Transitions

There are certain times of year that are ripe for transition: New Year's Days, the starts of new school years, birthdays, and anniversaries.

I'm dealing with several transitions. The most shallow is the transition from winter to summer clothes. With temperatures flirting with the 90's last weekend,  I finally put my winter boots and shoes in storage under the bed. I moved summer clothes from the second to the master bedroom, and winter clothes in the reverse direction. 

I tried on several skirts and pairs of pants and bagged a few for Goodwill. I chose a skirt and blouse to wear for my birthday dinner. I even gave myself a pedicure, but I didn't have polish and my buffer didn't work well. At least my feet were improved. 

I got my car washed after (I think) a year and a half. My usual carwash still isn't offering interior cleaning, which my car really needed. The next day I went to another carwash for an interior wash. They didn't get out all of the dust and Lola's hair, but the car looked much better. By today, the car is covered in pollen and bird droppings. Maybe that's why I don't wash my car all that often. 

Onto more important transitions: Jeff and I have noticed that Lola is slowing down, becoming more lethargic, napping more frequently. We think Lola is 10, so we thought age was just slowing her down. Unfortunately, it's more serious than that. Her heart murmur is louder, and she had more toxins in her kidneys. We're dealing with the heart murmur first.

I'm officially unemployed/retired from test prep teaching/tutoring now. I haven't written about it here, but have been journaling about it, and I'm still processing it. I didn't want to tutor online because the platform didn't offer face-to-face interaction with students. I didn't think I could be effective. After a year not teaching, I would have to be retrained and rehired. I said forget it. I can go on full Social Security in a few months. It's a big change. 

One day recently, I woke up and thought about my day, and asked is this the rest of my life?

As I wrote in a recent post, I need to decide on what writing I want to focus. Figure out where I'm going to write, as well as what I'm going to write. 

This is my chance. 

Christmas Trees, Weather Worries, and Other Miscellanea

As we drove back and forth to the Norwalk River Valley Trail in Wilton, I counted seven cars with Christmas trees tied up on top. I asked Jeff if we'd set up a Christmas tree this year. It's been a few years.

When we first got married, we got a live tree each year. Then one year Jeff was working two jobs, I had a busy workload, and getting a tree was just too much stress. Later I felt guilty and bought a four feet artificial tree. A few years later, I bought a second artificial tree. For a few years, we decorated both. 

Today Jeff suggested that we decorate but don't necessarily have to include a tree. That's what I was thinking--we're on the same wavelength again. 

We're getting the first snow of the season tomorrow and Monday--the two days I'm working this week. Tomorrow's snow isn't a big deal, and even if it was, I wouldn't mind re-scheduling. Tomorrow's student is taking the ACT in February. But my Monday student is taking the SAT next Saturday. It will be hard to reschedule, based on her commitments, if we have to cancel Monday.

Before we went to NRVT, Jeff and I checked out a holiday fair at the Norwalk Library. It was better than I expected. I bought a few things--mostly for myself and a few stocking stuffers. 

Even with the colder temperatures the last few days, we've had good walks with Lola. I hope this can continue. 

New Morning Routine?

I've had a busy two months of work--four classes and three tutoring students. Because of the work schedule combined with hot weather, I got into the habit of taking Lola out for her main walk early on weekdays. We'd take the two minute drive to Mathews Park and then walk on the NRVT to Oyster Shell Park.

I worked afternoons over the weekend and now I have two weeks off until my last ACT afternoon class on September 7. I have another tutoring student who may want to resume sessions, and if I get a new student, I'll be happy to start tutoring, but for now, I'm free.

I've started the past few mornings leisurely: drinking coffee, reading emails. I took Lola out for quick pees, but didn't get her out for long walks until 10-10:30. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I do like to get Lola's long walk out of the way first. Tomorrow it may rain in the afternoon or evening, so it's a good opportunity to get Lola out early and get back on that routine.

I may not have classes or tutoring appointments, but I have lots to do, and I might as well get started early.

Class Dismissed

I've taught three classes this summer and am just over halfway through a fourth. In the past, I've never taught more than two courses per summer.  Ironically we offer fewer courses now, but I guess we also have fewer teachers.

My second SAT course was challenging in many ways. I regret that I didn't do a good job with that class. At this point, I can only do better on future classes.

I'm going to take a hiatus from teaching. Mainly because the next class offerings will interfere with vacation plans. Jeff and I have a destination wedding for our niece in upstate New York next month. We've decided to take the days off between our anniversary and the wedding and explore. We may combine the trip with a visit to Interlaken Inn. We received gift certificates for Christmas. 

Now that we're about a month away, we can start planning, but not too much. Many of  the best times we've enjoyed on vacation have been the unexpected or spontaneous stops.

We can use a getaway.

November Review

November was a rough month for me.

It started well; I joked that I started the month one-for-one with gym visits. Actually I made it two-for-two. And then I made one more visit the next week. That was it for working out. I actually thought I was getting back on track.

Trying to recreate the month by this blog, my appointment book, and my journal. I had a few tutoring appointments, work getting my mother's apartment in order. My cousins visited.

On the 12th, I started to get sick.That lasted for two weeks. After the first week, I found out I had bronchitis. I stayed in for almost a week. Bronchitis overshadowed the whole month.

When I finally went out, I found that it was exhausting. I remember my first walk with Jeff and Lola. It was on the Norwalk River Valley Trail: an easy walk. I was tired after 20 minutes. On the full hour walk I sat on benches along the trail several times. I took a 15-minute nap when I got home. This taught me that I had to take it easy. And I still am.

November wasn't a complete loss. We released my mother's apartment back to the company (even if I wasn't present at the official surrender.) I also managed to post here every day in November. I ended the month on a good note. I got a referral for a tutorial with six hours this week and another 12 in the next eight weeks. Otherwise, it would have been a bad cash-flow month.

Nice to have something unexpected turn out to be good,

My Day Out

I don't think I've been outside since Monday when I discovered I had bronchitis. I've been resting and keeping quiet. With each day, I've felt a little better.

Today I had a SAT tutoring appointment. I felt well enough to make it work. Afterward I returned The Romanov Sisters to the library, then came right back home. I told myself that I shouldn't try to do too much just because I was feeling better. Well doing too much wasn't a problem--I could barely keep my eyes open this afternoon.

***

On my way home, I drove through Ridgefield; the downtown is decked out in Christmas decorations. I saw three or four cars pass by with Christmas trees roped to their roofs. As I traveled down Route 123, I saw Santa Claus overlooking the road from a balcony. Other homes still had Thanksgiving arrays of pumpkins.

31 days to Christmas. I wish I could approach it joyously, but that's not happening. I don't feel like decorating. Just need to get through the holidays.

Last Chance for September Post

I'm forcing myself to post tonight.

I'm tired. I'm watching the Mets and reading things on the Internet: tips on time management and frugality, latest Trump rantings, a random blog one of my (few) followers follows. But I had planned to write here tonight, and so I am. 

My class is off this weekend for Yom Kippur. I thought it would be a good time to get in some extra tutoring, but that didn't work so well. I had one session this afternoon. On the plus side, I got to sleep in a bit (8:45 or so) and went to the gym--only my second visit this month. I decided I need to schedule gym visits. There's no reason why I can't go three times this week. I'll start Monday. 

Tomorrow I have two tutoring appointments. Unfortunately, these are at the homes of students who live the farthest apart. I start at 1 PM, have an hour of driving from one to another (that's with no traffic) and won't get home until 7:15-7:30. I'll take Lola for a walk/hike in the morning, marinate a pork tenderloin for dinner. Jeff can cook it so we can eat as soon as I get home and watch Outlander.

Our DPFs (Dog Park Fridays) are winding down; we have four more at most before daylight savings ends. This makes me sad because I enjoy these visits. We have a core group who have been meeting for years, while others have come and gone. I'll have to make an effort to see these friends more often during the late fall and winter. 

Speaking of dog park, Lola also enjoys socializing. Our friend Jeff commented last night about how much friendlier and outgoing she was. 

The Mets, in the 11th inning of their penultimate game, won 7-4 over the Phillies. It's been a sad season. I started out with high hopes. Then things fell apart. I don't remember who went down first. But the Mets fell like dominoes. One more game.  

On to October.

Teacher Appreciation

Yesterday was Teacher Appreciation Day and the start of Teacher Appreciation Week in the US.

Appropriately, I had my first tutoring session in about a month yesterday. Last night I received an email from the student's mother. She said I was very good, very well organized and very effective, and my student learned a lot about test taking skills.

That made my day.

SAT Re-Certification and Training Weekend

I have the weekend off, a stark contrast to last weekend when I had  RSAT--redesigned SAT training--for two full days. I also had a lot of prep to do beforehand. We have four new books and a new test (no, I didn't do them all.) I'm sure more materials and changes are on the way. It was an intense weekend, but it was also fun.

The RSAT doesn't debut until next March, but the redesigned PSAT will rear its ugly head this October. We have to be prepared.

I haven't heard officially that I "passed." That's slightly annoying, but I'm sure I would have heard already if I had messed up.

A Week Derailed

On Sunday when I thought about the upcoming week, I told myself I would have to plan and be well-organized to get everything done. Things ended up okay though getting here was tough.

On Sunday night, Spike's "stomach" problems took a turn for the worse. I had to treat carpet stains, do an unexpected load of laundry and take Spike to the vet on Monday. I already had to drive to a Stamford pharmacy to get Spike's Chinese herbs, so half of my day was gone before I knew it. On Tuesday I went to Motor Vehicles to get my license renewed; that was about two hours out of my life. I also tutored or taught every day.

I did get a break--one of my deadlines was extended from today to Tuesday. Surprisingly, I have free time this weekend to work on that deadline. A few tutoring students decided to wait until the fall instead of taking June tests.

I just need to keep plugging.

Math Madness and Reading Rigor

The redesigned SAT will be launched in March 2016. Because I'm an active tutor, I'm among the first group in my company to be trained for the new test. I'm glad because the live training will be in the second half of June, a traditionally slow time. Unfortunately the flip side is that I have to take a redesigned SAT practice test now when I'm busy with SAT and ACT students prepping for tests in early June.

I mistakenly thought this test would be relatively easy for me because I'm already certified to teach the ACT. The writing is similar to the ACT, but the rest is different. The new SAT math is tougher than the ACT's. Apparently, the reading is also tough: I've only finished one passage.That means SAT reading is on my agenda for today. And the redesigned essay.

What fun.

Busy

I've been thinking about how busy I am lately.

I have several tutoring students and I'm teaching an ACT class. I have to finish a WPA project for the Arts Commission. I'm dealing with health insurance and income tax problems. I'm studying for the revised SAT, and need to take a new test.  

Then there are all the normal day-to-day to-do's: preparing meals, shopping, doing chores, paying bills. I also want to work out, do yoga, and, you know, blog and write.

Then I listen to my students. Each of them listed a litany of tests, essays, research papers and projects in  a very short time period. 

I'm not so busy after all. It's all relative. 

Muddled Musings

I've been relatively busy the past few weeks with tutoring.This has been a nice surprise--usually my slow time starts at the beginning of June. I had my last tutoring session yesterday for a while, so I got another week or two of more work than expected.

I use the word "relatively" deliberately. I work part-time--many fewer hours than the 40-hour standard. Sometimes I get frustrated; I wonder why I don't have time to accomplish more. Jeff kindly reminds me of transportation, preparation and follow-up that I do for each tutoring and teaching session. It makes me feel a little better, but I always feel that I'm not doing enough, falling behind.

In addition to work, I've been busy with my docent training. We had an introductory meeting, then five official training sessions followed by a field trip. We saw a few of the murals outside of City Hall, such as two in the Maritime Aquarium and five in the Norwalk Transit District. We also visited two active oystering businesses remaining in Norwalk: Norm Bloom and Hilliard Bloom. I shadowed a Stroll & Sip tour and co-led another. While most of this place in May, additional prep, planning and follow up work has extended into June. I'm hopeful that the work will grow in July.

Sometime last week or even earlier, I contacted poison ivy. I don't remember the last time I had poison ivy--it has to have been thirty years or more. At first I thought it was hives because this has been such a bad allergy season. I went to the dermatologist on Monday; the medication has helped a lot.

I start teaching two classes in July; I  have about three off weeks before then. It's not like a vacation. I have many projects that I need to accomplish from housework to marketing to subject tutoring prep (history) I can't let this time go to waste.

What's Today's Schedule?

I have to be flexible with my tutoring students. A small group tutorial has set meeting and testing times. Individual tutoring sessions are more fluid. Most of the kids I tutor are heavily scheduled. Figuring out when they can meet with me can be difficult.

Luckily for me, I like flexibility and variety, but it does get confusing. I often check my calendars  multiple times each day just to make sure I end up at the right time, right place.

From Expectations to Frustrations

That sums up my last week.

It's not that last week was particularly bad--actually a few good things happened. It was that I started the week thinking it would be a quiet one, that I didn't have many obligations. I thought I'd have a lot of time to get work done on long-term projects. I ended up having four meetings with or about a community organization that I'm in, plus endless rounds of email debates about tactics for the organization.

Another problem was uncertainty. Snow (again) derailed one of my tutoring appointments which I had to reschedule. That made a snag in family plans. I was also trying to pick up a small group tutorial after the original instructor had to back out. It took several days to work out a revised schedule. Then another tutoring student asked to change his appointment. I felt like I didn't know from one moment to the next what I was doing.

I should know by now: I can't expect what to expect.

Now, if I only knew if that statement is brilliant or ridiculous. Maybe it can be both.

The New SAT Manual is Here!

I was surprised to get a delivery from UPS yesterday; I hadn't ordered anything.

It was the latest revision of the SAT Manual. I had read they would be issued on October 15th, but the office didn't have them when I stopped by that day. I later heard that the office would distribute them at a meeting two weeks from now.

I was psyched to get the new manual although not this excited.

Essay Tutoring

Today I finished tutoring one of my students. We had previously done a full SAT tutorial, then a few additional hours of SAT, and most recently three hours of college admission essay tutoring.

Something I realized tonight--I get to know students much better through essay tutoring than SAT or ACT tutoring. The most important part of essay tutoring is helping the  students pull out the specific details of their lives or dreams, and then describe them fully to show their personalities.

I've really enjoyed essay tutoring and hope to get to do much more of it.

Emergency Sub

I got a call around 4:30 today asking if I could sub for a Small Group Instruction session tonight from 6 to 9.

I didn't want to work tonight; I've just finished a relatively busy two weeks and was doing lots of household stuff today. I had planned to cook salmon for dinner and watch the Olympics and the Mets. But there was some kind of scheduling problem, I was available and wanted to show that I would help out when needed. I hope people in the office will remember me when the next good tutorial comes up.

As I was driving to the office, I started wondering--why would anyone schedule a class on a Friday night? In August? After all, the next SAT is not until October.

I guess the students felt the same way. Four were expected; only two showed. One was a student I tutored for a few hours in the spring. They didn't want to be there and I commiserated but  they knew the job was dangerous when they took it.

"I've got my crossroads feeling--

I've only had it three or four times in my life. That night in the Café Royal when Everard hit the waiter--" She stopped dead.

That's a quote from my favorite book, "I Capture the Castle" which deserves a post of its own soon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Capture_the_Castle

Maybe that quotation is a little melodramatic for what I'm feeling now but I feel that I'm in a time of changes.

The spring test prep season is over. I've only got a few students for the June tests. I'm worried that I might not have any students after the first week in June. Although I've had leads for other work--both contract and full-time jobs, nothing's panned out for me.

Spike has health issues--he has an under active thyroid which we are treating but also is losing protein in his urine. The latter can be a symptom of many problems, some of which are difficult to diagnose. We've already spent a few hundred dollars on inconclusive diagnostic tests. We'll spent whatever we need to keep Spike healthy, but I wonder how valuable all these tests are. The latest test cost about $120 only to eliminate an infection that the vet and I thought was unlikely.

My birthday is approaching. Birthdays are another new year--a time to think about plans and goals.Unfortunately, I'm falling short.

In three weeks, I go on a writer's retreat. Usually, I get a lot of writing done at retreats but not last year. So I'm trying to psych myself up to write--to get into a creative mood.  The last thing I want to do is to put pressure on myself but I don't want to leave my creativity to chance.

Then there are the Mets. They got off to a good start despite dire predictions. Sometimes they look great; other times it's like amateur hour. I don't know from one day to the next what team will take the field.

My crossroads feeling--as Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

The Night Before

The lyrics of this song don't reflect the meaning of this post title, but I haven't heard it for a while, so here goes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRrLDHoZLyI

It's the night before the May SAT; I have seven tutoring students taking it tomorrow. I advised them to take it easy tonight, relax and get a good night's sleep. At least two of them have other plans: one is in a play and another in a dance. Maybe they will be tired enough to get to sleep easily and not get stressed.

I've been lucky with my tutoring students. They are genuinely interested in working to improve their scores and I enjoy working with them.

Good luck to all.