AuburnChick's Adventures

Well, I guess you could say it’s official.

I am back in the saddle thanks to the scooter I blogged about in my previous post.

Here it is, Saturday morning at 6:23, and I realize that I’m falling back into my old patterns…not having a lot of time to blog.

Work, y’all.

Being able to get around on the scooter has been liberating.  It’s much more stable than the crutches I was using before and a lot less cumbersome than the wheelchair I’d been tootling around in at school.

Let’s recap my week, though.

On Monday, I resumed stations with my reading students.

Stations are centers that have various comprehension activities.  The teacher is always a station.  It’s where we get to work up close and personal with the kids.  You can see that the article I was using was relevant.

Meanwhile, the weather outside had turned yucky.  It did some serious pouring, which proved a challenge when the Mr. came and picked me up from school.

He was such a gentleman.  He gave me his heavy rain jacket so I wouldn’t get wet.

Oh man, but that guy is earning some huge gems for his crown in heaven.

He also helped me put my right leg (the one with the cast) in a plastic garbage bag so it wouldn’t get wet.  It was raining that hard.

Then, with my itty bitty umbrella that I happened to have in my classroom, he first took my stuff to his car and then returned and walked beside me as I scootered to the curb.

Getting down from the curb is always challenging…more so when it is pouring.  He got me in, and I had nary a drop of water on me, and he put the scooter in the back of his car.

The poor guy.  He was sopping wet when he got in the driver’s seat.  I felt so badly for him.  He had to change his clothes when he got home so he’d have something dry to wear when he returned to work for the afternoon.

By Tuesday morning, the rain was gone. I followed my regular routine to get ready.

During my planning period, I hunkered down for some serious grading.

I just cannot get caught up.

Having extra essays to grade that I was told would be graded by other teachers irked me…especially because these essays had been written over a month ago, and the kids had been waiting on feedback.  I could have provided this weeks ago.

I still have so much grading from the substitute work the kids completed while I was out.  I stuck half of the stack in my bag to go home with me.

Tuesday evening, I was back in the kitchen cooking for the first time since I broke my ankle.  I made Tofu Scramble.

It felt so good…so normal…to be sort-of standing in front of the stove again.  The Mr. was my sous chef.  Actually, he was watching over me to make sure I didn’t do anything risky.  He very, very protective of me right now.  This whole experience with my ankle has made us appreciative of good health and over-cautious with my activities until I am healed fully.

On Wednesday, I had Day 2 of my Clinical Educator training…

I did this training so I can officially mentor student teachers.

That afternoon, when I got home, I had goodies in the mail…

That eye shadow palette had been on sale for 50% off…a rare deal that I happened to see in an email and snatched up immediately.

I needed a new iRobot.  My other one began having problems before I broke my ankle.  Even though I’d ordered and installed a new battery, there were issues that I just couldn’t fix and couldn’t justify spending money to send off to have repaired.

The vacuums were on sale the day after Thanksgiving, so I ordered one.

Merry Christmas to me!

With three very hairy dogs in the house, this appliance is a MUST-HAVE.  Hopefully, the Mr. won’t have to run the upright vacuum any more, except to get in the crevices where the Roomba can’t reach.

Oh, and one really cool thing about the new Roomba is that it is wifi-enabled!  There’s an app that you can use to set up and run the vacuum!  It took me a few minutes to figure out how to connect to it, but once I did, I was actually able to change the schedule right from my phone the next day when we decided to run it a little earlier.  How cool is that?!

Wednesday afternoon, while I waited for the Mr. to return home from work, I did more grading (he’d forgotten to place my laptop within arm’s reach).

The grading though…sigh.

The Mr. didn’t feel like cooking dinner that night, we went out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.  It was my first time there since I broke my ankle; it felt wonderful to be back.

Our server had a bit of a hard time understanding my order.  He wasn’t our regular guy.  I think he mistook my #3 request for three burritos.

I ate leftovers in my lunch for the next two days.

Thursday, I was back in my classroom, and it was a pretty easy day.  After school, the Mr. and I ran a couple of errands.  One that was important was getting a temporary handicap placard.  After going to the mall last weekend, I had quickly become aware of the need for parking spaces closer to the store.  I’m finding it challenging to navigate over the asphalt in parking lots; they are extremely bumpy and ridden with pebbles, which are rough on my ankle.

My doctor’s office was wonderful and emailed the form I needed within fifteen minutes of my request.  Getting the tag was a quick affair.

I have become very appreciative of such things as handicapped bathroom stalls and other accommodations for those who are not able to get around easily…things I never really thought much about before.

That night, I lesson planned…hard core…something I’d done every other night as well (in addition to the grading I was doing).  I’m trying to get my lesson plans written through the second week of January…semester exams.  My overachieving is necessary; being organized and ahead of the game will allow me to enjoy time with my family during Christmas break.

Friday could not get here quick enough.

I dressed down.

Ahem.

The weather had turned quite chilly, and I was all about being comfortable after dressing rather nicely despite the cast all week.

I had another rather easy day with my students.  We’ve started a new unit that involves a lot of front loading of terminology, so they got to take notes.

Chicky had taken a mental health day and had driven up here to visit a friend.  She stopped by my classroom and chatted with me for an hour.  Two of my classes were on a field trip, so I had an extra planning period.

It was wonderful to see her again.  She’d been such a blessing during my surgery.  ❤

When she left, she ate lunch with the Mr. and then hung around long enough to visit with us when we got home from school.

After she left, the Mr. and I vegetated.

After a quick dinner out at a breakfast diner place we frequent, we settled in for the evening.  There was a Star Wars marathon going on.  We were both exhausted from my first full week back at school; not thinking about anything or really doing anything was a wonderful respite.

I guess the basic point of this post is to show you that I’ve regained some normalcy.  The Mr. is still working too hard in his efforts to take care of me (his #1 priority), do his money-paying job, and maintain the house.

I’m on the countdown to get my cast off.  The day cannot get here quick enough, but there are a lot of things happening around Chez Auburnchick before then.

Although there are still near-daily tears at various frustrations, I am constantly reminded of God’s grace during this healing season.

I am still #findingjoyinthejourney even in the midst of my forays into Teardom.

The kindness shown by everyone…students, staff, friends, and even strangers…has helped me see that there is so much good in this world.

Just when I am at my lowest, God reminds me that He sees me…that He is present during this time of waiting…that His plans for me are perfect.

Filed under: Teaching | Tagged: teaching, trimalleolar fracture |