sigh!  Time is flying much faster this school year than I anticipated.  I can’t believe it’s Thanksgiving already!  Perhaps it’s because I’m SO overwhelmed from this school year or perhaps it’s because time passes anyway no matter what we do, but I wasn’t prepared to be here already.  Were you?

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it here again: teaching is hard.  I don’t like to state the obvious or complain in my blog, but I wanted to let you all know that this school year has turned out to be full of many more challenges than I realized I was going to have to handle.  It’s made me drop a few balls from my juggling act and that frustrates me more than I can say.

And yet, in the effort to be kind to myself (because there’s only so much I can do in any given day, no matter how hard I work), I’ve come to realize I can’t pick them back up again right now.  I’m doing the best I can for the moment.  I may be able to work hard on curriculum over this weekend break and Christmas break to make the second half of the school year a little less stressful, but I’m not sure.  Work is just going to take a chunk of my time and energy this school year that I wasn’t anticipating.

I didn’t realize that December starts this weekend until yesterday.  That being said, there will be no Holidoodle challenge this year.  I’m struggling to find time to be creative (and yet I wrote a fresh picture book I’m rather pleased with last month and I’m participating in an illustration SCBWI webinar as well), but I refuse to let that ball drop.  I also refuse to drop my Simply 7 interviews (as I love them so much–I learn from every one of them as much as you).  They’re just slowing down a bit.  I’m hoping I can pick that back up soon, but … time will tell.

Why mention all this?  Well, it’s Thanksgiving.  What are you thankful for?  I’m thankful for hope.  I’m thankful for a job (even when it challenges and frustrates me) that lets me pay the bills and see what I thought was an impossible dream come true this Fall (moving into my first house).  I’m also thankful that I get to work with kids.  And frankly, dear reader, I’m thankful for YOU.

I’m thankful so many of you share my same interests and perhaps even some of the same journey.  Thank you for sticking with me, through the good AND the bad times.  I promise you more content as soon as I can.  But in the meantime, take care of yourself, keep holding on to your hopes and dreams, and keep pursuing your craft.  And I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, however you spend the time. <3