Things I Have Decided

-People that try to turn left out of major shopping areas on to busy six lane roads where there is no light 2 days before Christmas need to have their head examined. (There is a light 1/8 of a mile down, and you don't have to play chicken with other cars by shooting across rush hour traffic like a lawn dart). I've decided that these are the same people that don't pay attention at four way stops.

-I think I like my job. I just don't necessarily like the demands on my time. After taking a step back and gaining some perspective, I've come to a few realizations:

1. I like my job, but I have not gotten to the point yet where it fills me up completely. It does at times, but it's not enough yet to sustain me. Currently, it is more draining than anything which requires me to fill myself up with other things. Pehaps this will change as I get better at my job.

2. I have more interests than just teaching band. I know a lot of people that live, eat, breath, and dream about band everyday and they love it and can't get enough of it. I am not one of those people. Again, maybe I will be someday when I'm better at my job. But for now I'm not. I enjoy so many other things and when I do not get enough time to decompress from the band world it makes me crazy.

3. My friends are my family. My friends are band directors (except Natasha and Amy!). So the equation looks like this: Time with friends x band is our life = band overload. Spending time with my friends helps to recharge me. However, I would say 90% of the time we are talking about band......and again, we are back to having no time to decompress.

4. I take my sense of loyalty and responsibility at my job very seriously. I don't feel like I have the luxury or the right to constantly be asking everyone around me to adjust to my needs. I understood the sacrifices that my job entailed when I took it. I understand the ramifications of being unreliable and I try very hard not to burden anyone because I decided to go home and scrapbook instead of staying at work to finish something. I feel like my responsibilities to the band program are bigger than those to myself. Is this necessarily the best thing for me? Probably not. I'm not willing to let my work slip - I've just got to find a way to work smarter instead of harder in order to achieve a better balance for my life.

Hopefully my next blog will be more pictures and less words. Happy Holidays everyone!