My dear friends -
I know that I have been away from so many of you for a while now. I cannot offer up any valid excuse except to say that life has been flying by at an incredible pace. I am sincerely sorry that I have neglected our friendship over the past year. It was not intentional. I truly value and need your friendship. It just appears that I have not been the best friend to any of you! I am so utterly sorry for that!
I have been in survival mode over the past months...well, since about September. Being our education association's leader has taken a toll on me over the past three years. This year has been the hardest. It seems that I am daily dealing with legislative issues, meetings with legislators, meetings with teachers and administration, giving interviews with members of the press, representing educators in meetings, fighting a ridiculously-flawed evaluation system, talking with our legal services team, and so much more. Somewhere in there I have also been working my butt off to make sure my students get the best education possible. Yes, on top of representing all the educators in our area and across the state, I am still first and foremost a teacher to my 75 middle schoolers.
I have been insanely focused on making sure everyone in our school system and state has been take care of, I have neglected one very important person in my life...myself! I leave the house each day before sunrise, and I typically don't get home until around sundown. Once my school day ends I am usually traveling to this meeting and that meeting for a variety of reasons. My calendar rarely has an empty spot! What I have not been finding time for is self-preservation and enjoyment of life.
What sort of toll has this taken on me? Because I am on the go all the time, I literally will crash as soon as I get home in the evenings. When I should be going to work out or getting out with friends, I find myself passed out on the couch. My body has been playing catch up on sleep whenever it can. Of course, this leads to one of the most embarrassing effects...weight gain. I have truly neglected my weight loss plan, and it has shown. This also leads to the depression I have been feeling this year. Yes, I am well aware that I have been in some type of "funk" from time to time. My typical defense mechanism against depression is to get out there and keep myself busy. Keeping busy has not been a problem.
With the summer coming up, I am making it my goal to get back on the weight loss plan and to get myself out of this "funk."
So, to sum it all up in a Readers' Digest version, it has been a difficult, busy, and very trying year. However, I am fully dedicated to fixing it all!
I will write more as life slows down for the summer months. Thanks for sticking by me.
Love to you all! I miss each and every one of you!
Joey
