Kathy's Diary: Dec. 3 - 7

Report cards, a race, a test and a birthday. It was definitely a great week! School was busy for me since I only taught 2 and a half days and had a sub the other day and a half. But I was really emotional and easily frustrated at work – you know sometimes it is hard being a specialist teacher because you don't get to see the students all the time – the teachers keep the kids or the kids don't want to come – so you get rejected 3 or 4 times a day. Anyways I had to go to the ESL Benchmarks meeting and present the tracking sheet that I made again. Thankfully it was well received by all of the people who tried it – so it got good reviews and will now be the official tracking sheet! After all the trouble that I was in for going ahead with it and all of the following anxiety it was worth it to know that I had created something important. I felt that it came at the cost of ever becoming a consultant – and I think that was part of the reason that I was so emotional.

Tim was really busy getting ready for the Luge World Cup so the kids and I spent a lot of time together. My kids were great – we went to Brownies on Tuesday and had fun. On Wednesday I volunteered at their school in the morning – they had roller blading at school – the boys were burning around pretty well what with all of their hockey time. Haley's class came in the gym too – and she was enjoying it. I met my friend Heather downtown for lunch. We have been trying to meet up for 5 weeks and between weather and meetings – this was the first Wednesday that we could do it! We got all caught up over Japanese food. In the afternoon I got caught up on a few things then went to pick up the kids. Then we went shopping at Chapters to get Tim the book that he wanted for his birthday. We stopped at Starbucks for a hot chocolate. Then Spencer went to the bathroom and Tate said he was going to meet Spencer. Unfortunately he thought Spencer was in the kids section for some reason. Like they are always within eyesight (except for the toilet) so anyways it was really scary when Spencer came out of the bathroom and I said – where is Tate. Spencer of course said that he wasn't in there even after he triple checked. I alerted the Starbucks staff had a male check out the bathroom then did a quick search of the immediate area. Then I proceeded to the front of chapter's, heart racing and near tears. They paged Tate and said they would look out for him as we ran around the store calling his name and looking for him. Spencer was really getting worried thinking someone had taken him. After a lap of the store and going back to the front of Chapter's without finding him – I went back to Starbuck's thinking, “Oh my god – I lost him, someone took him.” Then there he was, waiting for us. He didn't know he was lost. We were so relieved. I guess he was going back and forth between the kids section and Starbucks and we were going between the kids section and Chapters front desk. Anyways he seemed a little nervous only after he realized how worried we all were. For the rest of the shopping excursion Spencer made sure he kept Tate in his sights. We all haven't been out shopping since – but I'm sure we will all work up the courage and be sure to stick together.

On Thursday I had my Professional growth plan meeting with Diane. Everything was all typed up and prepared. But I was so emotional – I cried about some of my frustrations. Of course she was wonderful about it but still – it is hard to be a confident ambitious person who is also so insecure. Thursday Linda came to babysit as I had to go and write my final exam for my University course. I think I did okay but I am not used to writing for two hours by hand any more – so my hands were pretty sore by the end. The kids were still awake when I got home and after some hugs they went to sleep. I just vegetated in front of the tv.

Tim's birthday was Friday morning – the kids made cards while he was in the shower and we gave him his gifts. He was very happy even though he would be pulling an all day and all night shift because of the world cup. On Friday I was commentating at the track for the luge World Cup so I had a substitute teacher booked. I ran some errands and then worked out and reported for duty by 11 am. It was a good day and there were a lot of positive comments on the job I did commentating and MC'ing the rewards. Leisa was very kind and kept the kids for dinner and took them tobogganing. They had so much fun and had been counting the days until they got to stay at Leisa's for dinner. The next morning Nikki came over and stayed with the kids while Tim and I went to the race. Mark came and picked up the boys for their hockey game. The race was cancelled due to wind so I went home with the kids for a couple hours. Then Uncle Chris came over and had supper with the kids while we finished the race. Reagan was 7th – a personal best for her, Jeff was 12th and our doubles didn't fare as well as they and we all expected. It was a good race overall. After that Tim took all the officials out for dinner and I went to my staff Christmas party. It was fun- a suitcase theme where you pack a bag full of stuff and when the caller announces “ski goggles” or “sunscreen” the first one to get theirs out wins the prize. It was fun but my bag was too packed and I never won anything. I found out the secret is lightly packing and knowing where your stuff is. Tim and I met back at home.

Sunday we just had a family day – hockey practice and Haley had a birthday Party. Delaney's party was held at a swimming pool and the girls had a great time. We put up our Christmas tree and let it thaw! Tim and I had to go to his staff Christmas party and we went although both of us were tired and just wanted to stay home – we went for 3 hours. It was a good week but action packed as usual!