Stressful week!

So over the past week I've been juggling getting my daughter to and from lacrosse camp on one end of the island while having my dad admitted to the hospital (finally!) on the opposite end and interviewing for some openings in the district where I hope to teach someday.

Fortunately, Lauren is a relatively easygoing kid. She loved camp and when I picked her up the first day she was already talking about coming back next year :)

Dad is another story...he wouldn't listen to me about going into the hospital, so I called his doctor and told him that dad lost a lot of weight, wasn't eating and having a hard time keeping fluids down as well. Getting him to some of his tests were, clearly, painful and exhausting for him. The doctor said he needed to be admitted and called my dad, on a Saturday evening, and told him just that. I brought him down the next morning and while he's still feeling pretty rotten, at least they have been able to get him hydrated, keep an eye on him and get the rest of the tests he needs. They've pretty much diagnosed him with lymphoma, we're just waiting to find out which kind so we can come up with a treatment plan. And he's worried about the dog.

Facing cancer at 66 and he's worried about someone adopting his dog because he won't be able to take care of her for the next year while he's in treatment. Now, his doctors tell us that lymphoma is very treatable but it will be a few months, possibly a year, before he's feeling better. So I spoke to my husband and fortunately he agreed that we'll take in the dog, Heidi, for as long as we need to.

But first we need to find out what we're dealing with and focus on dad's recovery.

As far as my professional life goes, I was thrilled to start interviewing already. It seems I'm up for a full year leave replacement position at my local high school. The interview process, while stressful, became a little easier each time (today was my fourth). It's a great school, the office staff is warm and friendly (I don't care what anyone says, they are usually the backbone of any school!) and the administrators with whom I met were all personable, down to earth, and seemed interested in incorporating more technology into the curriculum, something I'm quite passionate about. I felt their questions were interesting and allowed me to explain my professional philosophies and incorporating a bit of my experiences already. Of course, five minutes after walking out of the room I thought of things I should have said, did, explained further, etc. But there isn't much I can do about it now except wait, hope and think positive.

I plan to update a bit more often now that I'll be weaning myself from 'summer mode' and back into 'school mode'. I'm registering for my fall classes right now and while I'm excited about the changes I'll be experiencing this year, I'm learning that I may have to lean more on family and friends for some support as I navigate a (HOPEFULLY!) new job, new masters program, taking care of dad and taking care of my daughter. Thank goodness I have a supportive husband, family and some great friends!