Grateful for a bunch of little things

Happy new year, lovelies! Normally (as many of you know), my first post of a new year is a questionnaire-style review of the previous year. That post takes a long time to get to, though, because it involves soliciting feedback from my family, who are a bunch of procrastinators (who nevertheless insist that they want to do the questionnaire because now it’s a tradition and keeps us accountable in this whirling society. Or some such). And also, it’s a lot of details during a time that, for me, is always thus: go straight from a busy holiday season into a busy report card season.

I should be working on my report cards this very moment, but I am writing instead, it seems. (Yahoo! This is better. Well, it isn’t, but it FEELS better.) This is partly because I need to write some words that come easily, which report card comments are not. It is also because one of my resolutions (spoiler alert for my New Year post) is to write every month – or more, if I really go wild. Apparently this is the last day of January (!?).

There are some specific things I’m really thankful for during report card season – so many that I will undoubtedly miss some in this post. Here is a sampling of gratitude for:

A nice workspace.

I don’t have a desk at home, much less an office, but our dining table is big, and bathed in natural light during the day. Luckily, my family is very understanding about my papers being all over it in between meals. (Or sometimes during, and we eat in the family room.)

Also, I love setting up and digging in. This work is satisfying if I can get into a proper flow state. This is best facilitated by:

Mug of hot beverage; nice-smelling candle; full stapler; ALL my different-coloured pens, white-out; and of course my trusty teacher daybook (designed by a local teacher so it’s perfect and I don’t know what I did before I started ordering these).

Music.

I love Dan Gibson (with the nature sounds) and Michael Jones for report card writing. I also have a “Crafternoon” playlist that is working well… It includes quite a few acoustic guitarists such as Don Ross, Alan Gogoll, and Dylan Ryche. The music makes this feel like… maybe I’m doing this for fun! (MAYBE.)

Pain relief.

God, I’m so grateful for ibuprofen. Headaches drain ALL my superpowers (and many of my regular powers), and I used to get them a lot. These days I get way fewer, so I’m also grateful for my massage therapist, who specializes in headaches and nerve entrapment. And for my benefits that cover his treatments. And I guess for the fact that I flipped my reading-in-bed posture (from my front to my back), which also helped a lot.

My family.

Sean knows report cards take a lot of hours, and although he is already a frequent dish-doer/meal-maker/housework-completer/child-taxier in his non-job hours, he tends to pick up more of these when I’m in dining-table mode.

The kids… well, they are not as helpful, tbh. We’re working on that. But they are pretty nice and they give good hugs.

And then there are the cats, who are zero help, but who remind us all that life can be cuddly and peaceful. I might resent their ostentatious enjoyment of leisure, but I don’t, cuz they’re kitties. I just love their squishy lil faces.

My students.

It really helps all this process when I can see my students progress. One Grade 5 in particular is a shy dude and struggled a lot in Core French last year. This year, he just decided to muckle onto it, I guess, and he’s doing really well! (Still shy, of course, and just a little more willing to put himself out there.)

Also, I always put off marking my students’ French plays because… I don’t know. I don’t want to do them. They’re a bit painful to watch, honestly. But sometimes, the kids are actually entertaining and adorable and make me laugh out loud. So I’m grateful for that.

The usual privilege.

As always, I’m grateful for my warm house. The furnace at my sister and BIL’s house broke down the other day, DURING THE POLAR VORTEX that’s still going on, and boy – that’s no good. So glad for our furnace, and sunbeams, and our fireplace that would help us immensely in the same situation. (And also for the quick turnaround that the furnace people provided for my sister and BIL!)

Not to mention steady jobs, stocked cupboards, warm sweaters, safe neighbourhood, health of my loved ones. You know. Especially these days, I don’t take those things for granted.

Catherine O’Hara.

Okay, obviously this one is not about report cards. I’m just feeling bereft since learning of Catherine O’Hara’s death yesterday, and also grateful we could be witness to her incredible talent and hilarity for so many years (though I wish she’d had many more). Two favourite moments:

Oh Catherine, we will miss you so much.

Now I’d better go do some work.

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