Saturday/Sunday/Monday

Saturday

So, Saturday was day 2 of the tournament... it went really well and I'm pretty pumped for future tournaments. After this weekend we have 60% of the team qualified for state in at least one event! Yey! The team placed first overall which was super exciting as well! We're finally coming back and I'm seeing the benefits of all the hard work. I had some really good conversations with a few people and am excited about what the future holds. The tournament was completely random overall. I helped change a flat tire in the parking lot of the host school, it took the three of us over an hour to put on the spare. Lol. Then as usual, the kids know how to make things better... I seriously sat outside with them and laughed for what seemed like hours. After awards, we always end with dinner somewhere. We had reservations at Johnny Corinos where they shoved the 50 or so of us into two seperate rooms. I ended up being in the room with the majority of the team and had a blast. I am so proud of my team, the stress and nervousness was so worth it! It was so fun though, we definently have memories to last awhile. After dinner I went home, grabbed my bags and went to my grandmas for the night. I got there at like 9-9:30ish and things were crazy! My cousins, one whos 26 and her daughter whos 4 and her nephew who is 7 were there along with my brother, grandma, and aunt. They were at the table wrapping presents for the Christmas party and the kids were in the back playing. I had a lot to do, but before any of that happened we had to catch up! So eventually, all the presents got wrapped, name bracelets got made, and packages double checked. By the time things settled down it was almost 3 a.m. Before getting ready for bed, I went check on my cousin (the 7 year old) who was supposed to be playing his playstation. He had fallen asleep in the bed I was going to sleep in, so I ended up on the floor. It is so hard for me to sleep on the floor, but I think I ended up getting 3ish hours of sleep.

Sunday

Sunday was party day! We have the party every year (and have ever since I can remember) for the elementary special ed kids in our parish. After waking up at like 6ish, I started getting ready and left around 8 to go set up. I was so thankful that some of the guys went early and set up all the tables and chairs! One less thing I had to do! I set up the Christmas tree, unloaded presents, kept an eye on my cousin, and sliced my thumb open on a broken ornament all pretty soon after I got there. I think what helped me was that I was so busy, that I didn't have time to process everything that was going on. We had a total of 56 kids, a lot less than in the past probably due to inclusion and fewer students in the fully restrictive special ed classroom. Of course, I had my favorite kids who were completely adorable and so thankful. I'm almost glad that it was smaller because it gave me time to breathe! After the party I went home, attempted to take a nap, went to Mass, came home and attempted to read ballots, and eventually passed out from exhaustion.

Monday

Monday was my workday for the week. Becuase it's midterm week at work, Monday and Tuesday were their only full days of school this week. I spent the morning working on lesson plans and getting organized in the library. Then that afternoon, I moved to the speech room to get things organized there. I finally had the time to go through and file all the ballots from this semesters tournaments and then reworked duo/duet teams which ended up completely stressing me out! I'm still in the process of figuring that stuff out in order to maximize workability and state qualifiers. I'm not really sure what to do, what pieces to give, and who to put with who. I know things will work out. Although I was a bit stressed at times, it was an overall good day! You know its a good day, when you laugh so hard you cry! My day was made better when I checked my semester grades to find out that I finished with a 4.0 GPA, thats right I have a 4.0! It's about damn time! Lol. I am so excited and I proved to myself that I can do it and that I am actually smart! By no means was this an easy semester! Hopefully, I can do this again before I graduate. 6 semesters down, 3 to go! I'm so ready to graduate and be able to teach and coach full time!