Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Walking and Working

Hi All!

Have I mentioned that it is HOT here?? I just got back from walking and plopped myself down in front of the computer, and under the ceiling fan, sweating like a pig. Except pigs don't really sweat, do they?

Anyway - it is HOT here. Oh . . . wait. I already said that, didn't I? Yes? It is just that I am currently IMing with my mother who says it is "almost too cool to sit outside" at her house. Must be nice!

While walking today I met another walker and we decided to combine our efforts and to walk together. We are going to give this a try tomorrow for the first time. It has been a long time since I have walked with someone in the morning (my neighbor used to walk a couple of years ago). I have mixed feelings.

First of all, this means that I will have no excuse for not walking each morning. I will have to haul myself out of bed no matter how lazy I feel. I will have to actually have to try to be semi-awake during the walking process. I won't be able to listen to all of my podcasts - that would be rude, right?

Next, what if this woman, who I met just this morning and talked to for about fifteen minutes, isn't someone I really want to spend much time with? Every morning might be a BIG commitment to a person I don't like! Sure, she seemed nice enough this morning . . .

Finally, I will actually have to haul myself out of bed EVERY DAY no matter how lazy I feel. Wait . . . that sounds familiar!

Oh well - I guess time will tell!

Yesterday I got another call from my speech therapist. I am going to work for her tomorrow afternoon! Yeah! That means more money (I am NOT materialistic but it does feel good to be earning money after over a year of being off work due to my darn voice!) and more interesting stuff to do. Okay - it might not be that interesting but, it will let me feel like I am being useful again!

Yes, I admit that I haven't felt really useful for a while. It is funny how that happens.

In the fall of 2006 I was a happy, working woman. Okay - so I didn't have a voice and that made me less than happy. Anyway - I was working. I was teaching and making a difference. Then, the voice thing really hit hard. I took a short leave of absence which turned into the rest of the school year. Then it morphed into the whole next year.

It was during the "rest of the school year" that I began feeling like I wasn't useful. I mean, not too many people stay home who don't have children. It was weird to be home during the day without stacks of papers to grade or lessons to plan. Most of my friends work so they were not around to do stuff during the day. The one friend who doesn't work has two small children to keep her busy - even though we do meet once a month for lunch.

Okay - enough dwelling on this. The important thing is - I am working tomorrow. Yep. Working and earning some money!

Of course, that is AFTER I drag my lazy rear out of bed to walk in the morning!

Trisha

Voice Update: Good. Of course, it did have some "breaking" when I was on the phone with my speech therapist - figures! I didn't do my exercises yesterday (bad, bad, bad!!) because I was busy being lazy. Today it is back on the horse. After all, I have to go work with my speech therapist tomorrow and she will know.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I walk six miles with a really good friend everyday. Hopefully you have a lot in common with this woman! Walking alone can be nice too.

Don't tell her about your blog so you can tell us about her!

KitchenKiki said...

I know that when I lost my job, it felt like I lost a portion of my identity. I'm glad you have the opportunity to renew yourself and help others by working with your therapist. Congratulations & Good Luck!

Woman in a Window said...

Working at something gives us affirmation, doesn't it? You go and enjoy.

(Hey, you wrote at my place that somehow I inspired you to be a proud American. That's good...but...I'm Canadian, but my husband is American. There are a lot of reasons to be proud down there. There are always a lot of reasons, regardless of nationality, to light a fire under the administration's butt/or society's, for that matter.)

MUD said...

With your ability as a teacher, and u=your understanding of speech disorders is there a field you can use both. You might have to get some additional training to get certified but the wife turned a three ear mommy leave into a Masters in Learning Disabilities. As tough as it is to teach, I know you have grit and can do it. MUD