Yes, I am a failure.

#rutroh

Tuesdays are a regular writing day for me.

Tuesday was a writing day AND our first basketball game.

Neither one went well.

Basketball, well, we just didn’t look good. We played really, REALLY tight and I felt there was very little I could do to insert a rhythm into our team. We tried, but I also had girls who gave up which to me was disappointing. In our first game, that attitude of “oh well” just doesn’t sit well with me. Not. At. All.

We run what’s called a 5 Out offense where we really don’t have “a play” and this drives the girls (and parents) a bit nuts. We could do a point A to B to C kind of play, but then the other team “figures it out” and we are back to square one. I teach “just play”, so read the defence, make the good pass, take what the defense gives you. We did this on the playground and they aren’t used to it.

They want plays.

#ugh

This would be great IF they’d run the plays, but that’s blog for a different time about how kids just don’t listen.

#getoffmylawn

We played a second game last night with much of the same results. We played better, but we play soft and slow. We’ll get better, but only 10 games left and our last game being on December 16th, there’s not much time.

My other (of many) recent failures, getting my writing done. There’s SO MUCH bouncing around in my brain that I should be able to do one piece on a Tuesday and be done with it. But noooooooooo. I get started, school starts, I get home later, and suddenly it’s 9:30 and I’m tired. Writing to beat the clock (Tuesday’s piece should be done by midnight EST) is never fun.

The thing is, I really enjoy this! I love writing and sharing because it’s so not me. In person, I’m painfully quiet, but here, I can be a little more myself, a little more honest, a little more vulnerable. I’d love to say I could make money doing this, but I would be kidding myself. I’m not very good at it, but so be it. It just feels right, and that’s what matters.

And it’s hard to write about my inability to write. It does wonders for your self-esteem, that is for sure! *insert epic eye roll*

However, if you’ve read this blog long enough, I like to end on positives, so there are reprieves from this wallowing:

  • We are leaving for Iowa City after school to stay with my wife’s aunt, see live football (we are three rows back from the Minnesota bench, so all bets are off), and we’ll have a quick visit with my brother and his wife. We’ll get to shed our NE Iowa skins and just be us for a weekend. We did this a couple of weekends ago, traveling to Galena, IL for this Halloween Parade, and before that when we went to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Hmmm, something about costumes I guess! 🙂
  • Next Friday I’m getting my booster and leaving my mask at home when I come to school. I’ve been the only teacher in our middle school with one on. My take, if I were teaching just 7th and 8th grade, I might have walked in without on, but I teach sixth grade who’ve only recently become elgibile for their vaccinations. As they get vaccinated, I feel more comfortable being around them without my mask on.
  • And finally, as I walked in today, kind of grumpy just because when one of my co-worker’s daughters walks out of her mom’s classroom, and gives me a “Good morning, Mr. Johnston,” in the cutest damn voice.

#softie

Yup, it’s hard to be grumpy when you hear that. I can feel the eye roll vibes rolling out of said classroom, but that’s ok. We all need to find those reprieves from ourselves, and I found one! 🙂

And in the end, isn’t that what we all do?

Any plans for the weekend? Do you feel good about your week? Let us know in the comments below! 🙂