The "ber" months Part 1

 Welcome to the start of school. September sucks. Just a teacher opinion here. 

Seriously the start of school is soul sucking. More chaos than there are chill pills in the world. 

Not gonna say more than that about the first 2 weeks. 

Took a trip to the Olympics weekend #2 Sooooo needed. Sooooo glad I planned this in advance. 

Got out REALLY LATE night one, got the tent set up and went to bed. Woke up rested and refreshed day 2.

Took a hike up to Sol Duc falls and back and Lovers Loop Trail. Booked our late afternoon reservation for the hot springs and let all the chaos and pain melt away.  Had a tasty taco dinner at camp that was interrupted by some very aggressive blue jays. Sleep was interrupted by rain so the pain in my back did come back. 

 

Got a wet tent packed up and drove into town.  A nice walk as the clouds cleared at Port Angles was speckled with beautiful murals. 

Peninsula trip was wrapped up with a trip to Finnriver Cider before getting on the ferry and heading home.  Hope you enjoy some of the photos from the weekend.  

3 weeks into the school year and I DO NOT have a functional work life balance, not because I'm not taking time off at home, but because the work then simply isn't getting done. 

I'm getting maybe 60% of what I need to get done at work each day done, but then I crash when I get home, leaving me 40% behind every day and the snowball has started to add up. 

So to soothe my now very anxious mind, I am getting massages. I found a place that takes my insurance and I had my first one to end week3. I will be having one every week until my body stops holding on to all this stress. I have enough left on my insurance to frankly do that through the end of the year and then go 2x a month for the rest of the school year. Honestly probably the thing that will get me through the hard weeks. 

Also starting to look forward to summer- yes summer. When I cannot shut my brain down I turn to something more fun to think about. I had originally thought a 21 day road trip through the state of CA this year, but I'm starting to think maybe a 2 week trip to Europe would be a better fit. 1 week hiking in the Dolomites and 1 week exploring somewhere else. Honestly i think the costs would be about equal, so now to ponder it for a while. 

Spent the weekend working, resting and at the state fair. Honestly I'm feeling completely drained every day. Today was Monday and I literally did not get to sit. All day. Teaching to crisis to teaching to copies to running around to work with kids to connecting with staff about crisis, my students in club looked at me and said "Let's sit". I cannot keep going at this pace. I will burn out. Anyway-hope you enjoyed some fair favorites.

This weekend we went apple picking and picked some sweetcorn while we were at it. We could have picked lot of other things, but then I would feel inclined to have to cook them, and that's not a strength here these days. So apples and corn it is.  After picking we went and got hard cider at another apple farm before going to one of my favorite places for savory pot pies. That's all they serve savory and sweet pies and Pie Dive bar is nearly always packed. 

For those who live near me and may be interested for future years- We picked our apples and corn at Bailey Family Farm and got our cider at Riverview Road Cider which is attached to Raising Cane Ranch- both up in Snohomish. 

I really do love that just a short drive from the city I can be up on farm land, with beautiful mountain views. Sunday was spent starting my training for what I really do hope is a very exciting summer adventure. But slow and steady is going to win training for this steep challenge. Just working on increasing my stamina both for distance and incline while solidly working on pacing myself. 

And we're into October. 

I can't believe it's been a year since I met my favorite scrabble opponent, and adventure companion. Honestly, the last year feels like it went by too fast, but after nearly a year that felt like it dragged on forever, I'm not mad about it.  

We had a lovely weekend- Dinner and a concert + attempt at an outdoor activity even if my body didn't 100% play nice, then curled up with a warm drink and "The Life of a Show Girl" on the record player. No I didn't force him to listen- he wanted to! 

Going into a very packed week- Monday is Club, Tuesday is Volunteering at Teen Feed, Wednesday I sleep, Thursday- ongoing migraine from hellFriday is for Therapy and pre-making my famous french toast bake and then leaving for the coast.  

Weekend at the coast was lovely although socially overwhelming a lot of the time I'm working at getting better at excusing myself from social situations and not feeling bad about it but years of just wanting to be included on being afraid of missing out on things mean that I still feel bad about things that I miss out on, even if I'm trying to take care of myself.  

The coast was gray and overcast and the waves were big, but I just feel so at peace when I'm by big water.  The long weekend wasn't long enough, and I had to head back to school for spirit week and homecoming. 

Homecoming week had a lot of feels. First because I am still coming off a headache that just wont stop and second because spirit weeks are my opportunity to be super silly and playful at work. When I was married I feel like I was sillier in the rest of my life.  My ex got to see parts of me, a very vulnerable side and playful side that I wasn't with other people and with my marriage ending, and trying the whole dating thing again, it's not a part of myself that has re-surfaced outside of work. So to be able to be so free and playful in my professional space and feel almost like I'm not allowed to be or not safe to be that free in my personal life has been hard.  

I know grief isn't linear and some days are harder than others, but it's difficult to feel like there is still a piece of me missing. 

Spirit week was Harry Potter themed and I was onboard for the fun.  I was also a judget this year and the hall decor was fantastic so I've included a few photos for you to get a feel for the work these kids put in. 

This week wrapped up with A No- Kings Protest and I'm pretty proud of the sign that I made. It was not a beautiful day for a Protest- which isn't so surprising for Seattle, but it was good to be out with like minded people and feel a sense of community. 

I've been feeling a sense of unsettledness lately. Like my healing from my divorce got stalled and I'm trying to work past it but I cant. Nightmares and heartache have been a background feeling this month. Not a part of myself I've really share with anyone, but certainly something I've been carrying. Probably why there have been so many head aches and health issues.  I always have physical presentations of my emotional struggles.  So I am doing something about it. I get a massage every week. I have appointments with a new therapist and psychiatrist in the next 2 weeks a long with an appointment to see a dermatologist and a neurologist. I've hit my deductible so I should use the "free" health care. 

Well We've entered Winter in Washington- Feels like we slammed past fall- the windy season is here.  We don't typically get snow until late January early February at these elevations, but we do get wind.  Last night 4th weekend in Oct I had 7 power surges in my building we lost power fully 3 times once being overnight- aka the season where I don't really bother re-setting the clock because it's pointless my phone and my laptop have the correct time and that's all that I need.  

 It is raining sideways season.  I often have out of state friends and family ask me why no one in Washington has an umbrella and this is the reason. Because sideways rain cannot be stopped by an umbrella. So we invest in high quality rain coats and this year I'll be grabbing some rain pants because UGH. There is nothing worse than being wet and cold outside. Also I think my raincoat that I love is starting to leak at the seams- and they dont make this coat any more or at least the don't sell in the US any more so if you have SEATTLE APPROVED rain gear recommendations I am taking them- But they must come in a color other than black. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled fun: its HALLOWEEN WEEK. 

Monday- Club Party - and Pumpkin Carving with friends - Since it's PJ Day at work I'll stick with Eeyore

Tuesday- Arcade 8-Bit

Wednesday- last minute Day off

Thursday- Day off- Dermatology appointment 

Friday- Halloween Cocktail party and couples costume - Beetlejuice During the Day, Shrek and Fiona At night. 

This month ended very busy. Pushed through on the Halloween High below is a selection of costumes from this week to sign off for the month!