Hamster Wheel

Sometimes I feel like a hamster. Not one of those cute ones who drives a Kia, either. Just a silly, little rodent stuck in that foolish wheel. This is one of those weeks when the daily routine is getting to me. Get up. Get kids ready. Get self ready. Drop kids off. Get to work. Teach. Get home. Make dinner. Try to clean up. Wash another load of laundry. Help with homework. Put kids to bed. Go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. 

I'm feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I leave the house at 7:15 to drive the kids to school. I get home at 4:45 from work. As it is, I'm barely doing the basics. I haven't even figured out how to squeeze in a workout (or squeeze into my jeans). Sometimes I even sacrifice sleep to get stuff done. Ugh.  

I was about to start doing 87 million things tonight and then I decided to say "screw it" and took a bath instead. Sometimes you just need to leave the pile of laundry for another day. 

What I need is a little less this:

And a lot more this:

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-->Is the daily grind getting you down, too? Feel free to share your story in the comments below...

Eight Days a Week

I just have to say that I am loving my new job. It's a little crazy and a lot hectic, but I am really happy with my new school.

It's amazing, though, how adding 1 day a week has made me feel. I am so tired every afternoon. I feel like a zombie and I sleep like the dead (I'm even too exhausted for my insomnia). Adding one more day a week feels like 2 or 3.

Last year, when my day would end on a Wednesday, I would think to myself, "Great. One more day. My weekend is practically already here." Now, I'm one of those poor saps just trying to get by on coffee and Hump Day jokes because there are still TWO more days until the weekend. 

Not only that, but Fridays are wasted on me. I'm too tired to do anything fun. By Saturday, I start to perk up and then I wake up and Sunday has reared its ugly head. I hate Sundays. I always have. You start to think about the fact that the next day is Monday and you're about to start another full week. And there are so many things to do (laundry, cleaning, blah, blah, blah...) Even as a kid I hated Sundays. I'd be stressing about some homework that I hadn't quite finished and that damn 60 Minutes clock would start ticking down the minutes until bedtime (I loathe that clock).

I know I'll fall into a groove as things start to settle in. September is always a crazy month. Lately, though, these weeks just seem to run one right into the next. Here's to living it up this weekend and celebrating the end of another week that felt like it lasted at least 8 days.

Sunday night ticking of doom

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Are you tired, too, or is it just me? Feel free to share your story in the comments below...

Full-Time, Baby!

I started teaching in September of 2000. I taught into my fourth year, right up until the day I delivered Patrick in November of 2003. I was very lucky to be able to spend the next six years at home raising my children. In the fall of 2009, when Sean was about eight months old, I went back to teaching three days a week. The next three years, I worked four days a week and used my Fridays for things like laundry and lunch-mothering at my kids' school. (I even managed to squeeze in one more child - with a very short maternity leave.)

This year, however, is a whole new story. I am officially back to teaching full-time. I am excited about the job because I followed my principal to a turnaround school. It's a much bigger school (717 students), and it needs a lot of work. The days are longer, too. But, I'm teaching math now (which I love), and I have a lot of faith in my principal that she is really going to be able to turn this place around. She certainly has her work cut out for her.

I've got my work cut out for me, too. Like every other working stiff, my weekends only have two days. They are way too short. PJ & I like to spend our time having fun with the kids. Which leaves very little time for chores and errands. It's going to be interesting trying to strike a balance.

I have yet to figure out how to fit everything in. I'm trying to get a little better each week. Last week, I just tried to survive my first full week. This week, I've already managed two dinners in the slow-cooker (a necessity since I don't get home until 5pm), with another planned for tomorrow. That's a big step in the right direction since we had take-out every night last week. And I have officially given lunch packing duties to PJ. That's one less thing for the nightly "to do" list.

Maybe next week, I'll figure out how I can squeeze in a trip to the gym. I guess this is going to be a year of mastering time management. I can't quite find enough hours in the day just yet. Unless I give up sleep altogether. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough coffee in the world for that. 

So, wish me luck. Or come do my laundry. That would be way more useful than luck. ;)

HEY! If you enjoy the blog, why not become a follower? I'm the one who's officially a working mom. You can also stalk find me on Facebook and Twitter. Like the page and follow me!

**And be sure to visit my Zazzle store. Don't you need a new coffee mug or apron?

Have you mastered time management? Feel free to share your wisdom/secrets in the comments below...