Welcome to Island Time!

"Island Time" definition: 

Taking one's sweet time in posting an entry to commemorate our one year anniversary in Key West!

Lol .. a year!  Can you believe it?  Sure enough, just last week Chop and I celebrated "our" first year in Key West over a romantic Skype session via this amazing thing we call technology.  He has been gone for nine months now, squirreled away in a blackout zone somewhere deep in the wilds of Afghanistan.  Our hero is doing well.  Our little family is doing well.  But I miss him terribly, and I want him back home with me here on our beautiful island. I have five more months to wait, and we are "toughing" it out one day at a time.   

 

So why a year?  Three simple reasons (ha!):

1.  Deployment.  Chop deployed three months earlier than anticipated, and the single parent life gets particularly hectic in the business of toddler-rearing (as I've psychotically discovered).  All my preliminary nicey-nice "no problem, I can handle this, sweetheart" bravado remarkably spiraled right out the window the minute our dearest darling turned 2-1/2 and gained some smarty pants gusto.  Would you like some Prozac with your coffee this morning, Mommy?  Seriously, he's a good kid (and funny as all hell!), but he's a boy with a definite mind of his own.  This will serve him well later in life I'm sure ... if I survive long enough to see it.

 

                                                        
2.  Did I mention that boy child was 2-1/2 when Chop left and just turned three a couple of months ago?  Anyone out there remember those days??  'Nuf said.  Looking back, I'm now convinced that Chop carefully and thoughtfully designed a perfect deployment that would involve total absence in the one, single-most hair-ripping, mind-boggling, are-you-kidding-me-I-now-have-to-potty-train-said-boy-child-all-by-myself year in all of childhood.  Thankfully I had tools to help me.

   

3.  Work.  Yup.  That sums up the rest right there.  No, seriously.  First year teaching a new-to-me grade level, first year with an unfamiliar faculty, first year teaching in a school that is not only new itself but also a cutting-edge charter school working out its own growing pains.  Educational "firsts" of many this year.  The midnight oil's been a-burnin', to say the least!  It's been an incredible challenge, but the rewards have been worthwhile and the friendships made have warmed my heart and soul to no end.  I have to confess, I still have no idea how to use half of the technology in my classroom.  Ssssshh.  I'm working on it, though!

                                                          Teacher Celebration!

All in all, I can sincerely say that I don't have a moment of doubt that Chop and I made the right decision by moving here to Key West.  Not a second goes by that I don't feel grateful in so many ways.  People often ask why people move here and decide to stay.  The answer is often the infamous cliche:  "the people".  You know what?  That's exactly why people stay.  The people.  The heart of this island is so big and full of love and crazy zest, that's it really is a privilege - at least in my mind - to call this blip in the seas our home.  For every moment I felt lost or frustrated in this past year, I found multiple hands reaching out to pick me back up.  Now that's worth it's weight in pirate's treasure, and I'll take it!     

I'd like to end with this wise man's diddy:  

Our journey from Virginia to Key West began just over one year ago.  That journey was exactly 1,612 miles door-to-door, our "thousand miles" of steps.  We did it!  If you are pondering your own journey, consider that first step.  Remember:

Happy Anniversary, my sweet Chop!