I got up at around 5:00, used the bathroom and then returned to bed until 7:00. I had gone to bed after 23:00 last night, so I felt a bit tired. But more than tired, I felt achy all over. I needed a long warm soak and a deep tissue massage. I started my devotions after 7:00 where I focused on who God is and what He does. “But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” Jeremiah 10:10, 12 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/jer.10.10-12.KJV. God does all things well and we can be confident in this knowledge.
I took a bath in two minutes, used another two minutes to drag on some clothes and then plopped before my computer. It was 10:00 on the dot and fortunately for me, I’d already signed into Zoom and started the class before my shower. I couldn’t believe how quickly the time had gone by. After my devotions, I’d gone to the kitchen and made my smoothie. I didn’t have bananas at all and so I used some frozen avocados I’ve had in the freezer. The smoothie blend was delicious with the different combination of frozen pineapple, avocado, orange and apple. I added some honey to give it just the right sweetness with the lemon and ginger flavour seeping through on my tongue. Maybe I had taken too long to have the smoothie. Whatever it was, I had cut it quite close to my online class start time. I had to take that shower before the online class because I had a very tight schedule afterwards. It was the second to last class for this student and he seemed to really be enjoying his progress. I was also enjoying seeing his beaming face, but I was concerned about his fear which caused a lot of hesitation. This was however not surprising, and so I made sure to praise him a lot. It was time for the class to end and he asked if I had any other lessons. I told him yes, but not with his fellow colleagues. I told him that my next set of students were medical professionals. He sounded surprised that I had students who were nurses, also learning English. I chuckled as I bid him goodbye. It was 11:44 when I signed off. a little later than I wanted to, but I had a couple minutes I could play, with that’s why. With just a few minutes to 12:00, I warmed some chicken in the microwave and paired it with some freshly roasted sweet potatoes. The combination was really good, and being hungry made it even that more delicious. I didn’t sit to eat at all, but resorted to standing in the kitchen to cut an’ swallow the food. Bwoi, it rough a road. I decided that 12:10 was the ideal time to leave my apartment by bike, for the subway station. True to the timing, it worked out perfectly. I parked my bicycle and made my way down two flights of steps, where I got to the platform at 12:25. This was the fastest time for me ever from my home to the station. The train wasn’t until 12:32, so I made a pit stop and and even then, still had time to spare as I waited on the train platform.
I’m not sure how prepared I was for today’s class. And by prepared, I mean, mentally. We had a lot to cover including some of what the previous teacher didn’t cover. There are two of us teaching the same set of students for the next 9 weeks of intense study. I could hardly sit today as I had been able to on Wednesday. And yet I found it quite exhilarating as we navigated the seas of uncertainty to make sure everyone was understanding or at least on the same page. We were going so intently that we all agreed not to take a break. That was until after 15:00 when I had to go to the bathroom. I simply couldn’t keep going. And I wasn’t the only one. The students were under pressure, but they wanted to push themselves and I was happy for that. They asked many questions for clarification as we navigated through presentation techniques and learning to give feedback. If you know me, you know that giving presentations is my forte. It was 16:00 and I was ready to go, but then came a question. This caused me not to leave until about 16:04. I tried to run to make up for the last time, but alas. I missed the 16:10 train and had to take the 16:17 train. The students were really excited today and had to contend with a lot of new information. I tried my best to adjust the pacing of the three hour lesson, but we still couldn’t cover all that needed to be covered as I would have liked, because I made sure to attend to the uncertain faces of my students. I can always tell by their facial expressions, voice tones or silence, whether they are understanding or not. I got home at 16:45. I was poofed. I pondered in my mind whether to eat out or not, but I wasn’t feeling for sushi, nor did the Indian restaurant near my house appeal to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I didn’t need to eat out. I had quite a bit of things at home I could put together to make something substantial enough to fill me. I was also looking forward to the beer I’d bought. While the beans were boiling and the potatoes being reheated in the toaster oven, I had a shower and then decided I should do the laundry. I was so surprised to see how many clothes I’d worn this week. But I shouldn’t have been, because I had left my house every day since Sunday of this week. My laundry load is really different when I work mainly from home. I had just gotten out of the shower and about to put some clothes on when k noticed the beautiful, yet intense golden light streaming through the window and unto my wall. I went into picture taking mode, playing around with the shadow cast by my phone and positioning it almost like a mask across my mouth and nose. This has been the status of our lives for the past 18 months.
I finished eating dinner a few minutes after 18:00. I was full and the beer really sealed the deal. And yet, I didn’t feel anything. I imagined if I did feel something, I clearly wasn’t able to identify it. LOL. The door bell rang just around that time. It was my redelivery that I’d requested from last night. My new health insurance card had come as the other one would expire at the end of October. It is government issued and so always has to be signed for. I felt a bit besides myself because I had time on my hands. Not that I didn’t have anything to do, as I still have a ton of stuff to get done, but I wasn’t rushing at this hour of the evening. I decided to update my schedule with another new class. Instead of doing that however, I found myself on a job hunting website. I spent the next 45 minutes looking at the lesson appealing jobs, shaking my head at the reality that was presented to my eyes. There was one that I thought of applying to, not that it was special in any way, but because they had reached out to me a couple years ago. When I click the application link however, they were asking for a cover letter and for me to upload my resume. And I realize that I was not in the mood to write anything or to even upload my resume. I suddenly remembered that the washing machine had stopped from before 7:00. I had totally forgotten about it. All this time, I was fighting and nagging headache. Nothing too pressuring, but enough of a nag to cause me to decide to go to bed as soon as possible. But wanting to complete my blog entry for today, I spent the next hour and a half working on today’s entry after putting the clothes on hangers and placing them outside. I was really happy to go to bed earlier than usual.
**Thank you for journeying with me on today’s entry. Please support by leaving a comment below or sharing this with someone who might enjoy the journey. Follow my blog at stacypersonallyapeaking.wordpress.com to get posts directly in your inbox. You can also watch me on my YouTube channel Stacy Personally Speaking to see me in person. 20:38