Juggling

While visiting with a former-teacher-aide-turned-friend yesterday, I realized I could have answered her simple question, "What have you been doing lately?" with an equally simple answer: juggling.

We wanted to catch up as we hadn't laid eyes on one another since October (we touch base via the phone from time to time), so I drove over to her home for a visit in the middle of a torrential spring storm (hail, lightning, thunder, flooded streets, crazy drivers), and we brought each other up to speed on family, work, joys and issues over the course of several hours.

Teaching. Mothering. Cooking. Cleaning. Stressing. Running interference. Supporting my spouse during his deployment. Baking cookies and doing my part to show gratitude and support for my colleagues. Guiding parents through difficult situations. Celebrating accomplishments. Mourning. Grieving. Feeling numb. Celebrating. Creating. More cleaning. Encouraging my students. Letting Mrs. Stouffer do the cooking. Exploring. Reading. Sleeping.

Manicuring my nails and adding an awesome chip-proof topcoat.

Because my hands should look good as I'm doing all of this, right?



Photo by Diavie