School Has Started

The last two weeks have flown by and I am exhausted! I feel so lucky to have this job where they let me work as little or as much as I would like to work. They gave me the opportunity to teach an Algebra 2 class along with the AP Statistics and AP Calculus classes I agreed to earlier. It is a lot of prep but Algebra 2 is fun to teach! And my niece is in the class! When am I ever going to have the opportunity to teach her again? I have no idea. It's pretty amazing that I got to have Ashlie last year and Courtney this year. They are such amazing girls and I'm going to do everything I can to make it a great year for her too!

My girls are going to a babysitter two days a week for about 4 hours. I survive because I'm so busy while I am away from them but I miss those girls. Jason can watch them on Fridays since he has class later in the day which makes me so happy. I am grateful to have such great people to help me raise them.

The great thing about teaching is I feel so productive. It is hard to have my self-worth be partially dictated by a bunch of teenagers. I used to try to stay as far away from my students outside of class as possible so our relationship would stay all business but with so few students and my nieces mixed in, I cannot stay detached and I really do feel like I'm putting my heart out there. Perhaps this year I can get what has always been missing with my teaching. Maybe I can really make a difference with some kids and show them in a better way that I truly care. I've always done my job but I've never really connected with my students.

Anyway, as my body adjusts to the new strain and my mind adjusts to the constant drain I am growing stronger. I pray that Heavenly Father will help me maintain balance and I can be an instrument in his hands.