Tag: work from home

Posted in Teaching & Education

Focusing on the Good: Teaching in Fall 2020

Posted on by babbles&brains

We all need some good news right now, so all I’m going to focus on in this post is all the good things that are happening right now while I’m teaching during this pandemic. Today marks the third week of real distance teaching, and these are the good things I’ve chosen to focus on so far:

My students. I cannot get over how awesome my students are. They’re all ready and WILLING to learn. It is truly amazing and beautiful. Not even kidding I could brag about them all day. I am SO PROUD that my students are on top of things, and it makes keeping them accountable so much easier. I think they all miss being in school and want to be part of it even if it’s distantly. It makes my heart full. I know it’s not the same for all the grade levels, and Pre-K to 3rd grades really need all the community building time they can get and in-person instruction. I hope we can all get that soon. I am so happy that my middle and high school students are stepping it up to be their best.

Quiet time. I’m always available for my students during school hours, but during school hours it’s been so nice to give direct instruction and then let them do their thing while checking in. The kids like being able to have the opportunity to go and focus on their work and not get distracted by others. It’s not the same for all households, but they are getting into the groove of finding their perfect school area at home to learn. I have a few students who struggled last year who are absolutely killing it because they’re figuring out what works for them. Also, I can get my grading done much faster, which is the bane of my existence.

Helping out. Family is super important to me, and I have two nieces enrolled at my school. So I get to have them over a few times a week to work on staying on top of school during distance learning, as they both struggled a lot last spring. I am excited to give them a space to learn and grow during a pandemic. Plus, it helps my sister out while she is working to have someone to look out for her daughters. I’m more than happy to help whenever I’m needed.

Time to Calm Down. I get myself really busy, but being able to work from home has given me so many opportunities to work on my mental health and working on self-compassion. I know other teachers in other places don’t have the opportunity to work from home right now, but getting this time, even if it’s not going to last forever, has been such a blessing to my head space. Most of the time, anyway.

My Students. Did I mention them already? Because I LOVE being their teacher no matter what. Getting to teach them new things and interact at their level has been a really great learning experience.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the good things. The silver linings. The bright side. Positive vibes.

Do me a favor, and thank a teacher for persevering, for being tenacious, for caring. They need that right now. Make their whole week by just saying something kind.

Until next time,

Babbles&brains

Posted in Trying to Become Parents Journey

Trying to Become Parents, Part 3

Posted on by babbles&brains

Bad news first: we are still not pregnant.

Good news: We finally had our first appointment with our fertility specialist.

Here’s what happened.

Our blood tests came back good and normal, my HSG procedure had normal results, and my husband’s sample was normal. I’ve been having regular periods since I took Clomid back in April.

The only thing we don’t know and haven’t ruled out is Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I don’t know why, but my OB never did a routine ultrasound to see the health of my ovaries. I have only had ultrasounds done at the emergency room back in January when I had a hemorrhagic cyst, and nobody told me anything else about my ovaries. We have to do that at the start of my next cycle (if we can get an appointment). We were informed that there are other medications and treatments we can do to help me continue ovulating, which I am thankful that there are more options before more expensive and invasive treatments.

If we don’t have success with a different medication after a few cycles, we will probably end up doing Intrauterine Insemination (IUI).

Thankfully, all of these treatments are partially covered with our insurance. It doesn’t mean that it won’t be expensive, but it does mean that we can make it happen comfortably with some smart budgeting. That is a huge relief.

I’ve been working very hard on reducing stress and anxiety during this time, and am so relieved to have more information on how my body is working. I’m finally beginning to feel hopeful again that we can really become parents.

Until next time,

Babbles&brains

Posted in Bullet Journaling

Bullet Journal update! August 2020

Posted on by babbles&brains

NOTICE: Some of the following links are affiliate links. However, all of the products in this post I have purchased myself. Click here for more information.

It’s been a minute since I shared bullet journaling stuff on my blog. Last time I talked about my supplies. For this school year, I got the Scribbles That Matter “Starry Night” insert. I also the white Sakura Gelly Roll White pens to start off with. After doing a lot of research, I was able to score some inexpensive metallic brush pens. For my birthday, a friend sent me the Sakura Moonlight Gelly Roll Pens and THEY. ARE. SO. CUTE! I’ve got some tips and tricks about these things, which I’ll share today.

I didn’t share my July on time, and I also skipped a few weeks. But I have pics of what I have done so here it is. I found the ice cream super adorable, and got the idea from a friend who did shave ice and ice cream for her July theme.

And I actually used a little bit of washi tape. SO CUTE!

So, I’m getting used to these black pages. And since I’ve been working with it, here is some advice for you to keep things looking good!

Let it dry. Gel pens are gorgeous, fluid, shapely, but they take a while to dry. A looooong while. More than you think. I get impatient and close my book and BOOM. Gel pen transfer on my pretty pages. I still don’t know how to get it to dry and solidify quicker. That’s my next research project.

Easy Fixing with Black ink. The awesome thing about my black journal is that it is SO easy to fix a mistake and make it unnoticeable: using black ink. I have been using the Tombow Fudenosuke pens for fixing little transfer dots, line mishaps, and if I write Monday instead of Sunday while trying to write out my weekly. Let that black ink dry too.

Have fun! Seriously, it’s all about having fun for me right now while I organize my life into one dotted notebook. Anything cute and adorable on Pinterest for white page notebooks can totally be re-imagined for black pages. For example, my August spread:

Yeah, I made citrus look freaking fantastic on black pages.

I love working in this journal. I can’t wait to make a nighttime fall theme for September.

That’s all for now. I’ll update you on my Trying to Become Parents next Wednesday.

Sincerely,

Babbles&brains

Posted in Mental Health

Anxiety & Me: How I Get Through

Posted on by babbles&brains

Possible Trigger Warning: There will be talk about my personal experience with anxiety and PTSD.

If you have anxiety, you understand how difficult it is to manage. Most of the time, I can manage, but sometimes I can’t, but I am finally at a stage where I can usually get through it. I wanted to share how I get through bouts of anxiety attacks, and hopefully it may help someone struggling.

Being Observant: It took me a long time to figure out what triggers my anxiety. Paying attention to the events that happen before an anxiety attack will help you identify what causes the attack. For me, Walmart is a huge trigger. I can’t even drive to the parking lot of Walmart alone (at least in my hometown, but I prefer not to shop at any Walmart for many reasons now). This is because I experienced trauma by two people who used to work there as a young teenager, and on a trip exploring the superstore walking alone, I WALKED PAST the one person I never wanted to see again or know existed in the public in my entire life. My lizard brain does not want to deal with that ever again, so it gets heated at the thought of even entering the parking lot in an attempt to protect me. Understanding the trigger to an anxiety attack is very helpful in the self-talk needed to get through an anxiety attack in a shorter amount of time.

Quiet Spaces: Finding a quiet space at the onset of an anxiety attack is really important for me to focus on grounding myself. I’m not picky about it though, because there are no perfect places when in the midst of an anxiety attack. Bathroom stalls, inside my car, my walk-in closet, or going outside if indoors– these are all quiet spaces I’ve gone to when I experience the beginning of an anxiety attack. It just needs to be a space where I can hear myself think.

Self-Compassion: I think this is the most important. I know I tend to be harsh on myself, and getting frustrated when having anxiety only causes more stress and exacerbates the issue. When you are having an anxiety attack, it is very important that you are giving yourself the care and compassion you deserve. So make self-compassion part of your self-care routine. Currently, I really am enjoying working on self-compassion with The Power of Self-Compassion by Laurie J. Cameron. It’s a fantastic audio book from Audible (not sponsored). Granting yourself the compassion you would to a best friend (or for me, a beloved student) is so important to get you through times of anxiety.

Talk Therapy: Get yourself some healthy coping mechanisms through therapy. Get someone objective to talk to that wants to help you be your best self. Unfortunately, partners don’t count, as usually they are not licensed professionals to help you get the tools you need. Through talk therapy though, you can get some tools to help your partner become even more amazing and supportive (if you have one). During this pandemic, I have found BetterHelp (not sponsored) to be a great option to have access to someone to talk to, and they are very good about helping with affordability.

Medication: Even with everything I do to get through anxiety, I was having a very difficult time last year and was consistently having anxiety attacks far too often for me to live my life. Even with all of my coping skills. At that time, it is important to discuss with a doctor about what has been going on and let them know everything you have done to get through it. Often, they will give a questionnaire and discuss medication options that fit with your lifestyle. To me, medication isn’t a bad thing. It’s like wearing glasses to help you see better. I also requested to get additional blood work done to check my thyroid levels, as I know my family has a history of Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, and it finally showed up for me, after many checks throughout high school and college. An underactive thyroid affects the brain’s ability to function properly, and for me, it caused intense anxiety. So, now I am taking medication for my thyroid and medication for anxiety, but with the work I am doing to be as healthy as possible, I may not need the anxiety medication much longer as my thyroid has help functioning properly.

So, those are some of the things I find helps me get through my anxiety. Some days are better than others, but overall, I am having fewer anxiety attacks, and have been able to get to the end of an anxiety attack in a shorter amount of time. I think the amount of natural light I’ve been getting in our new house has also been beneficial for my mental health. If you’re struggling, I really hope these ideas may help you find peace and clarity. Let me know what works for you!

Stay healthy, y’all.

Sincerely,

Babbles&brains

Posted in Miscellaneous Shenanigans

Plant Parenting!

Posted on by babbles&brains

I love gardening. I think in general, I love taking care of things and watching things grow, which is why I teach, and why I want to be a parent. With our new house that is ours, we have a gorgeous setup for a beautiful garden where I can work on getting a green thumb.

I really want indoor plants too. However, I have to be extremely careful because of my fur children. My black cat would prefer to be exactly where I want indoor plants to be, and I really need to get them their own plants that are safe and chew-able before putting mine out. So in the meantime, all of my plants are on top of the refrigerator except for my new orchid, which is in another warm, bright shade spot protected from my cats.

So, here are some of my plants babies that I got a couple of weeks ago. They are all still alive! I have named them and have grown very attached. I cant wait to add more to the family!

This is a giant bird of paradise. She’s not staying indoors, but her name is Linda Belcher and she’s going to be the most gorgeous over the top cutie outdoors ever! She’s expected to grow up to 30 feet tall!
This is Lucy, my purple phalaenopsis orchid. I have never had an orchid and am very nervous about being the best mom for this lil cutie. I repotted her so she has better ventilation.
This is Sandra Dee, my string of pearls succulent. I’m planning to put her in a hanging planter when she grows up a bit.
This is SNEK, my snake plant. I love it!

I do have a couple more propagating, like a Tradescantia Zebrina that I’ve named Zeb Egg who is about 50/50 on deciding to live or die right now. She’s a little sensitive and has been through a lot (thanks to my teacup Panther, who is doing fine and is not sick from the plant thank GOODNESS) so I’m not going to include a picture.

By the way, I KNOW that some of the plants I choose to have are not safe for cats if ingested. I also know my cats, who will be much more interested in their own foliage than mine depending on placement. I have plans in the works to give them a mini field of cat grass and other edible cat plants so we can all get along.

I don’t want to stop here! I have more plant babies that I would love to treasure in my home.

This is my Plant Wish List:

  • Cast Iron Plant- because it’s durable.
  • Monstera- because it’s adorable.
  • String of Hearts- because our house is filled with love. And have you seen them? SO CUTE! I want to hang them all over the house!
  • Mini Phalaenopsis Orchids- because the blooms are so tiny and cute!
  • More Phalaenopsis Orchids- because they are safe for cats and pretty and I need more colors!
  • ALL THE SAFE SUCCULENTS- Echeveria, Haworthia, Hens and Chickens, Donkey Tail, etc. Because succulents are amazing and I love them and I have plans to cover my entire front yard in succulents.
  • As much Cat Grass and Catnip plants for my cats as possible so they stop trying to attack my babies.
Posted in Miscellaneous Shenanigans

House Update! June 2020

Posted on by babbles&brains

Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. You definitely do not have to use them, and I will only provide links to things I personally have used and liked, but it would totally help out a little teacher blogger!

We’ve been spending a lot of time getting the house in order in the last few weeks. Here’s an update on what we have done so far.

Step 1: Removing the wallpaper. Luckily for us and this wallpaper remover, we got all the wallpaper off in ONE DAY. ALL of it. Three rooms of wallpaper GONE. And the glue residue is really easy to remove also: just a dense sponge and hot water gets it right off. The fuzzy plaid wallpapered room needs the sponge and hot water one more time before we paint, but I am extremely happy that we were able to remove all the wallpaper.

The FUZZY plaid wallpaper is now gone, but here is the middle of the process!

Step 2: Primer and Painting. This is something we are still doing, but we finished painting the living room walls, the kitchen, the hallways, and our master bedroom. We used mold/mildew killing primer in the kitchen and will do the same in the bathrooms. I am so excited that I now have a gorgeous dark teal accent wall in our master bedroom, and it’s going to look so nice when it all comes together.

I LOVE my accent wall! The master used to be a grey-brown, and now it’s tranquil and so pretty!

Step 3: HVAC repair. Ugh this was a journey. Working with our city’s utility services has been a nightmare, and they shut off the power to our house while their offices were closed (fearing riots) with no clear information on who to contact and what to do the day we were supposed to get our HVAC repaired. Thankfully, we got it all sorted out finally, and a week later, our HVAC is running properly, filters have been replaced, and it cost double what we thought it would. Of course. Such is the life of home owning.

Step 4: All the little things and also moving and the big things. The second bathroom toilet flapper broke so we had to replace that. We moved out of our apartment and cleaned it thoroughly so we could turn in the keys, and brought everything to our new home. My niece came for a few days to help me unpack the kitchen and clean the old apartment, and that was such a great help. Our three cats were terrified of the new place for a few days, but are now adventuring everywhere and they absolutely LOVE all the windows.

There is a lot we want to accomplish with our new home, but we did move in a week ago and I’ve got the unpacking to deal with for now. More pictures will come once we get settled. Thank goodness it’s the summer so I have a little more time to unpack and organize!

We definitely purchased a project home, and have a lot of things in store, but I am so happy to make this place my own with my husband. I am SO HAPPY. Only a week living in our new home and it has been the BEST.

Sincerely, Babbles&brains

Posted in Miscellaneous Shenanigans

House-hunting in a Pandemic

Posted on by babbles&brains

After five wonderful years, we are finally ready to buy a house. In the midst of this pandemic, we’ve been very cautiously keeping tabs on houses we like and with a realtor we’ve toured a few with covered faces, gloves, and disposable booties. I fell in love with a gorgeous 1950’s house and GUYS!!!!! It’s so precious I can’t wait to share about it but it’s still not ours. Yet.

After negotiating, our offer was finally accepted. We’re in a process. There’s inspections, discussions, escrow (learning about this all as I go), paperwork, closing, and then MOVING. I’m stressed that nothing about this process is in my control except being able to pay for it. I got maybe 4 hours of sleep in two days waiting to hear if our offer would be accepted on this precious vintage home. So I’ve been basically crawling in my skin all day from anxiety and forgot to eat breakfast this morning with coffee so I’ve been extra pacey hoping that the powers that be will let us get a house that is imperfectly perfect for us. There is a LOT more things that have to happen, and I need to CHILL OUT.

We’ve lived in a nice apartment for four years. I wanted a garden so badly, but nothing grows in our little yard in this apartment. Not enough light.

But this house! This house has so much natural light and its charming and so calming and I can’t wait to get out there and garden in that beautiful yard with adorable fruit trees and native plants and collect ALL the succulents and maybe a puppy (that’s MY plan if we don’t get preggo this year, hubby gives me eyebrows about it, but I need something to take on walks to get excess weight off, and he won’t let me take our cats). Also, if we are still quarantined, I would LOVE to work from home there, it would be so nice.

Anyway, I digress. We’re in the process of buying a house. It’s exciting, its stressful, it’s unknown. I’m taking you guys with me on the wild ride. As you can probably tell, I am emotionally invested in the house we put an offer on, and that’s a big “no-no” because all of the things that could fall through. But my heart and my hormones just don’t listen to reason right now. Hopefully it’s a sign that this cycle is a good one to conceive…

Monday is when we are getting the home inspected. Since it’s built in 1950, there could be plenty of things wrong with the house, and some things could definitely force us to not even have the chance to buy it. Or, give us the chance to get the house for cheaper than we offered. So that’s neat.

“Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear,” is the quote I wrote in my bullet journal for May. So I’m trying to not be too optimistic or pessimistic about the whole ordeal. It could go any way, and I can’t do a thing about it. It will teach me something about houses in the end.

Does anyone know how difficult it is to take off fuzzy FLOCKED wallpaper (WHY does it exist)? There’s some interesting wallpaper choices in this house we need to get rid of, and I’d like to get it done and painted before we move in, because I just CAN’T do the fuzzy wallpaper. It’s a brown and mauve plaid, and they even put it on the closet door. I love soft things but that wallpaper…. Gross!

I’ll update you on Monday evening if I’m not in excessive tears.

Sincerely, babbles&brains

Posted in Mental Health

Uh, Hello. Again.

Posted on by babbles&brains
My work-from-home setup and my coworker, Juvia.

I’ve been having weekly panic attacks and am enjoying Animal Crossing New Horizons. Not related, unless its hunting for tarantulas.

I’ve been doing my best to take care of myself during this time. I’m really sad that our school buildings are closed for the rest of the school year, but I’ve been trying to meet with my students on Google Hangouts Meet just to see their faces and see if they’re doing okay (I’m skeptical about Zoom at the moment). I hate not being able to control things like going to work everyday and seeing my students, and not knowing what the future will look like. I hate the fact that our kids are being set behind in many ways, and I’m worried about how next school year will be.

When I was my students’ age, school saved my life. My education was a place of safety and something I had ownership of when I felt I had nothing and no control at home. I feel for my kids who find school to be a safe haven and are now stuck in situations they can’t get relief from.

I’ve been crying a lot. Panic attacks from feeling out of control of things, as well as hurting for students that might be hurting during this time, negative pregnancy tests… my brain likes to think I am a failure first.

It’s times like these where it is easy to feel defeated and powerless. However, brain, I am stronger and more powerful during these times. I care so much, and I can do things nobody thinks are possible because I care and do what it takes. I don’t give up when it comes to those I care deeply for.

I’ve been assigning enrichment activities that bring a little bit of brightness for my students. My 9th graders are making skits recreating the story of Pyramus and Thisbe (the OG Romeo & Juliet story). I’m excited to see how their one-man shows will turn out. My 8th graders are reviewing the Civil War through historic literature and speeches. My 7th graders are writing about a person who changed their life. For whoever can do them, it’s something to do. It’s something for me to do to show how much I care. It matters.

The best news to come out of this time is no state testing this school year. Though some funding may be tied to state testing, our kids don’t need that added stress in normal times, and we don’t need less time to teach them about things that truly matter, like relationships.

All this to say, I’ve been absent from writing because I have been working through anxiety and prepping for distant learning, and connecting with my best friend through Animal Crossing.

Readers, how are you really doing? Are you alright? If not, I hope you will be soon. Please wash your hands. Sanitize your devices. Practice self-compassion.

Talk to you soon,

Babbles&brains