Back To School

I have to say, this post began last night and I was feeling a little more optimistic and a little less overwhelmed than I am feeling today. Needless to say, it had to be reworked.
It is back to school time! While it may say August on the calendar, this week marked the official start of my 8th school year at Girls Prep with preseason and faculty meetings. I started the week off excited, I love the fall, I love crunchy leaves, I love crisp air. I love my wool sweaters. These are the fun things that I think of when I hear "back to school". What I seem to forget, is that "back to school" also means BACK TO SCHOOL: Meetings, and schedules and class work and more meetings and then some more meetings.
It's good then, that I was doing something else in the summer. I very much needed the change of pace and the change of atmosphere (little campers vs. high school girls). It gave me a chance to breath, relax and get some distance during which time I romanticized it all and made Fall into a pretty rose-tinted bubble that has now popped over my head. I was in meetings from 8:30-10:00am, 10:30- 12:00pm, 12:00-1:00pm (race home for 10 minutes to walk poor Petunia) and then 1:00-1:30pm and then 1:30-3:00pm. They are interesting meetings for the most part, all discussing important items, but as you can see, very little time in between to get anything else done. Because of course, as all of you know, you don't just get to go to the meetings and then walk away. Meetings almost always end with some sort of action plan and to-do's that you need to then....do.
Which brings me to my apartment right now at 5:15pm. After going back to my office at 3:00pm, checking in with my boss and with the students, and running home to feed Tuners (who didn't get to eat before because I was too late for the meeting), I came home at 5:00 to breathe. I need to go back over at 6:00pm for a dinner and then Target for some office shopping... then tackle that pesky to-do list.