Hello Summer.

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

It feels like I should be grading a stack of papers right now, or typing my lesson plans, or my weekly newsletter/blog. Yet, I am not because school is out for summer. 

The last few weeks push of school left me super tired almost to the point that I wondered if I had acquired mononucleosis or some other terrible disease. You think I am kidding. I am not. 

 My Dad asked me today if I was tired. He is used to me saying, "I'm tired," under my breath at their house as I flop on the couch or sit outside chewing the fat with my family. No, I said actually I am not. He asked if I relaxed this weekend and I said yes I did! (This is me relaxing....read on)

I cleaned out the pantry and chucked all of the expired cans of food...some dating to 2011. oh dear. I cleaned the kitchen with my children's help, I worried over my broken dryer and tried to fix it myself to no avail. I scheduled a repairman, my cousin Briggs to come take a look at it. I patched nail holes in the wall of my loft to prep it for painting. I took a load of pillows and a rug to Goodwill, I went swimming with my children and I organized the cereal/medicine cabinet in my kitchen. I planned the next weeks menu, I bought groceries, reviewed my bills, took my children to church and to the movie Tomorrowland. I gave my kids an art lesson and taught them how to cook chicken in the crock pot to make chicken tacos and we talked about all of the things they could make for dinner with shredded chicken from the crock pot. They helped me make dinner (chicken tacos) and cleaned their rooms. We hung up the white load to dry in the garage, you know since the dryer is broken.....and no I am not tired. It is amazing to me. Teaching is hard work. 

Husky Drawing lesson..mine..not awesome

Ellie's...pretty awesome

Aydan's...unique and could maybe be a character on Adventure Time.

Tomorrow I will go into Mesa Public Schools to enroll in their insurance plan for next year. I have a new hire packet to fill out as well. So, a new job and adventure to look forward to. I will so miss the school I am at as I love the teachers, students, staff, admin...everybody really. I plan on buying the paint I need for the loft so I can get started on the painting. It is way too dark in there and the lighting isn't super great. I am so excited to re-do my loft. I have some art projects planned for my kids and I to do for decorations in there. I have this grand picture I have been forming in my head of how it will look and where the furniture will go. I hope it turns out as grand as the picture in my head. 

Paint chips..for the loft

I have a lot of things that are in need of refresh/repair. Including me. I am tired and run-down and it is time to recharge! The cold sore that formed on my lip tonight is a sure sign of being run down. I will continue my exercise routine and plan on cooking A LOT more. I also get to just be a MOM. How fun is that? I have a perfectionist problem I make these lists that have SO many things on them there is no way they will ever get done. I put gobs of pressure on myself and then end up tired and emotional if I don't accomplish everything on the list. This is something I have learned about myself and I know that I need to be careful about making reasonable task lists. I also need to remember to just relax. 

Summer Projects:

1. The Loft (To-Do List).... AKA...... THE PIT that collects everything- paint, curtains, desk assembled for homework etc, new to me couch coming next week, art projects to finish in there, hang art I already have, order family pictures taken in December and still do not have ONE hanging in the house.....reupholster chair for desk and paint it, find a rug for the room, more lighting, and accent pillows, call cable company to see about a cable jack in there...I am hoping to have all of this done in two weeks. 

2. Figure some health issues out, do a cleanse, drink lots of water, exercise everyday and spend a little R&R at the pool reading. YES, you heard me, reading I actually have TIME to read a few books! So happy about that! 

3. Organize kitchen cabinets, get rid of old junk like expired food, medicine, and stuff that hasn't been used in years. 

4. Get family pictures for front room and possibly kitchen. 

5. Enjoy the chaos of running kids to school and swim team for the next two weeks....... ALONG with dropping them off to school in my work out clothes! Do you know how envious I am of the Mom's who pull up and GET to DROP their kids off at school in their work out clothes and then have ALL morning and afternoon to just do STUFF?!? I GET TO DO THAT TOO NOW!! Yipee. The perks of being a teacher. 

So. I will stop there because I don't want to get all stressed out when I am supposed to be on vacation. I am so happy and grateful for summers! 

XOXO- It's my season folks......The Sunny D

She Yodels a Tale of Single Mom Burn-Out

Our Spring Break Trip to Disneyland

I know the title of this blog is filling you with envy and wonder. Yodeling. 

It isn't so much about yodeling as it is about exhaustion. I had found myself around the time of this picture and afterward burnt out, exhausted. There were so many factors that contributed to this burn out it would be quite unfair if I named just one. Let's just chalk it up to single Mom problems and a hectic schedule. My exhaustion was becoming hard to mask as I am so good at doing usually. I cried at work one day, lost patience with my own children at home, it wasn't pretty. Something had to give. 

When someone says to you, "I don't know how you do it all. You seem to pull everything together so seamlessly as a single Mom. You're doing it better than a lot of families with two parents."

I want to cry, IT IS A WELL DISGUISED FARCE! I can't do it all. There is one of me doing a job that should be completed by two. I also know that this is a compliment and gladly take it. I am happy that my skillful job of tricking those around me into thinking I have it all together is working. 

Shouldering the work of Mom and Dad is not easy. Neither is sharing your kids 50-50. I think those are the hardest things. They contribute to single mom burn out or maybe just Sunny D burn-out. Plus, I know everyone has a hard line to tow. Everyone has tricky spots in life even if there are two of you. I'm just saying it sure would be nice to bounce ideas off of someone before conking out for the night. Pillow talk. Miss that. 

However, it is really nice being single and having all the good idea's. Oh, You want to spend $100 on Lulu's instead of an Easter dress?? GREAT IDEA....glad I thought of it. These are the actual thoughts that go through my head and they are always the BEST ideas. Especially since I don't have to talk 

them over with anyone. SO there are SOME pluses to being single. 

When I get to Single Mom burn-out stage I realize that it is up to me to be happy. Plus, I knew when my Mom said to me one Sunday in a kind way......"It just doesn't seem like you are enjoying life." I realized the jig was up and I had been discovered. I wasn't enjoying life. I was burnt out. 

It was time to create my own beach. By that I mean, the beach is my happy place. It was time to carve some of that into my life. Find my own personal Beach. So I did. 

1. I focused on serving others, if opportunities knocked I answered the door

2. I bought a bike and am riding it to and from work and all around town with my kids most Monday nights to get a treat.

.......Single Mom problems....my back tire is flat and off the spoke part so now I'm going to have to figure out how to fix it....thank goodness for you tube!

3. I started back at the gym at 5 am every morning. I am too tired to go after work. 

4. I took a personal day from work and organized my house, bought myself a new dress for work and church, and ate a big fat chicken pita by myself. We had dentist appointments in the afternoon so I would have had to take a half day anyway. That morning off when I was supposed to be at work energized me. I didn't have to wake up until seven! 

5. I spent time with friends

I made my own personal beach. I feel much better now. So what does this have to do with yodeling. Well, my Grandpa was the first yodeler. I can say that I learned all I need to know about being an amateur  yodeler from listening to him. If you know me or the home I grew up in there was a lot of singing going on. Not like sitting around the piano together singing because I think that's weird but just walking around the house singing. My Mom sang all the time and so did I. Or, so do I. However, 

when I am burnt-out the singing stops. I have noticed that. The other day I was getting my children ready for school it was AZ Merit state testing week. I told them I was going to sing them my good luck testing song. I didn't have a song ready so I just started to yodel. I mean that's a natural response, right? Yodel if you can't think of a song? Anyway, they laughed and were happy and I realized in that moment that I was happy once again too, and that made me even happier. 

I arrived at school and was getting my class ready for the AZ Merit test when I told them I was going to sing them my good luck testing song. They looked at me with eager eyes and I began to yodel. They laughed, the testing tension was broken and they began their test. The funny thing is my little class wouldn't take their test each and every day after that unless I had sung them my good luck testing song. I even let some of them try their hand at yodeling. I know that is kind of weird of me but you have to be a special brand of person to be a teacher and yodeling is totally included in that brand. Think of it as Dumbo's feather, with that feather he could fly. Whatever it takes to help a child believe in themselves, even if it's the long lost art of the yodel. 

And so I am happy again and that is the best thing. 

XOXO- The Sunny D