"Teacher! Teacher!"

I am officially in the teaching saddle. I have worked every day the last two weeks. So far, my resume includes 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades, as well as 6-8th grade BD kids. Later this week, I have a 6th grade class, followed by AP English in high school two days next week. WHEW!

I remember the good old days as a kid, after hiking up-hill in the snow for MILES, and finding out we had a sub, we got to read or play games all day (remember "heads up seven up?"). Gone are the days of Leave it to Beaver. I knew that I would be working hard - No Child Left Behind made sure of that. But I didn't properly condition myself for math input/output tables, venn diagrams, vowel generalizations and constellation identification. My brain hasn't worked this hard in years...and I LOVE it.

Bored, tired, under utilized and underappreciated are words that come to mind when I think back on my corporate job. What I have been doing the last two weeks has reminded me what it feels like to have brain-food, make a difference to others, and feel good at both the beginning and end of the day. I am SO glad that we let go and let God lead us to this change for our lives.

Tomorrow I'll see my son off to school, take my dad to chemo, then spend the day preparing for my daughter's 3rd birthday party weekend. Friday, I'll go back to class and help to mold more young minds.

For the first time in a long while, I feel GOOD about my alarm going off.