Why, Oh Why?

Why, oh why, am I doing this?  Why am I spending so much time on this journal?

I am doing my usual end-of-summer reassessment of my activities, because in a few days my school year as a teacher begins and little of my time will remain my own.  I have four preps this year -- 2 sections of 8th grade American History, 9th grade World History, 9th grade AP World History, and 11th-12th grade Government (to be replaced by Econ in the spring).  All of my classes are writing intensive so, in addition to the preps and 5 classes most days, I'll have piles and piles of papers to read.  I can see my own personal writing and photography time evaporating before my eyes.

In addition, since I teach in a religious school in which the kids have a full slate of Judaics classes as well as their secular ones, my schedule is a bit odd.  Most Jewish schools save the secular stuff for the afternoon but, in an effort to impress upon the students the equal importance of both programs of study, our school mixes them throughout the day.  As a result, I teach two classes before lunch, then have a two-to-three hour break, and then teach three more, ending at about 5:15.  I've never had to teach so late before.  As a morning person, this new schedule will pose major challenges for me.  I'm usually nodding off by 4:00, regardless of what time I got up.  No more.  The 8th graders will be showing up just as I'm ready for a nap.  (Nooooo....I don't usuallly take naps.  But I do slow down considerably from about 4:00-7:00 p.m.)

And finally...I haven't accomplished nearly what I wanted to this summer.  I never did get going on yoga, and last night I stacked up a pile of books to focus on in my vast amounts of personal free time over the next few months.  And I have  many ideas for writing that never see the light of day.  Much of my lack of accomplishment has to do with this journal -- I spend a lot of time thinking about it and planning it, and playing around with my photos.

I think I have decided to alternate walking days with yoga days.  The walking by itself, despite miles and miles of it, has had a negligible effect on my weight and, to my utter dismay, on my blood pressure.  Clearly the problem is food.  So I need to focus more on that bothersome little issue, and I need to develop some flexibility.  I cannot BELIEVE the stiffness and pain I experience when I try to get up after reading in bed or on the couch.  I sleep on my side, so I just kind of roll out in the mornings, but if I've been lying on my back, getting up again is a Major Life Challenge.  I think, given my time limitations and certain physical realities that must be addressed, I need to embark upon a major flexibility program, which means cutting out some of the walking.

As far as the journal goes -- the problem is that I find that I want to write more, not less!  Now that I've finally begun to shape some of my ideas and experiences onto the printed page, instead of letting them all flap away, I'm pretty well addicted to the process.  I am just going to have to find some extraordinarily disciplined way of doing it.  If anyone else out there is fitting their non-professional writing into an already crammed existence, I'd love to hear how you do it. 

In the meantime, I have a few days to play:

Oregon Rain Forest

Walked: 1 mile.