DAY and TIME Are My Priorities These Days

As a special education teacher, my planning calendar is vital to me. It tells me WHAT I need to do WHEN in order to meet mandatory deadlines. As a speech pathologist, we have a large caseload, sometimes up to 65 kids that are seen 1-2 times a week. I carry my schedule around with me at all times to know which children I work with from which rooms and at what time. Even though my schedule is attached to my hip, I have been known on MORE than one occasion to walk into a 1st grade teacher’s classroom week after week at the wrong time to get my speech kids. I always feel so bad because I put her in a tailspin as she asks herself, "Am I that far behind in my own schedule?"

I am a person who requires my life, both professionally and personally, to be ORGANIZED. I don't do well with a "mess" or "heap" or "things out of order". It makes me feel jumbled inside....jittery if you will. Sometimes I have been known to piddle in my stamp room, not creating handmade greeting cards or scrapbook pages, but just organizing. I love organizing. It puts a smile on my face to piddle and organize! Yes, a label makes is one of my favorite pieces of equipment!

It seems that the last few days have focused around two important criteria. What DAY of the week it is so that I know what appointments I have and what TIME it is? I have to keep the pain medicine in me every 4 hours or I pay the piper. Last night I had fallen asleep and somehow let all of the pain medicine get out of my system for several hours. It was not a pretty picture around 11:30 last night when I woke up. I SUPER-SIZED my pain order, taking the 2 pills instead of 1. The best part is that the pain medicine works quickly once it gets into my system. Yeah for Percocet!

I love to be creative. It’s a talent that I got from my mom. I’m drawn to people that are creative. A dear friend of mine, who just so happens to be one of the TOP school showcase creators in the field, came up with a very clever idea. She suggested that, as I take my 4 chemo pills twice a day, I think of a 4-letter word of something that I am thankful for or something that means a lot to me. 

Together with her suggestions, is a beginning list. She even suggested I use abbreviations if I wanted to. I've given myself permission to even spell words phonetically. Basically, if I want a word to be included in this list, I WILL find a way for it to be a 4-letter word! I have to leave to go to radiation now so this list is by no way complete! It's also not in order of importance.  H-O-P-E;  M-A-T-E (for Butch); G-R-E-G; B-R-A-D; L-R-I-N (Gregory's finance Loren); V-A-L-L (Bradley's girlfriend Val); L-I-V-E;  L-I-F-E;   L-0-V-E;  K-I-D-S;  F-M-L-Y (for family);  S-P-C-H (for speech);  K-E-M-O (for chemotherapy); H-O-M-E;  K-E-L-I (dear friend and creator of this wonderful idea)