Crazy Busy

I guess my lack of posting within a week of my last entry is as good an indicator as any about how busy it's been recently. Here are the high points:

1. My first week back to school was uneventful, kids were good, teaching went well, almost like I hadn't left in terms of management and things, so that makes everything better.

2. Last Tuesday my staff held a benefit basketball game for me. The 8th grade teams (both boys and girls) played a team made up of teachers and staff for the building (AKA, Team Trela). It was a really fun game, staff won, but it was pretty close after 5 quarters. Yes, 5 quarters. At one point it was definitely 9 kids to 5 adults, but everyone was having a good time.

The story was broadcast on our local news station (mostly correct write up of it here: http://www.kwwl.com/News/index.php?ID=23289), and I was in the paper, though they said I was doing chemo, not radiation at Mayo (http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/03/31/news/metro/10223805.txt). In case I haven't said it enough, my staff ROCKS.

3. Parent/Teacher conferences went well! Saw a decent amount of parents, charmingly enough, many of whom just stopped in to see how I was doing. Nice to know that the kids actually MENTIONED that I was gone for 5 weeks...

4. Eric hired a new person to work the desk at his office, so I don't have to pinch hit while recovering from surgery, which is probably good for all parties involved.

5. Our Career Fair, which is on Wednesday, is starting to take shape. Every year I wonder why I schedule 25 speakers and 200+ students, and then I remember that I really like the functionality of our style better than the traditional, "ok kids, walk around the gym for 20 minutes, talk to the big people behind the tables, and meet me by the door" routine. Way time-consuming (I think I'm at about 15 hours thus far, and over half of the kids still need to be scheduled), but hey, I have 5 days!

6. The kids' bedrooms, which we've been redoing for about two months, are pretty much done. Eric built a cool little desk area in Kile's "spare" closet and I finished painting the dinosaurs on his wall. Cavie needs some shelves put up, but for the most part that's a project to cross of the To Do List. Took longer than I'd hoped, but I'll cut myself some slack since I did do five weeks of radiation in the middle of the redo!

7. Was able to make an appointment with my plastic surgeon here just to consult prior to my Mayo surgery on the 15th. Though originally we planned on doing the skin/muscle "patch" from my back, I'm now wondering if the tummy option might be better... my doc here said he'd probably want to do that anyway when I'm allowed to do reconstruction in a year or two (or sooner, we hope, but we'll see). I'm wondering now why I'd need to go through both procedures when one could do. Plus, then I wouldn't have back scarring that might be visible in Cara's bridesmaid's dress. Clearly that's the main issue. Hee hee. We'll see what happens. My c-section scar is there anyway, and I think they'd use the same one, so it might be easier this way. By easier I mean, well, not easier, but better? Jeez. Am I done with all of this soon?

8. Kile's parent teacher conference went well -- he's passed preschool and is going into Kindergarten next year, not that we were worried about that at all. They also said they'd take Cavanaugh when she turns two and a half, so that could be the fall. I told them they might change their mind when they meet her... we probably won't send her that soon, but it's an interesting option.

9. Overall, my mood is good, being busy helps me stay distracted, and frankly, I just can't get too worried about this surgery. (Saying this now, but knowing that a week from Sunday I'll be a nervous wreck...) I'm hoping I won't be out for the entire school year that remains, but we don't know yet. Ideally I'd only miss about two weeks, but I'm thinking it might be closer to a month.

10. Got an email from a friend yesterday, one of those forwards. It told me that if I sent the email to 7 other friends, I would see a miracle today. Ok, I admit, I deleted it without sending it out. However, I win. I saw today. Miracle enough.

Going to finish watching a movie that's taken me about 5 nights thus far. It's good, but I only get in about 25 minutes a night by the time I'm done with everything!

Carpe diem. -- Trela