Week of February 2

The week started with worry. I had a student and her family leaving abruptly for political reasons and I wasn’t sure how she would feel coming in for the morning for the last time. I had let the teachers on either side of me know in case I had to walk out with her and I contacted my principal. My plan was just to talk to her and see what she needed and be responsive to that. I had a heavy heart heading into work.

I do a coffee run for my team every Monday, but there were 5 cars ahead of me in line at the blos kiosk, so I aborted my mission and drove from there to work. Blos is a 6-7 minute drive from my house, but I take a different road from there to work. Today it was packed with traffic, despite being about a 4 minute drive typically. With the power outage, the robots were all out and the streets were jammed, with people driving over the center of roundabouts to make a turn. I got to work right on time, which didn’t feel great.

As it turns out, the morning was smooth and my student was okay. She left at lunchtime and the kids said goodbye as they walked up to eat. Her mom and I had a good cry and exchanged numbers so she could let me know where and how they are. My 2 mile lunch walk was a quiet one, needing time to process and begin the healing.

Monday night was grocery shopping now that I had power and then off to the gym. I now do my Les Mills online workouts in the huge room where they hold group classes until 7:30 pm. I bring my phone and set up my space using their equipment, which is much more plentiful than mine and take advantage of their air conditioning!

It was a late night to bed, chatting with Sara and Tom.

I started the day with a WhatsApp text from my student’s dad. He said this was high praise coming from his daughter. I will miss her and them so much!

It’s been hot this week, though I feel fine when I’m walking outside. When I stop, I’m completely sweaty! When I’m too hot to do the evening walk, I do the treadmill at the gym and have been doing some light running on occasion as well. It was a beautiful sunset tonight.

I had an appointment with the most amazing doctor Wednesday morning during my planning time. She was so knowledgeable and so thorough and we were completely on the same page! I got time and attention that I’ve never gotten in the US. She’s going to do extensive bloodwork in the process of some functional analysis. I’m excited for the results! For those of you in menopause, you know it’s not just hormone replacement, but full body health, as lack of hormones affect the brain, heart, bones and womb.

I began parent conferences this week and they have been going so well. I really enjoy meeting with with parents and it’s special when the kids join. I love sharing my perspective of their child and it’s touching how often they are surprised and delighted! I also appreciate having a better understanding of what the family values and wants for their children.

After work, our newly formed sports club, headed to the paddle court. Eunine and Avishkar are both very athletic and have played quite a bit. They are both local South Africans. Stephanie is in her mid 20s and is from New Jersey. We even went to the same college! She and I were both new to the game. I played tennis, which Avishkar promised me would help. It did not. The instinct seems so different. I played racquetball back in college for fun, but that didn’t exactly translate either. Regardless, we had so much fun and have decided to make this a Wednesday tradition. We want to do all different sports.

I’m enjoying working on my paint by numbers protea flower. I came home and had a quick bite to eat after paddle and then went back to the gym for my one hour weightlifting followed by a one mile run on the treadmill. I came home pretty wiped, but then sat and painted and lost complete track of time!

A handful of years ago, Chris, Kristin and I shared a classroom. We had a blast together and even completed a triathlon as a team, each of us taking a leg. One day Chris came in with Nerf guns and we had a full on war. Afterwards, I collected the little balls and drew faces on them. Kristin and I initiated the next war. Chris moved to a different school the following year, breaking up our trio. I sent him an envelope of some of the little balls we were still finding in our classroom through interoffice mail. He took this picture and sent it to me this week and made my day!

Some fun things around campus this week…archery madness and kids versus parents/coaches soccer game.

I used ostrich meat for my chili this week! It was not my favorite, but okay.

The new season of Shrinking has begun, and it makes me so happy! After all the negativity of breaking bad, I didn’t realize how much I needed lighthearted comedy about community and friendship.

I was called for jury duty and it’s been a mess sorting it out. Their communication was getting more and more menacing. Pete finally got it straightened out for me.