Hello friends! Long time, no see (write? Read? It’s been a while). I recently read Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding for a grad course (had I told you that I’m working on my Masters degree now? Oh…Well, I am) and that led to this writing frenzy during a week of 3.5 days off of school in mid-October. I could add another day’s worth of entries to this, but I think you get the idea (probably a little too well at this point). Teachers miss their students when they have days off, love having days off, and are generally very conflicted about the whole thing. ENJOY my neurosis.
The Diary of a Teacher on a Snow Day:
Monday 8pm – They’ve called a late start! I giddily switched my alarm from 6am to 8am. SCORE!
Tuesday – Awaken at 6am anyway, curse and roll over
7:00 – Finally get back to sleep and the phone starts ringing.
7:05 – Hoorah! Hazardous road conditions evolved overnight, No School Today! Turn off alarm and go back to sleep.
7:15 – Cannot go back to sleep
7:20 – Coffee Making
7:21 – Might as well empty the dishwasher while I wait on the coffee
7:25 – Dishes away, new load going. I’ve really been missing on the housework lately
7:30 – Cat is now mewling piteously, must want fed.
7:35 – fed cat and dog, now wandering the house aimlessly as laundry and dishes are already going and both kids are still asleep
7:45 – Folded and put away one of the 8 loads of clean laundry that have piled up on the kitchen table. Have finally gotten a cup of coffee
7:50 – Picked up toddler toys in living room on my way back to bed with coffee. Must go through those! I only have 2 children and it looks like a wild pack of well to do ragamuffins roam the rooms and attack my house.
7:55 – Must read ebook for grad course and clean more.
8:00 – I read three pages…time for a game!
8:15 – the 1 yr old is awake
8:30 – BookTube videos here we come
9:30 – Have watched videos and played on my phone for over an hour
9:40 – does reading count if it isn’t your homework for Graduate School?
10:00 – Felt guilty for watching educational BookTube videos while my house is such a mess. Now I’m sitting with a giant basket of clean laundry to fold while watching. Much Better
11:03 – The big one woke up and is NOT listening, the little one refuses to take a nap, they’ve both managed to unfold some of the clean laundry, and my coffee is cold again. I miss my classroom and my students.
11:45 – I won the hard fight…the toddler is asleep. Spenser’s Book 2 of the Faerie Queene outlasted her!
1:00pm – the little monster just woke me up…I mean, woke up.
2:00pm – Little Monster joined forces with 8yr old Big Monster. House is, once again, destroyed
2:30 – Watching movies with the kids and ignoring the mess they’re currently making. Forget trying to read or crochet…I’m just trying to survive this.
4:00 – Both of the kids are down for an afternoon nap…Thank Goodness!
5:30 – Cleaned living room during nap time. As I’m cooking dinner the littlest monster throws EVERYTHING back on the floor…then drags every last piece of tupperware and any pans not in use out onto the kitchen floor. I’m sure I’ll be finding some of them in her room later.
8:00 – Late start to school tomorrow – must survive 14 more hours
9:00 – kids in bed, starting to breath more easily. Looking forward to seeing my kiddos at school tomorrow.
Wednesday
8:00 am – fell asleep by 10 and woke up this morning to the electricity out. Turns out it’s been out since midnight. House at 60 degrees, no school again today, going back to sleep.
10:00 am – both girls are up. Nothing to do but play and destroy the house again.
Noon – Spoke to the electrical company man…there are several whole TOWNS out. Main transmission lines blown. It might be tomorrow or Friday before electricity comes back on.
2:00 – heading to parents’ house an hour away…at least they have gas heaters. Dad drove through the ice to pick us up. We can be warm and since he has a propane grill, we don’t have to just eat pop tarts and peanut butter (must remember to buy bread!) Hope my students are safe and warm.
3:15 – We saw no less than 3 lonely, grounded ducks waddling down the highway. I know the feeling, miss my students. OOOOHHHH HEATERS!
**Footnote – I am participating in NaNoWriMo again this year and my students got to vote on what I should write (outside of my grad papers). I now have a short account of ducks on the highway that needs extreme editing to become a semi – decent picture book. **
Here there Be Dragons! 
Loved your diary writing!