In the home stretch

Monday, May 28, 2012

I see I haven't posted on here in over 3 weeks. I'd say that is an indication of how my life has not been my own this quarter. With just 3 days of classes left, I am feeling like I am on my downhill coast to the finish line. All major projects are behind me and it's now a matter of formalities and tying up loose ends. Two of the boys' spring soccer seasons are over and Trey is home for two straight months. Big. Huge. Exhale.

Midway through my longest stretch of being solo parent this quarter, I wondered why this spring was so much different than last. All the boys were in sports, I was in school and Trey was traveling a fair amount so why did this year feel so much more grueling. Every week I felt like I was living on auto-pilot and barely keeping my head above water. My house was a disaster, I rarely returned phone calls or spent time with anyone my age and one day just morphed into the next. Turns out there were major differences in all three categories this time around.

First, the kids' sports: Last year:Quinn's soccer season was over by mid-April and he had just one game a week on Saturdays. This year:: he was on the high school team with 2-3 games per week with most of them not starting until 5:30 p.m. To prolong the pain, they made it to post season which added another 3 weeks onto the schedule. Last year: Ian did track and practice was 3 days a week and done by 4:30. This year: their school schedule was altered to a dismissal time of 3:45. This meant not being done with practice until closer to 6:00. Last year: Ben's coach held practices twice a week 4-5:30. This year: a new coach who preferred practices from 6-7:30 two nights a week--one of them being Friday!

Second, my student life: Last year: I was taking 10 credits but my classes were only on Mondays and Wednesdays and the homework was minimal. This year: 16 credits, 4 classes, being on campus all day Monday-Thursday, a middle school practicum that called for an additional 40 hrs. in a classroom and a grueling unit plan assignment that, to date, I've spent at least 100 hours on.

Third, Trey's travel requirements: Last year: he did make it to the east coast four times in the spring but none of the trips encompassed a weekend of even 10 days. This year: he was gone every other week for 10 straight weeks. The shortest trip was 4 days and the longest was 10. Just when he adjusted to the time difference, he was heading back to the airport.

Just writing this makes me want to take a nap. In spite of the meltdowns, lack of sleep and non existent social life, we have all survived. 3 more days!

1 Comment »