Friday Fog

The thick fog that covers the land makes it quite difficult for me to get to work on time. Traffic on the highway slows this morning to about 40 mph. It is just past the point of the morning when the day begins, but clouds make it difficult for the sunlight to stream through so many layers of the dust and moisture. On the highway, it is difficult to see how many vehicles are preceding mine, but from time to time a get a glimpse of a very long line of taillights, and then the light quickly fades. We move together, in and out of the clouds that are hanging, clinging, permeating the blacktop and surrounding landscape. Our caravan, in our brief moment out of the cloud, view a vision of trees that are off to either side of the roadway. The trees are thickly frosted, and have a promise of a radiance of their own if only the light would send a stream of energy their way. They seem to be wanting the fog to lift as much as I do. We drive into the next fog bank.  I can barely see the small truck that is directly in front of me. The outline of the tailgate brightens and dims over and over as the traffic changes the pace of travel throughout the drive. I look at the clock on my dashboard thinking that the trip is taking longer than the extra five minutes I had allowed. I reset my iPod so I am listening to some upbeat music as the twenty minute podcast has ended and left the air hanging quietly. It is too silent until the selection is made. The familiar rhythm of an old favorite brings a smile to my face and soon our entourage melds into the traffic of town as we join local traffic. The fog thins, but is still a frame of all that I can see. I pull into my parking spot, and the fog tries to follow me into the building. I push it farther behind me as I walk into the glow of florescent lighting and smiles of favorite people. The fog evaporates and is left outside to battle the sun for dominance of the day.

Looking in the Rear View Mirror

As the end of the year approaches, I am already planning a brand-new, fresh start for the year to come. As a teacher I really get two "New Year's Days". One in August as the school year starts with new faces and routines, and one as the next calendar turns to its first page. Both are used as a renewal in all parts of my life, although I often have higher hopes than reality allows.

So today I am spending some time looking over my shoulder to reflect on the successes and positive changes I have made over the last year. I am much more organized here at home than in years past, thanks to FlyLady and the support of my Twisters. My closets are in good order with clean clothes in season and very little clutter stashed, I shop and cook from a menu more often than not and I feel in control of my day most of the time. Having daily routines means we have a home that is comfortable for my family and ready to invite guests over regularly. Having a menu and shopping list means that I can delegate the shopping and/or the cooking too. That is definitely motivation for me.

I am also drawn now to see what goals fell by the wayside, or parts of my life that were neglected or ignored over the past year. I was really doing well with fitness in the middle of June. I cannot remember what it was that got me away from eating right and exercising regularly, but I know that by the time August rolled around, I was out of the keeping healthy loop. That is a habit that fell away, but I need to make it a goal to get back to moving five or six days a week. The part of my life that has really been neglected this year is my spiritual self. Since truth comes by hearing, and hearing comes from the word of God, I feel I need to recommit to reading God's word on a regular basis. The rest of my life will fall into place when I get His Spirit back into my life every day.

My job has been very challenging over the past year and a half, but feels especially so this school year. I do know the feeling began when I became team leader for my teaching group, and many responsibilities that I used to share with other teachers have fallen completely to me. I had all new teachers on my team last year, so I think last year's challenges are understandable. This year we only had one new teacher, but the situation has really not improved. I want to be able to walk away from work with it "finished" at the end of the day. Instead, I work until 5 or 5:30 each day, go home and after the boys are in bed I do at least another hour of tasks. In the end I am not finished and need time during the weekend to catch up. My boss has told me that if I find I have a problem, I can't complain about it unless I have a possible solution. So I have proposed passing on the team leader status to two of my more experienced teammates. They can each do the extra tasks for a quarter of the school year, and I will just do my portion of the tasks. Whew. I feel better already. Now I just need to try to work on streamlining more of what I do and become more efficient with my time at school. I want to be done at 4 p.m. every day, or at least most days. Now how do I do that?

Whatever I end up resolving, I need to remember to enjoy life and the people in it. Then I need to toss that rear view mirror aside and focus on the ride ahead.

Industrious

Industriousness requires that you are up and moving, doing something both constructive and productive. Work-- both hard and steady-- is what creates an industrious spirit. It is what is required of any accomplishment that can be measured.

When I think of the work that my maternal grandparents did, this is the word that comes to mind. They both taught me about hard work and sticking to it despite the difficulties that may come. Day after day it is required. Get up and do it again. Find joy in the contribution being made. Effort can be made without being industrious, but you can never be industrious without effort, work, and plenty of it. Don't waste your time on work that will benefit no one. Always look for how what you do will contribute to the world around you.

Very early in my life I discovered that the feeling of satisfaction that comes after a project is completed is unequaled by any other than love itself. The bigger the project, the better the feeling. I am not talking about pride either. It is satisfaction. It is done and I, or we, did it. I can move on to other things more pleasurable without feeling guilty that I did not do what I needed to do.

Getting through school, working various jobs, caring for my family, and all of the thousands of projects in between required that I did more than maintain what already existed, but to build on and grow with what God has blessed me with. As I get older things seem to get easier, and I am working to keep industriousness, and not reactive necessity, in my life.

Why I Love Fridays

Top Ten Reasons I Love Fridays
10.Doughnuts sold in front of the school library in the morning
9. Lesson plans often include tests, quizzes or videos (not for me, for the kids LOL)
8. New episodes of Monk, reruns work too-I love that show
7. I can wear jeans to work
6. I get to veg out in the evening if I want
5. I get to have dinner out if I want
4. I get to have a late night if I want
3. I eat lunch with my friends at a mexican resturant near work
2. Its the beginning of my weekend once I leave work
1. Everybody at my house has the night off-Family time