I Fell Into Fall This Year, and I Can't Get Up!

I'm a teacher by day. So, this time of year is very busy for me. I tend to kind of disappear from all social life in mid-August and not resurface until the end of September.

This year, though, it was a bit different. I got sick.

Teachers hate missing school. It's hard to get a good substitute, and preparing lessons for a substitute to teach is WAY more difficult than simply teaching them yourself. If teachers should be sainted, as some claim, substitute teachers should at least be granted lifetime free coffee. It's a hard row to hoe, standing in for the teacher.

I would certainly never miss days this early in the school year by choice. Those first few weeks are essential for establishing patterns and relationships. But my body disagreed. I started with a sore throat. That turned to fever and chills, and by the end of it all, I missed eight school days in a row. That's at least six years in middle school time.

The days after being absent are a second exercise in futility, digging through email, voicemail, meeting minutes, miscommunications, misunderstandings (both purposeful and accidental) and excuses by the mile. I've just gotten through that part now. I missed eight school days and it took another eight to straighten out the mess.

So here I am, nearly at the end of September and wondering where the heck my month went. I want a do-over!

I won't be able to go back in time, so I guess the best I can do is set some goals for how to move forward.

Balls I dropped in September:

• Any attempt at physical fitness
• Organized meal plans for the family
• A variety of school paperwork
• Making more than the minimum daily word count
• Keeping up with laundry
• That "organize the garage" plan
• Correspondence
• Articles for GeekDad (I'm supposed to write two a month)
• Reading The Brothers Karamazov for book club
• yardwork
• finding the dining room table
• romance
• more than minimal personal hygiene
• several deadlines

Whew! How did I ever juggle all those? Which one do you think I should pick back up first?