Sitting too long. Surprises. Work. Home Work. Feelings. Days, Routines and Ruts. Balance and Gratitude. Practice and Continue.

The only Time I sit down is to drive or to use my Massage Chair. Yesterday, while waiting on a Zoom for more detailed info on the Intern aspect of the PEP and utilizing the Chair for a 20 minute massage and scrolling through e-mails, 4 o’clock rolled around ad I logged into the zoom which didn’t start until 5…up to crank to some HW at the standing desk and field phone calls. Back on zoom and in then Chair at 5. Well the first HOUR was spent on Student Teaching which isn’t part of what I am doing as that is different from the Internship. At 6, the Internship lecture began and ended along 6:45 moving into a Q&A. There were still student changing in from the student teaching hour with questions and They were given priority. By about 7:20 eighteen of us still hanging in for Internship related questions went into break out rooms and fortunately, I feel the room I was in had likely the most knowledgable Credential Department Advisor we could have gotten. We asked questions and listened to answers for another hour.

 That was the longest I have sat in a very long Time. The take aways were ok, I’m not gonna say staggering or shocking but, certainly surprising. The main surprise, this ain’t no 12 month program…..

While I have classes scheduled over the Summer, the Internship involves 2 classes taken consecutively beginning in the Fall. First, at this point, (now, Today) I am just over half way finished with my 5th class and an awaiting the NU to analyze and accept my Internship returned forms. These will be sent to the CTC. Once the CTC approved the packet, I will be issued an Intern Credential(IC). This will in theory happen before I return to Work in August. The IC is good for 2 Years after that if I continue to Work, I would begin the process of “clearing” my credential. Ok. The 2 classes I mentioned are each 4 Months long……So, if I start the first one in September the second one would conclude at the end of April 2026. There are more classes after that, I’m not sure how many yet…I’m not complaining, I’m not. It is what it is. And in order to continue to Work, that’s the deal. It doesn’t change the Project Retirement Timeline or really much of anything else other than more Days of Work followed by Homework. For anyone reading, following along on the Day to Day, you may have noticed since January, that there are more Days than not where Life is Morning Routine, Work, Homework and not much else. On this Week where I get most to all of the HW completed before Saturday, I have pretty full and engaging Weekends. So going forward, I feel I will need to be more diligent about executing the HW within the fewest number of Evenings in order to have Life beyond Work and HW.

Meanwhile, It is Thursday. Breakfast Club; BC has become less and less enjoyable. K and Ang are swamped with end of the Year stuff having to leave before 8 to get to Meetings; a third of the Kids are always sick and coughing. The conflicts between one emotionally disturbed 1st grader and a high needs Kindergartner are every day. It is Babysitting, simply that, and at a reduced wage. I justified doing it this Year as one, the position needed filling, two I am up and at School very early anyway, and even at a reduced wage, it adds a few grand to the Cheddar Box which I allocate to the extravagance of Take Out whenever I feel like it. But, it has become a drag. I will lobby for the option to begin next Year without participating in BC at first and if I somehow “miss it,” go back to it. After BC Today, 3 classes this Morning, Home for Lunch with Cin and back to Work for 3 classes in the Afternoon; I am starting to have those end of the Year feelings about 6th graders who I will not be Teaching next Year. I have built relationships with all of Them and there are really only 2 Kids out of 50 that I bump heads with and that isn’t all the Time. I have another Zoom at 4:30 with the Professor and classmates from the current class. And then HW. I am counting on the Zoom being a gateway to understanding the expectation for the HW that I will do this Evening.

I haven’t see Whit in several Days. May is crunch Time for Teachers; we are both busy. Saturday is Boo’s Birthday and we will have a Celebration in the early Afternoon. Sunday looks to be Weekend Formula with Cin. Monday is scheduled for Weedwacking and what not. Returning to Work on Tuesday will begin the second to last Week of the School Year; 3 Days of classes with some Field Trips in there then Friday, unsure of Electives that Day. Another Weekend and then the last Week of Work, Friday the last Day of the Work Year.

Today, 888 Days of posting these musings on substack; I mention that not as some achievement but, just as a wow Time keeps moving on kind marker. Morning Musings, the reflecting and writing part of each Morning of each Day of my Life these Days is yes, certainly a part of Routine and while routines are important to me, and can facilitate greater aspects of Life, they (routines) can also become Furnished Ruts and in some areas this has occurred once again on the Journey.

I used to make dramatic changes in the trajectory of my Journey if I got too comfortable or too uncomfortable but, being 63 and finding the Middle to be what I am after most Days anymore, radical change isn’t all that appealing or necessary; change is inevitable, and Summer is almost here which will provide a great deal of Time to explore and enjoy the Days ahed for the next couple Months.

Grateful for the Journey being spent with Cin.

Grateful for my Kids and the Pups. For Friends and fellowship. For Peace of Mind. For Options and Choice. For not being overwhelmed when faced with Obstacles. For the absence of Far, Angst, Anger, Resentment, Retribution and Revenge. Grateful for Balance when it comes. For the Jays and Feeedom’s found through Sobriety. For Gardens and Parks. For the Beach and The Redwoods. For YARD831 and the progress to come over the Summer. For One Day at a Time. And for This Day to Practice and to Continue.