Well, school life is in high gear! I think I wrote (no kidding) fifteen checks to the school last week. Between pictures, field trips, fundraisers, tuition, etc, I could probably just get it all payroll deducted but I would end up owing them anyway!!

Since I last blogged, I went to NYC with my mom and 6 other friends. It was awesome! Terrific, too fun for words - did I mention awesome? In 4 short days, I saw 2 Broadway musicals, ate 7 yum-o meals, drank ??? martinis, took 4 bus tours, walked 1 gagillion miles, got 2 blisters, saw Kenny Loggins and Kevin Bacon, danced on national TV (Dancing With the Stars will be calling ANY day!), ate 2 pieces of cheesecake, got a D&G purse (very legitimately- in case any agents are reading this), got to see my BESTEST NYC and HS school bud(and you know who you are!) and made friends with 1 NYC policeman and 15 or so of FDNY's finest....

The last event took place after a fire alarm at 6:59 on Sunday am which resulted in a 37 floor romp in my pjs. (I will add pics when I figure it all out....)

Quite an adventure....... It took me a week and a half to get my "self" back in gear.

But back to reality....
One of my brilliant friends came up with a new idea that is working for us and maybe you could benefit from it too! She suggested that we start a "homework co-op". For 2 days a week, she picks up my 4th grader to do homework with her 4th grader and I take them the other 2 days. Oh joy! This is wonderful! 2 free days without hw!!!! AND he doesn't whine as much about doing it when his friend is around. It may be the best idea EVER! Thank you Maggie!!!

Well I must go and do domestic chores.... LE SIGH!

If anyone is actually reading this, please drop me a note. I have a feeling this is my own private therapy.... (which Stuart Smalley assures me is.....ok.....)

To Be or Not To Be

Well, here it is. 10 days into my somewhat new career and life is......good! After having dreams for the last few weeks about jumping off of cliffs, being chased by evil demons and flying cats (not sure about that one - may have been some bad Chinese), I slept last night pretty well... because I was EXHAUSTED. Teaching is really fun, actually. I enjoy my classes and I am learning a great deal about the differences in behavior for the different ages. I have some students who are extremely bright and work hard. I have some who are extremely bright and lazy. I have some who will always struggle to learn from textbooks but may take the world by storm anyway. And I have quite few I haven't come close to figuring out. I am amazed that, for a small private school, we have such a diverse mix of families.
I am still trying to figure out the balance between school and home. Most days, we don't get home until 4 but homework is usually done and we leave the boys' backpacks in the classroom. Tim is being so helpful, too. We work together and get EVERYTHING done the night before. If I could pour the milk on their cereal before I went to bed, I would!
One thing I have seen with great clarity is the importance of parents being involved in their children's education. I did always know this BUT it is quite clear already that the kids whose parents care and stay on top of things with them, do better on average. I am grateful that I am able to be with the boys and spend more time involved in their school life. Please understand, I am not saying I am perfect! I still forget to sign the papers and write the check for the field day shirts but I feel more connected. (If I were any more connected at this point, we'd be conjoined...)Some days, I am searching for a scalpel if you know what I mean... TO CUT us APART people - no one is getting hurt - DO NOT call DSS!
One funny note before I sign off - my first big faux pas (I looked that up). I was complimenting one of my 7th grade students for being so smart and I said , "Way to use your noodle!" Well, that did it! His face turned 6 shades of red and the boy behind him said, "Miss Elissa, he doesn't have a noodle..." Lovely maturity level.......

who am I?

So here I sit in a lovely hotel room. No kids, no husband, no dog, no real work to do.....just me. I have wined and dined, I have total control of the remote, and there is NO Mt. Dew on the floor. And yet, I am lost. I could sleep until 10 if I wanted (do not tell my soon to be ex-employer) and I wake up at 7:15. There is nothing on TV.

I think of my boys.... what are they doing? One is farmed out on the farm, two are with mom and dad, and the big boy is at Bee Camp in Clemson.

I do a little work on the computer for my current job. Emails, writing, etc.

Still, I am restless. Walking back to the hotel after a small shopping spree, I had a revelation. It could have been a heat-related incident but I prefer the term revelation.

I know who I am as a mom, wife and employee. I know who I am as a daughter, friend, blah, blah, blah.... But who am I as ME? I have many hats but I am not sure I know what the "Me" hat looks like. Do small parts of each of the other hats make up the "me" hat? definitely... but what about the part that is just me? where is it? what is it? I am not sure.

This quest to do something different was important to me on many levels. First, I wanted to be a better parent and wife. I was afraid that the job I have now was consuming me. At the end of most days, I had nothing left to give to my family.

Creatively, I was drowning. There was too much to do to do it well. Even though I seem compulsively disorganized and messy, I really crave perfection. If I cannot do things just right, I lose interest and don't want to do them at all. Hence my messy world. If it gets to be too much, I lose desire to fix it at all. My job is full of LOTS of different things to do and I am tired of doing them all.

I am discovering that I probably have ADD. I really have all of the symptoms and signs. In fact, I filled out a survey a while back and now I get emails that say, "How do you treat your ADD?" Huh? What? Oh looky, another email about cooking - I'll read that.....

So, this new quest is also a quest to find me again. I know parts of me and I even like parts of me. There are definitely parts I don't like, though, and there are surely parts of me that I wish were smaller! ;0)

It's time to re-evaluate, re-discover and maybe re-invent just a little. The good news is that God knows the real me and He loves me unconditionally. If I focus on that, the real me will emerge.

Take this job......

Today , I quit my job.


I have been waiting to write those words for many, many days. Yes, it has been a long time coming. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, we have come to this place - a new adventure for our family.

I wish that I could begin this blog with some beautifully written tome about the meaning of life but the truth of the matter is that my brain is fuzz.... So.... the down and dirty version is this:

As of August 8th, I will no longer be employed as a public relations manager for an electric cooperative. Instead, I will be embarking on a new adventure as a middle school English teacher. With this new career comes the opportunity to spend time with the boys and be on their schedule.

I am starting this blog today because today we begin a new chapter in our family's life. I hope that it will be a beautiful, long chapter filled with only happiness, hearts and flowers. Past experience with reality tells me that won't be the case. At any rate, I hope it turns out to be more "love story" with a little "comedy of errors" thrown in for good measure and no "tragedies".

Wee Wee Wee~

After 7 years of a full-time career with multiple community commitments, this little piggy went home....


Stay tuned!