A Wonderful Weekend

Who knew that this weekend would really feel as long as a normal weekend and be so nice???  I have been dreading this weekend since the day I found out that our school changed the make up snow day from the end of May to a Saturday right before the TAKS test.  I love my Saturdays.  I stay up as late as I want on Friday night and I sleep as late as I want on Saturday.  Having to get up and go to school is not something I wanted to do.

But Friday didn't even feel like Friday.  Saturday became Friday.  We did a normal school night routine on Friday night and a normal school routine on Saturday morning.  The Pep Rally that the high school cheerleaders put on for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders was wonderful.  It brought tears to my eyes when those kids came in and everyone was clapping for them.  I know they have all worked so hard.  You can view parts of it here:  http://www.childressisd.net/vnews/display.v/ART/4bd72938b8fef

After school was over, I hosted a crop at my shop.  I had two friends come over and one worked on some thank you cards and made the cutest piggies I ever saw.  Another won the prize for completing the most scrapbook pages.  She was really whipping those babies out!!  I won the prize for being the most stressed!!  I finished my card swap cards and then did two pages in my Disney album.  It has been over a year since we have been to Disney and I am still working on the album.  I do have a terrible dilemma, though.  My alum is already full.  I bought this beautiful Tinkerbell album that closes in the front, and it is already full.  I didn't use anything with any dimension like I love to do.  I still have so many pictures to scrap.  I guess I will just have to add an album to our collection and make it two albums.

When the crop was over, I was so stressed about everything that was going to happen the next week that I had a horrible headache and I could just feel the pressure on my neck and shoulders.  I went inside and scrapbooked some more until I felt relaxed.  Then I read a good book for a while.

Sunday morning I woke up already stressed.  I had an other headache and felt like I was a tight rubber band ready to snap.  So I decided to ignore the house and get away.  Ciara and I ate lunch at our favorite Sunday restaurant and then drove about an hour away to Caprock Canyons State Park.  Caprock Canyons is the back side of Palo Duro Canyon that is close to Amarillo.  Ciara had been to the Grand Canyon and Palo Duro Canyon, but she had never been to Caprock.  She heard about the 2nd graders taking a field trip there and wanted to go.  We had a great time.  As I was driving I could feel myself relaxing.  Ciara didn't like the steep hills, (there are maybe 2 little ones) but she finally relaxed and had fun.  We went walking down a little path.  Now, you guys know that I can't walk very good, esp. because of my stinkin' foot.  The area had a lot of rain and then some horses had gone down the path, so the path was anything but smooth.  I managed to get down the path and up a little hill about 1/2 mile.

It was hard coming down that little hill, cause my foot doesn't do well going down.  It was really fun, though and Ciara climbed up some other little hills by herself.  We watched a dog climb up a big hill with his owners.

We saw a dung beetle rolling some "you know what" across the path.

We went to the lake area and Ciara found shells and waded in the water.

Then Ciara went to play at the playground and I relaxed and read my book.  As I drove home, I could feel the pressure coming back down.  I was getting stressed again. We got home in time to do a couple of loads of laundry and load the dishwasher.  I put Ciara to bed and scrapbooked for a little while to relax.  I got 4 pages done in the Disney album.  I am making progress.

Monday came and I was feeling so bad with another headache and stress that the person who was substituting for my assistant gave me a short massage.  She couldn't believe how tight my muscles were.  My head immediately stopped hurting when she started rubbing my neck and shoulders.  That was such a wonderful treat. 

I don't know what has caused me to be so stressed this year.  I am not worried about my students.  They are doing well.  I think it is because Ciara has to take the test for the first time.  I woke her up an hour earlier today.  She didn't even know cause she went to bed at 8 last night.  She got dressed and we went to eat breakfast at the Kettle.  She had hot chocolate,  a pancake, 3 pieces of bacon, 1 egg, and half a piece of toast.  Then we arrived early at school. (Tomorrow we are going to try out Subway's breakfast, but they don't open til 7.)   Today she took Math and tomorrow she will take Reading.  I know that she will try her hardest, and she looks so great in her "Lucky" shirt her Aunt Sue made her.  Now that this first test is over for me, I already feel so much better.  I hate stress!!  I am very ready for this to be over with for the kids sake as well as mine.  I am ready to have some fun for the rest of the year and concentrate on something other than answering test questions.  Ciara will be able to enjoy her softball now that it has started up and hopefully there won't be so much homework and tutoring for her.