Life Got In the Way

Back in 2002 two of my favorite songwriters teamed up to to write a song called Life Got in the Way. (Ken Block & Richard Marx). The song describes how life gets in the way of plans you have for your life from time to time. 

I've had some time to be reflective and introspective the last 2 weeks and can honestly say, life got in the way. I had a lot of plans to get ahead in planning school lessons, getting my evaluation binders back together and getting my finals and review guides ready for January. 

On the Monday before Thanksgiving I found out my Grandmother was approaching her final few days on this side of Heaven. It was at once both a tough phone call to receive and one that was a bit of a stress reliever. Gram has been a victim of alzheimers for the last 3 years. 2 years ago we moved her up from Florida in order to have her n

earer to family members. In that time, my immediate family has spent many a day traveling the hour or so west of Chicago where she was being cared for. This past June was among my last times seeing her. She didn't recognize me or know my name. It was her 90th birthday. While sad, I was nonetheless (great word) happy to share that day with her, her sister and my Mother.

On Wednesday morning on my drive to work I found out Gram had passed away. I knew it was coming, but knowing still doesn't prepare your heart for the floodgates of emotions that surge through you when reality hits. With that one phone call I not only felt much stress depart, at wondering when her passing would happen but also the stress of realizing I wasn't going to be able to do much in the way of planning during what was supposed to be "Thanksgiving Break."

So I sat at our new teacher meeting tonight and frustration that I've felt since coming back from "Break" boiled over,  although its source eluded me until later this evening. Our evaluations are happening now and mine is on Friday. We need to submit our daily lesson plans to our evaluators (mine is the principal). I thought I was bothered by the fact that I technically have 4 preps and had WAY more to submit for evaluation than many other folks. In reality, I think my frustration stems more from the fact that I haven't had a real 2+days off yet since mid-November. I'm still playing catch up with lesson planning. I'm worried about getting review guides done next week. I've got a penchant for being ahead on planning not to-date on planning and it is just plain stressing me out!

Now, only a select few people know all this has happened over the last few weeks. I don't want the world to pity me. It truly is a blessing that Gram has passed as peacefully as she did and that her battle is now finished. There were a lot of folks up There that were calling her home and that thought alone is beautiful.

I think I won't finally be at peace with it all until she is buried, which is sometime in the next few days. In the meantime, I'm going to agree with Ken & Richard and acknowledge that life gets in the way. But it is up to me to push through those roadblocks and trudge forward. I'm a glass 1/2 full person and I need to stop seeing the glass as 1/2 empty in my mind. The good news right now? All these lessons and binders and worksheets that are in my notebook will be done for all of time, minus any tweaking I do down the road.

Now that is some advanced planning....

KB

(This post is dedicated to Gram. Love you always.)