Like Clockwork

Maybe I should tattoo a reminder to my forehead so that I stop forgetting that May is my least favorite month and I shouldn't let my expectations get out of hand.

Seriously. Every May, travel, work, and the final push to the end of the school year result in summer colds, mood swings, and general physical ailments.

At first, taking a week off from running for the DC trip seemed great; my sore toes stopped feeling sore, and I thought I was marginally caught up on sleep.

I was wrong to be so optimistic! I was sick enough today that my kids kept telling me, "Mrs. K, you sound really sick." At least I wasn't getting the whole "You look really sick" thing. Maybe they're saving that for tomorrow.

This is how I've spent the last week:

Sick in bed with Archie.

Dinner in bed.

Filling and refilling the garbage can. #noshame

 But, of course there are pick-me-ups along the way:

The kids drew pictures for me after we played vocab-review-pic-charades.

Teacher Appreciation Week made me feel appreciated.

Mucinex finally makes a medication that WORKS for me!

Orange juice and ice cream is full of vitamin C, good for a sore throat, and tasty!

And I got to go home for Mother's Day to see my parents and Charlie.

Speaking of Mother's Day, I had a good one. Matt and I drove up to see our respective moms, and it was really nice to just hang out with my brother and her and eat lunch. My dad showed me his latest surgery scars, including the one for his partial-knee-replacement. (He prefaced the x-ray show-and-tell with, "If you keep running, this will happen to you!"...He's a golfer.)

I was not an easy kid to raise. My mom is seriously a saint for dealing with and supporting me through everything. As I get older and see my friends with kids, I appreciate even more all the things my mom did for me, especially the daily minutiae, like laundry, nose-wiping, late nights, and dinner preparation. My mom was a champion for me and my sister when we were young and she was learning how to feed us gluten free foods (in the days before pre-made GF everything)...

She cooked two dinners a night, one "regular", one GF. She made sure our friends, friends' parents, and teachers knew what we could or couldn't eat. Seriously, heroic.

When I picture her dealing with my childhood asthma, my eczema, my emotional instabilities, I feel pity and deep pride. She got through it all with grace, and I like to think I am who I am today in great part because of her.

Fun fact: we share a birthday and are basically twins.

For those of you with or without kids, those of you who see Mother's Day as a little tedious or fraught with emotion, please read this. You are not alone.
 
How has your May been so far?
What's the best thing to do/eat/drink to kill a summer cold?

ABK

DC (A Non-Running Post)

I have spent the past weekend trying to squeeze in as much sleep as humanly possible, and it still doesn't seem like enough.

The trip began at 2am May 1, when I met the charter bus at school to check in students for our trip to the airport. 52 14-year-olds, five chaperones, three days of non-stop site-seeing. I think my exhaustion is pretty self-explanatory.

We got to DC around 9am and immediately began touring the city. This is the second time I've chaperoned this trip. It's a blast, but I'm not exaggerating when I say we're up and moving from 7am until after 10pm every day. Here are some of the things we saw in our three-day-two-night visit.

Day One:

Mt. Vernon - George Washington's house, complete with his original furnishings (including the bed he died in).

Museum of Natural History...This is a whale's baleen. Clearly this could kill you.

Natural History Museum...Great White Shark jaw anyone?

My favorite presidential memorial, FDR's, is chock-full of symbolism and meaningful quotations.

Day 2:

Arlington Cemetery - always my favorite place to visit.

Arlington again.

 (I seriously think Arlington is the happiest cemetery. Those laid to rest here are never forgotten and constantly visited; the history of the cemetery is just creepy enough to be riveting without being gross, and there's just something very moving in knowing that the men and women buried here dedicated their lives to a cause they believed in. Over all, it's not a bad place to be.)

The Library of Congress - seeing the Gutenberg Bible was so cool, and the architecture is fantastic!

The Capitol Building.

The US Holocaust Museum is built to be reminiscent of a concentration camp. Truly moving.

The Lincoln Memorial.

The Korean War Memorial.

The Vietnam War Memorial - seeing all these names never fails to choke me up.

The WWII Memorial

The Washington Memorial

The kids got a chance to have dinner and play games at Dave & Buster's after this, and then our final day began.

Day 3:

The White House

Ford's Theatre, where President Lincoln was shot. We also saw Peterson House, where he died.

The MLK Memorial. Another favorite, full of poignant symbolism and moving quotations.

And the Sept. 11 Pentagon Memorial.

(As I said on the original picture post on Instagram, this was the first time I'd seen this memorial, and it may be my new favorite. It's really harsh and gritty, but with elements of serenity and beauty. I think it's a great dedication to those who lost their lives. It's not nearly as sterile as so many of the other memorials are.)

We went from Day 3 directly to the airport, then took the charter bus back to school. We arrived at 2am Saturday, and after twelve hours of sleep, I drove up to visit Britt, who had finally given birth to little Kaya. Both mommy and baby are doing well.

Such a snuggle-bear!

From what my fellow teachers said today, none of us feel very caught up on sleep, and we're already drowning in end-of-year preparations. I think I have approximately a million things to grade (no exaggeration), and the kids still have their research papers, presentations, and finals to take.

May is steamrolling ahead whether I get my feet under me or not. I can't even feel bad about not running in DC, although I brought my clothes, because I was just too physically exhausted to get myself to the hotel's fitness center (as luxurious as it was).

On a final note about the trip, I have to say that it's incredibly rewarding to see the students' appreciation for history, government, and sacrifice grow. They come away from the trip changed, even those who aren't "model" students; it's a trip that I wish all the students could afford to take. 

If you've never been...if you have kids and they've never been...go. No matter how many times I visit, something new strikes me, and I come away different than I was before.

And on that note...end of the year, bring it on...full steam ahead!

ABK

From Washington DC

Hello everyone!

I'm in DC chaperoning a fantastically busy, fun, and educational trip with my 8th grade students.

I won't be posting while I'm away, but if you want a peek into what we're doing, check my Instagram: www.instagram.com/abkearney

I am always amazed and motivated by the sheer number of runners in DC. I guess perfect weather + the clean, paved, continuous paths of the Mall make for a great city for runners!

Have a good week!

-Have you been to DC?
-What is your favorite site?
-What is your perfect running weather?

ABK