A Strange Week

I am sitting here, after deleting two separate blog posts that weren't really go anywhere, thinking about my work week this week.

For some reason, my students have three days off this week. They don't come to school today or Thursday or Friday. I, on the other hand, have to come to work on Monday and Thursday - Thursday is a 12 hour day. I do get Friday off, which is really nice, but 20 hours of inservice and professional development time is just not something I look forward to...at all.

For me, the change in structure and routine makes for lots of difficult encounters and uncomfortable situations.

For example, one of the things that we are going to do on Thursday is decorate pumpkins - team-building activity! Last year, we had to split up based on our working teams. The other teams complained because those of us who are not classroom teachers grouped together. There were "too many" of us for the others, so we had to split up.

Now, I have a setting event when it comes to pumpkins. I hate them. I hate everything about pumpkins. I hate the smell, I hate the guts, I hate how they rot (and mold very quickly in this part of the world). There are so many sensory issues that I have with those vegetables that the thought of having to do something with a pumpkin makes me ill.

Last year, it was a surprise. As in, "Surprise! We all GET to decorate pumpkins in this FUN team-building activity!" I was able to convince my team NOT to open up our pumpkin, but that was all. The pumpkins were then displayed outside my room where they molded and rotted within days. I had to walk past that stench multiple times per day - just compounding my setting event.

This year, at least, I won't have to walk past them very often. My room has moved since last Halloween. Happy Thought!!

I am planning on working with the Art Therapist this year. I've promised her that I will be her go-fer and get everything she wants, and she promised me that I would not have to be anywhere near the pumpkin. Let's hope we get to pick our teams.

Later that evening, we are going to have a "Family Fun Night" out at the barn. Now, I am not keen on the barn. Fortunately, I have lots of strange allergies to things like goats, chickens, and rabbits, so I can avoid the barn most of the time. I am going to plead allergies to avoid going to the barn on Thursday night as well.

Today, however, is a work day. We get precious few of these days to just plain old work in our area. My plan is to take everything out of my office, clean the floors really well, and then rearrange my work space. There are some things that are working well and others that need some more thought. The best way for me to try something new is to start from scratch, so that's what the plan is for today. I will take an arm full of movies to watch while I work, and I'll try my best to disconnect from everything until my work is finished. That's my plan for this out-of-the-ordinary day. 

This day will start with a late arrival. I am sitting here at almost 6 am and haven't dressed for work yet. I will try not to leave before 6:30 am, and I'll still get to work earlier than I need to. Oh well. That's the way I am.

Happy Monday! Here we go!!