Shhh....they'll be back soon

I love to read. And when I say that, I really mean

I

love

it

But everything is totally crazy right now with a seven-month-old (who wouldn't go to sleep last night until 11, ugh), so I don't get to spend much time with books anymore.



This week's You Capture challenge is "quiet", and this morning I really SAW the books in my classroom. I LOOK at things all the time, but very rarely do I truly SEE them.


Yes, the books represent a quiet that I've lost at this point in my life (and I miss it!), but the time of day struck a nerve, too. I took this photo right before my eighth-grade students came to class and, less than three minutes after the shutter clicked, the room was completely full and alive with preteen drama and character.

And I realized that the crazy is what makes me appreciate the quiet.

Back to School...

Almost two weeks down! I started back to work last Tuesday, and everything's going pretty well so far. Zeke is sleeping through the night pretty consistently now, which makes life A LOT easier (and makes for a much less stressed-out Mommy!), and he's doing well in daycare. Mom keeps him two days a week, he goes to an in-home daycare two days, and Adam keeps him at home on Mondays, so we've got the whole week covered. I miss him terribly during the day, but I'm also REALLY busy, so I don't dwell on it as much as I might if I had a lot of downtime.

Our Tennessee trip went pretty well, and we got some good five-generation pictures of Zeke, Adam, Jack, Granny, and Great-Granny. We also got a fabulous picture of Great-Granny's .22 leaned up against the back window with dozens of spent shells all over the floor from when she shoots out the window at night. I'll post some of the weekend's photos when I get a chance.

On a side note, pumping has been going well but occupies EVERY SPARE SECOND of my day. I pump before school, during lunch, during planning, and after school, and while I do work while I pump (on the computer, reading papers, etc.), I still feel like I don't quite get everything done. Hopefully Zeke can keep breastfeeding for at least 18 months (that's the goal, anyway), and I think he can as long as I keep pumping regularly and often. I just wish it wasn't quite this difficult to find time for both pumping and work.