Just about the holiday weekend! I will be working a bit on the 4th. Not quite sure how much, but I should have the rest of the weekend off, which will feel pretty darn good.
Got in some biking this morning:
We did a quick 9 miles. Now I only have 378 to go 😀
I also did a lifting workout today, which is the reason I only did 9 miles on the bike.
So, you all know I have been feeling pretty stressed for quite a while now with the endless house closing, work, etc. I also have been feeling a lot of stress with my literacy learner. I have been working with the same learner for a year and a half now and we have made only a small amount of progress – even though he works very, very hard. We have met every Monday for the last 1.5 years with only a few holidays in there. Without getting into a huge amount of detail, my learner has a learning disability and some emotional problems as well and it has just gotten hard to do the tutoring for me. I was beginning to dread each weekly meeting and that isn’t fair to me or the learner. So today I had a long talk with the coordinator and she is going to find another tutor to work with him and I will be taking a break. Maybe permanently, I don’t know. I will be working with him for a few more weeks to transition, but I have to say that I feel a *huge* sense of relief about this now. On the other hand, I also feel like a bit of a failure. None of my learners went on to get their GEDs, although this current one could possibly do that with a couple more years of hard work. Literacy tutoring was not what I thought it would be, but it is okay to admit that it doesn’t fit for me. I certainly gave it enough time to figure that out.
That really is going to relieve a good chunk of stress for me.
I also fixed the espresso machine…again! This thing drives me nuts. First was the electrical cord and we got that straightend out. Then the water sensor stopped working. There is a little magnet inside that detects water levels and it kept saying the tank was empty when it was full, which meant no espresso. I was about ready to throw in the towel, but then found a replacement magnet online for $15 and we figured it was worth a shot. I guess magnets can lose their magnetivity (??) over time. We got that part in and now the machine works again. For now LOL. Iced latte on a hot and humid day:
Poor Pixie with her long hair doesn’t like this heat. She curls up and sleeps all day (more than usual), usually in a corner somewhere:
Poor girl. I have brushed an extra cat’s worth of hair out of her the last couple days.
However, there is a front coming through with storms tonight and what looks to be a great 3 days of weather!
Street lights are on as it was getting really dark.
Good thing nice biking weather is rolling in. I have a lot of miles to do 😀
Happy 4th everyone! I will still be doing a blooming post tomorrow because I love them, but you all have a super weekend!
I totally get that stress from a volunteer job, AND the feelings of relief and failure at the same time. Totally get it. Fortunately, every time I start to feel that guilt/failure/maybe I should try again, something happens to remind me of why I needed to stop doing that.
That espresso machine failure would drive me nuts. I’m having a hard enough time with not having a reliable coffee grinder! Costco said they would take my Magic Bullet back, but it still works to grind coffee, so I keep bringing it back in from the car to grind a few more beans. I’ve got to get this figured out before I return it!
So, rain tonight, and then clear for three days? You’re not going to ride in the rain, are you? And, I’m glad you’re doing your blooming post tomorrow. It just wouldn’t be Friday without your blooms!
I don’t ride in the rain unless I can help it. It’s okay for me, but I don’t like my bike to get wet.
I will find something else to volunteer for.
When you volunteer for something – anything really – it should not bring great amounts of stress. It should bring happiness and contentment that you are filling a niche that needed filling. You definitely gave it more than a chance so you should not feel like you’ve failed, at all!
Hope you’re not working too long today – declare Independence LOL!
Lori sometimes you just have to know when to say when. And i don’t think anyone would say you didn’t
give the Literacy thing a try. I ran into something like that with the GirlScouts……I was an Assistant GirlSchout leader for a couple of years and LOVED it. It felt wonderful to help out the leader , have fun with the girls (one of which was my daughter)Then i was talked into becoming a leader of my own troop……..Honestly so so not me. I’m not a leader . I’am a behind the scenes helper that makes everything run smoothly……… But i did it and only made six months….I could go into everything that was wrong but honestly what it boiled down to was it was just not a good fit. And i should have stood my ground when i was pressured into becoming a leader…So i … and perhaps you too can chalk it up to lesson learned…. Maybe you can find something garden related to volunteer at. I think you’d enjoy that.. Hugs!deb
PLEASE don’t feel bad about stepping away from the tutoring! The outcome you expected didn’t come, but I’m 100% sure you made a difference to the life of your learner!!!!! Time to take care of YOU now!!
When I read your remarks about the learner getting a new helper, my thoughts immediately went to baseball, of all things. A player plays for a team and is so-so. He gets traded for being so-so, and something just *clicks* with the new team and he becomes more productive. Nothing wrong with the first team, just a different mojo on the second. I hope that will be the case for your learner. Your hard work and tenacity have set him up well for it.
You’ve gotten some insightful feedback here on the volunteer gig with which I totally agree. Sometimes it is just not the right people, or the right time, or in this case the right thing. Plus your learner probably got something totally different from your work together that you will never realize. There are hundreds of ways to volunteer, find one that gives you more joy.
You are definitely not a failure. You gave your best for 1.5 years and most people don’t even start doing this in the first place. I think you did great and made a smart decision to stop. You have enough on your plate at the moment.
Catching up here so will get to the biking post later today.