Survived the First Full Week of School

I'm sorry I've been so scarce.  Late days, meetings, taking care of everything when I get home--including a cat that seems to be having food/potty issues again--and just when I thought I was going down the shore for a family reunion tomorrow, I will be attending the funeral of a family friend instead.  Not entirely unexpected, as she had been sick a long time, but it still sucks.  She was a straight-talking Irish gal (is there any other kind?) who often welcomed us over after church and made a fuss over me as if she were my grandmother.  I'll never forget the time not long after The Ex broke up with me that he came to church with his new girlfriend in tow and the first words out of this friend's mouth were, "She's so homely!"  (Well, she was, but it would have sounded vindictive had I said it.  Coming from her, it was the real deal.)


As for school, well, my students seem a bit less crazy than last year's crop, but the fourth graders were slightly needy.  Like third graders still, I guess.  And the sixth graders while a bit unsure of what they're doing seem fairly engaged--not to mention there seems to be less conflict among them--so that's a good thing.  The only thing that's really getting to me is the pile-up of things not related directly to my classes.  Paperwork, for example.  Some I have to fill out and some I have to create entirely from scratch.  On short notice, no less.  I don't know when they expect us to get it all done, honestly, and this is where my mind starts to drift into, "This is why you didn't want to teach in the first place. . ."  But it's my job, and it buys the cat food, so there you go.


I think if I can grab a moment to recharge my batteries a bit this weekend, it will help put this week to bed and prepare me for the coming week.


And I can't believe how much I want The Cat to take care of business in the litterbox.


  

Comments

Cat litter box issues are nasty. My boy cat has recently decided to poop right in front of the litter box, which I don't find amusing at all. No idea why.
ccr in MA said…
I'm so sorry to hear about your family friend. Expected or not, such things are hard and awful and no fair and no fun. Recharge those batteries, and I will send "stop it you know better" vibes to The Cat for you.
Kate P said…
S.D.--That is weird he's doing that. Any recent changes to routine? My parents' one cat does that because he's a giant fluffy guy and I think the litter gets stuck to him! (My parents gave up and put newspaper down.)

CCR--Thank you and I think it worked a little so far! Now if I could just get The Cat to eat a little more. . .
Anonymous said…
Aww good luck with everything.

That's very sweet how your family friend backed you up when you saw your ex. Everyone should be so lucky to have someone in their corner make harmlessly snarky remarks. :-)
Sara said…
*e-hugs*

It sounds like you were very lucky to know the family friend. She sounds like she was a jewel.

As for dear Kitty... I hope things have improved since your post.
Anonymous said…
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I hope her funeral was an amazing celebration of her life! I hope things are a little calmer for you this week.
Dave E. said…
I think that's twice now that Google has eaten my comment with their screwed up account update message. Anyway, another try.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I hope the weekend was a good recharge in spite of all of that.

Sammy taught me to be militantly unashamed about being concerned about a pet's business. If somebody doesn't get that it's one of those rare moments where I kind of look down at a person.

Okay...will this get through?
Kate P said…
Christine--thanks, and yeah, she definitely was the kind of person who'd stand up for you, y'know?

Sara--thank you (you hug now? I don't KNOW you anymore! ha ha ha ha). Kitty is hanging in there. She's not "taking care of business" but she's cheerful and purr-y anyway, so I guess I'll take it.

Angela--thanks. Her one son's quip was that "She'd be so mad at all the fuss we're making over her," LOL. I think this weekend will be my chance to recharge.

Dave--Blogger doesn't like you! Oh, now it does! Hee.
Thanks for the kind words. Sammy was a good doggie and I like that philosophy. Even if I sound like a lonely cat lady when I talk about this stuff.

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