Goals So Far

 My country is an absolute shitshow at the moment, so I'm going to stick my fingers in my ears and LALALA CAN'T HEAR YOU after consuming way too much news today. 

And I'm going to blog about my own personal stuff. It's a coping mechanism.

So...how are my January goals going?

Fitness:

I have been absolutely smashing the workouts. Gym three times a week, upping the running, and making use of the equipment I have at home--namely my spin bike and punching bag. I have gone on days that I didn't particularly want to, and my only rest days have been truly needed. 

On average, I reach 10,000 steps by about 5:00 pm, and most of that is at work. Teaching isn't exactly sedentary. Teaching music adds a new layer of cardio to that, as a typical Friday sees me hosting three kindergarten and three first grade classes, for six 30 minute sessions of jumping, stomping, clapping, scarf-waving, and more as we sing. On Friday, I often reach about 7,000 of my steps before my 12:30 lunch time. It is exhausting in the best way.

Anywho, it's been a good month. I feel amazing. I sleep very well. 

Career Growth

I mean, we're three weeks in, so it's not like I've moved mountains. But I did have a huge win this week when one of the teachers I'm mentoring came to observe the TK teachers at my site. She is the lone TK teacher at her site, so having a chance to connect her with two teachers of her grade level (one requirement for her program is to do a peer observation) was pretty cool. Even better: both her school and mine follow the International Baccalaureate program.

When she arrived on Tuesday, I met her briefly while one of my admin babysat my 7th graders for five minutes so I could walk my mentee across the street to where our TK classes are located. I left her in the capable hands of one of my colleagues and dashed back to my middle school mayhem, hoping she'd have a good time.

We had our regularly-scheduled Zoom chat that afternoon, and she was ecstatic. She was so excited to see and learn new ways of doing things she hadn't considered or seen in her own school. She wants to ask her boss if she can take a full day to come and watch them some more. She wants to actually bring her principal so he can see what an established, well-run TK program looks like and support her in building the same.

Now, I didn't do much here, except introduce her (over email, then in person) to a couple of my colleagues. But just being able to facilitate that for a young teacher was such a great feeling. She now has a connection she can really use in the sometimes-lonely world of teaching our youngest, tiniest charges. 

The Rest

I had the not-at-all-vague intention of being intentional, and, by my own definition, I really am doing a great job. I've read every single day this year so far. I'm on my 10th book now, and I've been slowly listening to the absolute brick that is President Obama's A Promised Land. I can only listen to audiobooks when I'm doing something completely mundane, like vacuuming and mopping, so it's taken me three weeks to get to 64% (the audio, read by Obama himself--I love his voice, by the way--is a whipping 29 hours). I'll do a "books of January" post next week, but I haven't yet read anything that has truly knocked my socks off, though I've had some close calls. 

I got the first of two stipends I'll receive for being a mentor a couple weeks ago, which was a tidy little sum that mostly got shoved into my two savings accounts. Some was kept in my checking, though, because three weeks from today, I will be on a plane to Athens for some Greek history and, even more exciting, Greek food. This will be my 20th country.

I'm toying with the idea of a June trip, too, but right now it's just a matter of where do I want to go? Well, everywhere. I'm leaning towards Tokyo, just because I haven't yet been to Asia, and Tokyo looks amazing. It's also home to a Charles Schulz Museum that is affiliated with the one here in California--the only other museum in the world affiliated with the Santa Rosa original. And, of course, some amazing history and architecture and food and culture. We shall see. 

There you have it. I'm plugging along nicely and paying attention to the absolute fuckery that is happening in my country while also doing what I can to keep my sanity. It's a very thin tightrope to walk.