Marathons Aren't for Sprinting

When I was in high school I did track for all four years. The first year I tried sprints (100 and 200 meters) and long jump; I was terrible at both. I actually got worse as the season progressed. The following year I started cross country in the fall. So in the spring when track started again, I did long distance (1600 and 3200 meters): a much better fit. My senior year I was asked to try the 400 and 800. I believe these are sick and twisted events. No one should ever have to sprint long distances. I tried each once; never again.

These last few weeks have felt like that half mile. It's been this disastrous amalgam of long and short distance races that has left me desperately trying to keep up and, well, not die (or kill anyone else).

There was the car situation. And the "vacation." And then one thing after another. I will try to hit the biggies.

1. We found a car. We ended up getting an amazing deal. The day we bought it we drove back and forth between Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa several times, but within a few hours we had a car. Sure, we'd lost the keys to our home. But at least we had a car (we found the keys a week later).

2. Work has been awful. There have been moments, to be sure. Like my homeroom, an eclectic group of strapping seventh graders that have won maybe three games out of all the sports we've played all year, winning the championship dodgeball game against my archnemesis. Also, when I cut my hand open on the trophy. I also had a rather outstanding talent show in one of my English classes. Otherwise, my kids have been crazy terrors. In one day (the day I was supposed to go to Knott's with all the top seventh graders), I "got" to stay at school with all the not-so-top seventh graders, most of whom were ineligible to go on the class trip because of behavior issues, and got yelled at by a parent for having the audacity to give her child an assignment. Clearly it is the end of the year, and clearly the seventh grade class couldn't give a rat's behind about the remaining days. It's probably not okay to stick some booze in my desk drawer, right? Just checking.

3. Have I mentioned that the last week of school is always the worst? Because it is. The only thing that could make it worse is if we had to do Open House this week.

4. It has been icky and gloomy here in the land of eternal sunshine for like a month. Now, I usually love the gloom. It's the only thing resembling seasons we get in the County of Orange. But with all the stress lately, all I've wanted to do is go to the beach, the park, or the pool (which I can usually do in January). But no. Not this year. This year June is going to be 15 degrees below normal, and the clouds have taken over. Boo.

5. Funny Bone was good. I was in this little play thing this weekend. The rehearsals in the last week or two have really taken a toll on me, both physically and emotionally (some of the people I was working with were, um, challenging). But it felt unbelievably good to be on stage again. I needed that. I needed that outlet, and at last I could have it.

6. Speaking of Funny Bone, I've barely slept or even rested in the last week. So I could probably go to bed right now and sleep until school gets out on Wednesday. Wait...

7. Have I mentioned the exhaustion? It's like my first month post-partum all over again, except the midget is 14 pounds heavier and can crawl faster than my first car could drive.

8. I passed the first section of the CSET. I am now one-third qualified to teach history.

9. Speaking of the CSET, I'm studying for part two in July: American History. The Trail of Tears and Japanese Internment Camps are a real pick-me-up.

10. In attempting to plan a summer vacation that allowed us to both have our first real family vacation and spend time with our extended family, we've apparently opened up a can of worms the size of China (in terms of population relative to size...see, I can't get this history crap out of my head). At any rate--can open, worms everywhere.

So there it is...it's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times. I keep thinking the roller coaster should be slowing any minute now, only it doesn't. It hasn't, of course, been all bad. So let's not get all "oh Shannon, you're so dramatic. You'll get through it, and God will take care of you. It could be worse." Of course it could be worse. I could be in Haiti or Darfur. Or a Japanese Internment Camp.

Which reminds me...time to go study. Sigh...