the one where it all hit me

Today is the day. Right now, actually. Pretty sure I had "seasonal stress" all weekend about being ready for the first day of school. (That's a thing, right?) Years ago, when going to the chiropractor was somehow in our budget, Dr. Gordan used to work the August stress right out of my neck and back. He's an angel. As he worked his miracles, he would tell me stories of the retired teachers he treated who would have flare-ups every fall for years after they stopped working. I believe he called it a "phenomenon of the body."

Hello, Phenomenon. Must we be acquainted? 

This morning, teachers all across Rutherford County rolled out of bed to head back to the battlefield--back to in-services and PLC meetings. Back to lesson-planning and common core. Back to waxed floors and sharpie pens. Back to morning coffee and the best colleagues. Me? I woke up early and went to the Y before Darin left for the day. Ran to the grocery on the way home. Tried out the new Duncan Donuts as a surprise for the kids. Started laundry to recover from two weeks of travel. And here I sit... contemplating a picture I posted in April when I knew what the change would be, but most around me did not.

Today is the day the change begins--a change that was actually revealed to me 7 months ago. A change I need to write down (another day). A change that I am sure beyond sure God has asked me to make. But a change, nonetheless, that I am just not really feeling today. 

Today I wish I was sitting in the SLR with my friends. No doubt I would be stressing over how much I have left to do in my classroom before parents come for Orientation tomorrow. (My classroom. Oh, how I miss my classroom--the classroom that still sits in boxes currently staring at me from across the dining room table. Yuck.) And we would be plotting our lunch schedule for the week--one of the only times of the year we felt like we had grown-up jobs where we could go to lunch. And we would be catching up on stories from the summer or giggling at what would surely become the new running joke or telling Bowman to hush or beaming with pride for Spaulding's success or fighting off sleep because our bellies are full from Bojangles. 

I miss you, friends. I'm sure that will only grow.You are some of the best people I know, and you do some of the most important work there is to be done. So, since I cannot join you, I pray for you today. I pray you will accomplish big things this year. I pray you will see reward for your hard work. I pray for a safe, positive, exciting environment. I pray for much cooperation and appreciation from students, parents, and "the powers that be." And I pray you know how much I wish I could be there and that you would feel my awkward hugs from afar! :)  Happy first day of work!