Labor Day

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend. My mom, my two sisters, and I have been talking about doing a girls' weekend for years. This year we decided to make it a reality. We met up in Pleasant Grove, which is halfway for all of us (except for Shelley, as she was hosting). We stayed up late, shared so much, had adventures, and played games.

Mom and I left right after school on Friday. We stopped to eat in Pocatello and ended up getting to Shelley's around 9:00. We missed all the bad traffic and made good time. I had a weird thing happen while I was driving though. We were just about to Salt Lake, and suddenly my eyes went all blurry. It was like I wasn't wearing my contacts! So scary, but thankfully it passed fairly quickly. 

On Saturday morning, we went to a session at the Mount Timpanogos temple. I have severe anxiety, and going to the temple is a huge trigger for me. Since my hysterectomy, I can't always tell when I need to go to the bathroom. Being in a place where I can't really get up and leave, and where I'm wearing all white isn't ideal for that. It's been so hard to go. I can't do it on my own. But I decided that I was going to try. It really helped to have my mom and sisters with me. It was still hard, and I fought off a panic attack partway through, but I did it. I made it. It was a nice experience.

Then we went to lunch at an old favorite (Kneaders) and headed to Midway for Swiss Days. We've leaned pretty heavily into our Swiss heritage and wanted to go experience Swiss Days. Midway is so charming! It's very easy to see why our ancestors decided to settle there when they immigrated to the US. It looks almost identical to our ancestral hometown of Balgach, canton of St. Gallen. Even the mountains surrounding it are reminiscent of the Alps. There are several homes there that my great great grandfather built. Last summer, my dad and I got to tour the biggest one as part of a family reunion. It was really special. We did learn that the style of these homes isn't Swiss - it's English!

Swiss Days wasn't all that Swiss. It was a little disappointing that there wasn't more Switzerland involved, but we had a nice time anyway. We did find a really sweet little shop with Christmas decorations from Germany. We all ended up with several purchases. I'm excited to get my tree out so that I can display my new things! We were hoping to have a knockwurst sandwich, which is very Swiss, but they sold out before we got to the line. I ended up having a Navajo taco (although they called it a Swiss taco - not a thing) and the others had a barbecue dinner. We were all pretty disappointed, to be honest. Oh well.

We visited a really charming bookshop that I'd like to go back to the next time I'm in Utah. It reminded me of my favorite bookshop, The King's English, in Salt Lake. Shelley hasn't ever been there, so that's in the plans as well. I love fun bookshops! This one wasn't in an old house, so it didn't have all the little secret rooms and passages as TKE, but it was still fun. I saw a couple books that I'm interested in reading.

When we got back to Shelley's, we watched Pride & Prejudice (Keira Knightley version, which we all love) and stayed up way too late again. We went to church the next morning, although I only stayed for sacrament meeting. I was sick the whole time. Still am. I only made it in to work one day this week! I hate being sick. 

Anyway, we fixed dinner together and went down to Springville to see if we could find an ancestor's grave. We couldn't. There was no record of it in the cemetery. We drove up Hobble Creek Canyon. It's starting to change colors, and it's gorgeous! Then we went back and played a super fun game. You sing a line of a song, which is recorded in an app. Then you play it backwards and the next person tries to sing the backwards part. Then you play it again and you see if you got close to the original. We had some recognizable words, but everything else was pretty jumbled. It was so fun! We laughed so hard.

Monday morning, we went and got pedicures together and then headed home. It was so much fun and I'm glad we did it. We'd like to make this an annual tradition. We all needed it and loved spending the time together.

First Week of School

 Well, the first week of school is over. 

THANK GOODNESS.

I am whatever is beyond exhausted. My class is interesting. This week has been rough, but I'm hoping it's just the excitement of a new school year, new teacher, new classmates. I HOPE. Otherwise, it's going to be a long year. 

I've got some things started that will hopefully help my students get back into the school groove. Blurting, yelling across the room, and constant talking are problems we're facing. I've started a blurt bean jar and blurtsheets (worksheets, but better). No one wants a blurtsheet, so they're trying harder. That makes me hopeful!

I'm glad for the weekend to decompress and get some things done at home. Usually we're a four-day week, but the first four weeks of school are five days. That ends up being 40 hours with students. FORTY HOURS WITH STUDENTS. I can't even begin to tell you how draining that is. I'll be glad to get those done with.

Next weekend, my mom, my sisters, and I are going to have a girls' weekend. We're meeting up in Utah Valley, where one sister lives. It's halfway for all of us. We're planning to go to the temple, go to Swiss Days in Midway (we're Swiss and visited Switzerland two years ago, so this is going to be amazing!), pedicures, games, and fun. I'm looking forward to it so much! We all need it.

Anyway, that's what's up. I hope that next time I have good news to report about my class's progress!

Henry Update

 I've had a hard time since I had to take Henry back to the shelter. I wanted it to work so badly. I really think I could have overcome the anxiety. I just couldn't overcome the allergies. But I've still wondered over and over if I did the right thing by taking him back.

Well, today I found out that he's been adopted. I had taken all of his favorite things to the shelter, and they said that they'd send it with a new owner. So Henry has his things that will hopefully help him adjust to a new home and settle in. I'm so glad that the shelter was willing to do that. Henry really loved his sofa, hammock, and large tower. I also sent his litter box and treats. I feel good about him still having some of his things.

Today is the first time I've felt like I did make the right choice. Honestly, it was the only choice, but I still struggled. Now I know that he'll be okay and loved. I'm happy for him.

Adopting a cat...and then not adopting a cat

 Last fall, I started feeling like maybe I was ready to try an emotional support animal. I really struggle with anxiety, and I hoped it would help. I worked with my therapist for months to be ready. I spent that time searching shelters for cats that I'd be a good fit with. I spent over 8 months preparing.

Finally, I was ready. I had done the required work with my therapist to qualify for an ESA, and I finally found the perfect cat. I met him ahead of time at the shelter, and we clicked immediately. He was an orange and white boy. I'm so partial to orange cats!

I waited a couple more days to be absolutely sure, and then I went to adopt my cat. I named him Henry Pawsworth Longfellow, and he was absolutely perfect. He loved me from the beginning. He wanted to be with me at all times. His favorite place was on my lap. We spent hours cuddling and playing.

I didn't really notice that I wasn't feeling well until about a week in. I was achy, itchy, congested, and had a sore throat constantly. Not feeling well made my anxiety spike. I recognized the signs of an imminent downward spiral. That's happened before, and it's not good. Really not good.

I talked with my parents for awhile, and we realized that I am allergic to cats. I haven't had an indoor cat before, so I didn't know. I didn't know it was severe. My beloved Henry was making me so sick. My autoimmune medications suppress my immune system, so I can't fight things off. Taking allergy medications wasn't enough. In the end, I only had one choice. I had to take Henry back to the shelter. It broke my heart.

It's amazing how quickly one can become attached and how deep the hurt is when you have to make a choice like this. I know I did everything right, but it's still devastating to lose my sweet boy. If he'd been a jerk cat, it would have been different, but he was so very good. He was smart, lovey, funny, and so wonderful to have around. Losing him was one of the hardest things I've ever had to face.

Now I'm left feeling even more alone. I'm having to take all of his things out because the allergens are still there. The shelter will take his favorite things so that they can go with him to his new home, so that's good. I'm glad he'll have something familiar to go with him. But oh, how I wish he was staying here with me. I wish I didn't have allergies. I wish I didn't have anxiety. 

But I do. And I have to make impossible choices because of it.

Craziness!!

 Today was the last day of school this year. My former district ended 2 weeks ago, so these last 2 weeks have been looooooooonnnnnnnng and torturous. Everyone (including me) was feral and ready to be done. We finally made it though, and wouldn't you know it, there was crazy involved.

I had a strong feeling this morning that I needed to get to school early. I woke up late, my morning was chaotic, but I just couldn't shake that feeling. So I left before I was entirely ready to go. I got to school about 10 minutes before I usually do. When I got to my door, I thought it looked blurry, and wondered if it was something wrong with my contacts. I opened the door, and a cloud of smoke and electrical fire smell washed over me. I was so scared!

I ran inside (maybe not the smartest thing I've ever done...) and opened the windows. Thank goodness for windows that open. I checked everything I had plugged in, and none of the outlets were hot and none of the cords looked burned. I unplugged everything anyway. I then ran to get our assistant principal (our principal was out today for his daughter's wedding) and she was able to get in touch with the head maintenance guy. Looking back, I wonder why we didn't call the fire department? I have no idea. I blame the last day of school brain.

When the maintenance guy got there within 2 minutes of our call, he went through my room too. He also found nothing, which was a huge relief. I was afraid that I'd plugged something in that was causing the problem. Whew! 

After he went through my room, he opened the utility closet between my classroom and one of my teammate's. He immediately found the problem. I learned that we each have our own furnace (who knew this school was so fancy!) and the control panel on mine had burned. It was burned beyond recognition. It was twisted grotesquely and looked horrifying. The guy told me that we were probably within minutes of flames. What. The. Heck?!

At that moment, my brain jumped to the feeling I'd had all morning. We were within minutes. MINUTES. Hmmm...maybe like the ten minutes early that I got there?

I am SO glad I listened, even though I was having a *morning*. I'm so glad we were able to get to the problem pretty quickly. I'm so glad that we avoided flames. My classroom would have been destroyed, along with the thousands of dollars of educational things I have in there. Yeah, I don't have that kind of money to toss around, and because just about everything in the room is my personal property, the school insurance wouldn't have covered it and I'd be out of luck. I'm definitely thinking about classroom insurance, if that's a thing.

We were unable to use the classroom for the planned activities. It was still smokey and the smell was awful. Maintenance brought in big fans to suck the smoke out, so that cleared pretty quickly. But the smell didn't lessen at all. Ugh. I'm afraid that a lot of things will need a trip to the cleaner. I have a bunch of Idaho pillows that I made while teaching fourth grade, and they weren't in my office. Nothing in my office was affected because the door was closed and apparently it has a decent seal. But the pillows are on top of the cupboards out in the classroom, so they'll have picked up the electrical fire smell. UGH.

All things considered though, a trip to the dry cleaner for my pillows is a small price to pay considering what could have happened.

I hope I always stop and listen when those thoughts pop up.