For those keeping up, yesterday’s Covid test came back negative.  So yesterday afternoon included a basketball game and time with the neighbors.  But today?  That’s the million-dollar, end-of-vacation question.

This semester will be an ending of sorts, mostly by choice.  I may have mentioned before that I started the school year with the decision that, come what may, I would be done with my 5-year “temporary vocational stretch.”  I’m okay saying that it’s been too much for too long for me.  And much of this past semester has affirmed the “decision” for me.  Now it’s a question of how I work towards the end.

At the same time that I’m trying to find a good way to tie off one thread, I’ve got to “on-board” two part-time teachers to a senior-level class.  Which means I need to have my head in the game even more with the classroom, too.

Beyond that, we have a new principal to work with.  We’re still in the process of trying to find a Christian Ministries coordinator (thus, my “temporary vocational stretch”).  We’ve got the Covid up-tick to navigate, too.  And I’m expecting the frustrations of the first semester to still be around for the second.

So how to spend the day?  Well, I was able to get a good chunk of work done before leaving for Tennessee.  And I was able to get some online-learning work done on New Year’s Day.  So, for at least the first week, I’m not in a bad place.  So maybe a movie is in order?  A chance to get to the gym?  Get some reading done?  Either way, it’s the last breath before the plunge.

All of this is a strong reminder of the importance of habits and routines.  When life is packed like this, it’s the habits and routines that will help carry you.  And so it’s important for God and healthy relationships with others to be the foundation of those habits and routines, which can be really difficult since you can’t see God and because healthy relationships can be difficult to maintain (whether you’re single or not).  And then it’s always true, what they say about the best-laid plans.

And I still haven’t done much debriefing of 2021 yet (beyond the few paragraphs above).  I’ll try and get to that this week, too.