Letting Go of 4.0

I must admit something about myself. For those of you that went to school with me, you already know. I heard a new term for it the other night so I'll go with it. I'm a grade whore. There you have it. Quite simply, I always strive for the A. For as long as I can remember I've done what it takes to get the A and always completed the extra credit like a nice ripe cherry on top in the rare case I were to fall short in another aspect of the class. Seeing A's on my report cards has always been quite pleasing, like finding my favorite Easter candy on the shelves in February.

I find myself in a bit of a different situation than when I was a student previously. In two of my classes, to get the A I had to go above and beyond. I had to write research papers. I hadn't written a research paper for years. And then my dryer broke down. We committed the kids to Tae Kwon Do. I hadn't cooked a real meal or sat down to eat for over a week. I'm full of excuses- I know! but I had to make some decisions as to how I was going to divide my attention. Surprised myself this time. I compromised and did one paper. Worked on that thing two days straight. It meant I was automatically accepting that I'd get no greater than a B in one of the classes. May even be able to attribute a little lost sleep to that decision.

As a side note, I didn't realize how terrible it is not to have a washer & dryer of my own. Calculate the amount of days the old one was broken 'til the new washer came which was 9 x 3 boys x 1 husband's dirty work and play clothes and that's how much laundry I had to haul elsewhere to do. Thankfully my family stepped up and lent me their laundry rooms!

I know the grade thing doesn't sound so bad and I've been teased all along for my "A" attitude but this time I know I made the right choice. I've been doing mom stuff and homemaker stuff, like figuring out the new spacesque front loading washer & dryer we just got. Major planning for this weekend's events too. Best friend comes home today, like any moment now.

I'll be celebrating so many things during the coming days. Even going to celebrate that report card because it means the first quarter is OVER!