Taking Care of Myself

It feels really good to take the reins when it comes to my health.

I consider myself to be extremely healthy. I've been working in a school going on two years now and the only sick I've felt is a hint of a cold each fall when school starts. All the sickies come through my office, use my phone, borrow my pens and touch my stuff and yet I am one of the healthiest people at work.

However, I have some nagging ailments that I've been trying to get under control. From 8+ years of chronic back pain, to some mild eczema, to major hair loss due to alopecia areata. Sure I'm not sick and I barely ever take time off, but these issues plague me.

Slowly but surely I'm managing these problems. The back pain is a work in progress, with a miracle worker of a physiotherapist (if you need one I recommend him in a heartbeat!) and my regular appointments with the chiropractor.

I've been seeing a dermatologist for the hair loss, but I feel like I've reached the end of the line and need something more.

Today I sought out that something more with my first appointment with my new naturopath. She seems wonderful and although she sent me home with homework (!!!!) and asked me to make some major dietary changes (I'm giving up dairy...*le sigh*), I feel as though I've taken control of my health from a more active perspective...I feel like I've already won half the battle!

So although my love of cheese is temporarily (if not permanently) put on hold...I feel in control and better for it.

I really felt good, out in the country at the holistic medical centre today, being part of my own solution :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Working in a School

Not only does it make me happy, it is also something I absolutely LOVE doing.

I love working with kids. I love hearing and seeing their brilliance every day. I love the way they can break my heart, the way they make me proud, how they can make me laugh, and the way they can change how I think. I can't imagine another job as fulfilling is one where I can work with children.

I think the intermediate students are still my favourites. There is something about the 12 to 14 year olds. They are not quite children, not fully teenagers. They are at this amazing stage of such brilliance and potential.

There are so many stories, situations, personalities that I experience every day. Every day a million little things make me happy with the 500 kids I get to see and work with...and I'm not even a teacher. I work in the office and the mix of what my job entails and why I am doing this job fill me with perfection.

Today was a day where no matter what I was doing another student flooded my heart with emotion. And it reminded me about how happy I have been since the day I first walked into the school.

I write about happy things every day, but this is something that makes me happy...every day!

With Love
~sarah~

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The School Newsletter

I occasionally take work home with me...shhh...the union probably doesn't approve. I only take stuff home if I really want to get it done or because it's something I really enjoy doing.

So this weekend I brought some work home that was both. The School Newsletter. The deadline for submissions was more than a week ago, and it's going out on Monday, so taking it home only makes sense when I received 90% of the articles on Friday (a week after they were actually due).

Luckily the newsletter is one of my favourite parts of my job :). It's not my favourite layout, but it's what the Principal likes and I'm able to work within the boundaries.

I just love all of the different aspects, the formatting, the layout, the editing, making everything balanced, making everything fit. I like throwing in graphics and just playing around until it's just perfect :)

I spent about an hour at the office on Friday compiling all of the articles and then about 4 hours today getting it just right.

I'll probably end up putting in another hour tomorrow after getting the approval from the Principal before turning it into a .PDF and sending it out.

It 6 hours for something I wish I could allot more time, for something that I love to do and the end result is something of which I'm very proud. :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Jackson Ct,Ottawa,Canada

Web Design

The teacher who has been maintaining our school website is off sick for a while...and so the job falls to me. It was half given to me and I half volunteered, not necessarily in that order.

He sent me the login information and an FTP site and so I stumbled around blindly there for awhile, not really having any idea what I was doing. Just knowing not to delete anything (yes, I'm somewhat intelligent).

Today I took the workshop being offered for the school website web design. And WooooHoooo...how awesome was that!

I've always known deep down that I'd like web design. It's all about esthetics and formatting. It's about ease of use and information accessibility. And OMG...was I ever right!

I've never tried venturing into the web design market before because it seems too saturated. However, after having just started trying it out, I'm wondering about how to offer something special (other than low prices) to be able to get trained and then do it for a living.

Basically, it's the exactly the kind of thing I love to do...and now I know how to do it!

And the trainer today wad AWESOME! Love that too :). My new go-to-girl!

With Love
~sarah~

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Writer's Block

I am currently enjoying writer's block and I'm not being sarcastic.

I seriously can't think of what to write about today. I'm sitting here thinking what made me happy. And nothing obvious is popping into my head.

So then I have to ACTUALLY think about it. I'm sitting here analyzing my day. It was a great day, so why can't I think of anything specific that made me happy.

But any one specific thing doesn't matter right now, because what's making me happy is thinking about how great a day it was.

How much I love working in a school and working with children. How much I absolutely adore my new planner. How much work I got accomplished today. What a great start I had to the day, just a generally happy morning. What a great night's sleep I had last night. How delicious my homemade chili tastes. What a fun time I had at rehearsal. Just an all around pleasant day

So my writer's block has allowed me to enjoy thinking about how much I enjoyed my day! It's like doing it all over again.

Thank you for such a perfect day! :)

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Sherwood Dr,Ottawa,Canada

Kindergarten Voices

I work in a public school. Every morning at 9:18 we play an instrumental version of our national anthem, O Canada, over the PA system. Both the junior and senior kindergarten classes are around the corner from my office.

This morning, louder than ever, I heard all of our kidergarten students, their high child voices, singing our athem. Actually, belting it out, from their hearts is more like it.

Standing there, listening, their voices just warmed my heart, and put a giant smile on my face!

What a wondeful way to start my day!

With Love
~sarah~

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Location:Chesterton Dr,Ottawa,Canada