is, instead, time to get caught up, time to feel normal, time to do the things that I don't have time for in seasons when I teach as much as ten hours in one day (sometimes more). People treat teachers like breaks are just a chance to go to California and sleep on the beach. People treat teachers like we're just staying up until 2am every night binge-watching Netflix like we're not doing anything else. Nope: breaks instead allow us to get caught up a little bit so that we can attempt to be normal people.

What is it like to work only 40 hours a week, to pay your mortgage comfortably, to leave work at work, and to enjoy a vacation without thinking of work a single time? I have no idea. That's okay: that's not this life. Right now this life is about Ben&Jerry's on the couch with the pug and that is good enough for me.