Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. And that is how I woke up my first day of “homeschooling” to discover I was part of a new g-chat, “Sixth grade girls and Mrs. Dimock.” Not even 8 am and I am flooded with messages of “hi” and cat emojis. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Seriously kids. …

Coronavirus/Covid-19 is here. Being in the Seattle area, we are at the forefront of the pandemic. Wednesday at 2 pm we learned school would be shut down for six weeks starting Monday. We already had a teacher in-service planned for Friday. Thursday was one big stressball as we all frantically tried to prepare students and …

“How are you today?” Fine? Okay? I’m never quite sure how to respond. Some days are mildly better, some are mildly worse. I’m consistently better on Mondays and significantly worse on Fridays. I’m just living my life, knowing I will get better eventually. Growing up, my parents regularly went to the chiropractor. I have early …

I leave Dr. McHH’s office and head north. I’m exhausted, but my day isn’t close to done. It is the wrong time of day to be driving north. Instead of going home and crawling into bed, I’m driving to Shoreline to meet my friend, Colleen, so we can drive south to downtown to St. James …

Six weeks since the incident. Six weeks to the day since my new normal. If you are a woman, then you know six weeks after IUD placement is the follow-up appointment. That means that after school today I will go see Dr. McHH. Cue the preparation. This means I need to allot time to do …

I wake up. Rain pelts the house. Wind blows branches against my bedroom window. I listen. I watch a tree several houses away sway. Is this the day a tree falls? I’m so tired. It’s Sunday morning. Despite relaxing most of Saturday, my right hand tremors without rest. The previous four days were an experiment. …

I wake up. Feelings of dread envelop me. It is a day known among teachers for chaos and straight sugar. While not on the same level as Halloween or the day before Christmas break, energy runs at high levels among students on Valentine’s Day. It’s only a half day before students are released for an …

I wake up. It’s been a little over 3 weeks. Three weeks since the incident, three loooooooong weeks since I have had a satisfying poo. Thanks to Google I have learned that both Ativan and Gabapentin have the unfortunate side effect of constipation. People talk about feeling constipated all the time. I thought I knew …

I wake up. It’s dark outside. It’s very early, but Dave is already up and brushing his teeth. Today is the day I attempt to go back to work. I’m supposed to go and rouse the kids, but I just cannot seem to pull myself from the bed and so I don’t. I lay there …

I wake up. I hear the kids downstairs. Next to me Dave is still sleeping. I breathe deeply and I am filled with resolve. Today is the day. Today is the day I test my ability to drive. I thought yesterday was the day. It wasn’t. Instead I napped. So much is riding on my …