Third Year. Fourth Grade.

This week I officially began my third year of teaching at The Ocho's school. Year one was full of fear and anxiousness. Year two was all about confidence and excitement. Year three I'm back to fear and anxiousness.

You see, I don't deal well with change. And change seems to be what we're all about at the schoolhouse this year. Our enrollment is waayyyyy up so this week I walked in with all my tried and true lesson plans and "experience" and found out I have more kids than computers for 4 of my classes. So, lesson plans are out the window and I've gotta make a new plan. By next Tuesday thankyouverymuch.

Not only was that little bit of news waiting on me when I returned Monday morning but there were also the faculty meetings followed by committee meetings followed by more faculty meetings followed by even more faculty meetings with not a lot of time left over for the big lesson plan do-over I am so desperately in need of. No worries though. While the rest of the faculty started classes today, I had a full day of planning and thankfully, I think I came up with a solution. Of course, my day ended with.....wait for it......a faculty meeting. But I didn't mind. Because 2 little words were ringing in my ears all afternoon. The sweetest 2 words you'll ever hear.

Part. Time.

That's right folks. I'm off tomorrow. And Monday. I'll have the plenty of time to go shopping and watch TV and read People Magazine. Right after I work on my new lesson plans.

With all the stress and chaos surrounding my situation it might have been easy to neglect the other person in my household going back to school this week. But we were too stinkin' excited to forget. Not only is The Ocho in class with most of her very best buds but she got the best teacher on earth, The lovely Ms. R.

Of course, I love every teacher at our school. I've gotten to know each and every one of them over the past few years and there's not one I wouldn't want my daughter to have. But Ms. R is the one teacher I've always secretly hoped she'd get one day. Mainly because she's the kind of teacher I always wanted as a child but never got. Godly. Wise. Sweet. Funny. Charming. Sophisticated. An amazing storyteller. A true Southern Belle. A complete hoot.

Getting a great teacher and a great class was almost enough to distract me from this:

And I'm not just talkin' about the grown-up girl at the desk. I'm also talkin' about those giant textbooks which hold homework questions I'm almost guaranteed not to understand or know the answers to. Sweet Mercy. It almost makes my lesson plan fiasco look fun.