I stayed pretty close to home this summer, aside from some trips to the future in-laws (Gainesville), my parents' (Stuart), and my second home (Disney World). We became Annual Passholders and I couldn't be more thrilled. We can pop down to O-town for dinner and fireworks if we want. That makes me insanely happy.
P surprised me in mid-July with having my best friend of 29 years flown in from L.A. She and I have been friends since second grade. That always leaves me in awe. She stayed for 10 days and we had a wonderful time. We did all 4 Disney parks with P and I've not felt that relaxed and comfortable in a long, long time. But alas, the time came for her to fly back to California and my heart started aching the moment we left our house to go to the airport. I hate living so far away from her. I hate that we can't just have brunch together on the weekend. I'll see her again in November for the wedding, but right now, it feels like it's eons away. And I'll be so busy during that time, I don't know how much time we'll get together.
I worked on teaching myself to knit. Everything I read said that casting on is SO HARD. I nailed it within a few hours. At the beginning, I wished everything was casting on. I felt so accomplished! Fi (aforementioned BFF) helped me strengthen my skills and I bought a set of circular needles. I'm working on a scarf right now in my school's colors and it's going well. Next up is a baby blanket x3 for the new babies that are coming in my life. Fingers crossed! I'm hopeful they'll turn out as sweet as the babies themselves.
I'm back in my classroom. It's a new classroom, with a new shape that required a new layout. That was a challenge. I like my reading corner to be the focal point of my classroom, and I don't feel I've done it justice, yet. Once I get all of the 18 little bodies in there with me, I'm sure I'll rearrange again and again.
I'm teaching a new grade level - second grade. Someone has told me that they were in a similar situation to me, feeling like they were created to teach the grade-level they were in previously. She shared that after being switched to second grade, she felt like she stumbled upon teaching's best kept secret, and that second grade is the best. I'm praying for a similar experience. I'm not worried about teaching the curricula or loving the kids. Let's face it, loving my students is God's absolute calling on my life, no matter the grade level. I'm not even worried about my new team, per se. They're wonderful teachers and even better people. What I'm worried about is that the heart pangs I feel every time I see my "old" team together will never go away. At our back to school breakfast, I had to sit with my back to them because it was heartbreaking to me. I felt like I wasn't where I belonged. I know that these feelings will fade, but right now, they're fresh. Thankfully, my "old" teams' classrooms surround mine, so I can see their faces, laugh with them, get hugs, and love them just like before.
I'm struggling with liking myself right now. My trainer has me working on a gratitude journal that P and I share. I write on one page, 3 things I'm grateful for and 3 things I like about myself, along with 3 goals each week. P writes the same things on another page. She says that our brains control our bodies, and I agree 100%. My problem is that my brain is really hard on myself. Like, crazy hard. Like, I go to negative thoughts about myself as a default. It's not easy to break that cycle. I'm working hard to get back on track. I food prepped and menu planned today. I laid out my workouts for the week. I set my 3 goals. I'm optimistic about being able to meet all 3 of them. We'll see how I feel tomorrow when the alarm goes off at 5:15 AM. I'm historically awful at getting up for morning workouts.
This post has been filled with all the feels. I know that because I counted them. There are at least 16 different feelings in this post. Having all the feels can be a burden at times. I can't always shut out the feels of the people who surround me and then their feels become my feels. It's a bit like being a really weak X-Men with a weird emotional absorbing power. Although it bothers me to no end that I cry so frequently, I don't know if I'd trade it for not feeling. Because I'd much rather have all the feels than none of the feels. My life is enriched by my feelings and emotions. I can honestly say I feel everything all the way. I don't give my feelings and emotions to others halfway. If you know I care about you, you know I care with every bit of me I can. Is it exhausting? Yes, at times. But it's so much better than the alternative.