all i can do is keep breathing...

this past week has been pretty stressful on me. i've been dealing with the task of putting an ATP (the acronym for action team) together for my school, and i'm getting very little support from the teachers. i'm going to continue to press on with putting my atp together, with or without their support, though. after making that decision, i got in contact with ms. christie (the only full-time specialist in the school who they somehow managed to keep on staff after a short scare) and a third grade teacher who want to be involved. i know that two of the early childhood teachers active with the school governance council will be involved, too, along with the principal. this all the staff support i need for a school as small as maple tree, so i'm satisfied with this outcome.

i'm still trying to get in touch with two parents who i've left voicemails for. they both have email addresses, so i'm going to email them tomorrow. i also want to get one more community member involved and am hoping that either the granville society or west granville presbyterian will find someone to represent them.

i was feeling pretty stressed over this on wednesday evening. it was my last day at the school for the week, and i was pressing for my atp to meet by the end of the month. i headed to my workshop with joyce epstein on thursday morning a good deal of skepticism weighing me down. i lost the sparkle in my eye. i hadnt felt this way since the end of my first full day of pso, when all we did was eat and talk about poverty.

things changed by the end of our two-day workshop, though. i feel like i have a better idea of what's going on. i also know that i am not alone. in fact, mps will be scheduling a one-day training for my school's atp in december or january, which means i can take a deep breath and not push the idea of meeting by the end of the month. it also gives me time to recruit more people to get involved. mark told me that im pretty far ahead of everyone else in terms of recruitment, though, so i think i should take some time to focus on everything else that needs to be done.

because of all this pent-up stress, i decided i needed a vacation from the world for the weekend. i closed my blinds, made some tea, and watched arrested development on dvd. today i did back-to-back fitness classes at the gym (powerflex followed by yoga...not my best idea). i have not left my apartment since then. as of now, i only plan to leave when i walk over to blockbuster to return some movies.

i've also taken this time to catch up on my housework, especially because kelly's coming to visit me on thursday! this is perfect timing, because i think it'll be good for me to see/interact with someone who isn't a VISTA right now. especially considering that tomorrow is my only normal day before her arrival, too...i'm working the open house at vincent high school from 6-8 on tuesday and parent-teacher conferences at maple tree on wednesday 4:30-7:30 (only 30 minutes after the learning team meeting ends) and thursday 2:45-5:50.

i think i need to work on being practical about how much i can commit to without burning out. i worked 92 hours in my last pay period and worked extra hours this week so i can take friday off. from now on, i'm going to try harder to stick to 40 hour work weeks.