Biggest cliche’ ever, I know.  But it’s true.

Devon and I both have been working so much and so hard since school started.  Like last year when we were both normally home by…..4 (if that late), this year we’re lucky to each be home by 5:00-5:30.  Tonight my poor Devon hasn’t even left yet and it’s already 5:23pm.

And I know for some people that doesn’t sound that bad and at the end of the day, it’s not the worst thing in the world.  But there is a lot more on both of us this year.  Devon has a brand new curriculum…no…actually, he has PART of a brand new curriculum.   His district revamped his whole department, but they never actually finished, so they’re “finishing as they go”, which is hell because more often than not, from day-to-day, no one knows what’s going on, nor can they plan more than a day in advance.  So, Devon, who is used to planning at least a week or two at a time, is spending at least an hour every day after school lets out planning the next day and filling in the gaps that are there.  And that’s after any faculty meetings or team meetings that he has.  Tonight he’s there grading two weeks worth of assignments because interims are coming out soon and with all this planning he hasn’t had a chance to grade anything.

For me, between having a brand new co-counselor and an intern, that in itself is exhausting.  Plus I have a club, I have programs that I’m leading, I have two classes (seminar) a day that I teach that I have to plan activities and lessons for, I have all the ninth and tenth graders to see, I have a bulletin board that hasn’t actually had anything on it yet because I don’t have time to deal with it, I have students that need educational testing and parents to meet with and etc etc etc.  I didn’t leave today until 4:40 and that was just because my friend that works with me pulled me out to my car as she was leaving.

Even on weekends, we’re both sitting in the office for at least a few hours catching up on work and attempting to get ahead and actually on top of things.  It’s hectic.

But that’s not the point of this post.  Life is hectic and crazy and weird and unpredictable.

As I was leaving work at 4:40, Devon texted me to say “FYI, lots to do still, not sure when I’m coming home…so…..yeah….:(”

And I also admit that I’m grateful that he texts me to say when he’s going to be late because he knows I worry otherwise.

Obviously, me being me, I texted back like “boooo, hisss”.

So he sends me this picture and this caption:

The purple sprinkles are tasty.  Don’t judge.

I told him to let me know when he leaves and I’ll order dinner from our deli place so that it’s just getting here when he gets home.

He’s just like, “that would be amazing, thank you.”

It’s just one of those things where you just have to deal with the fact that we’re both kind of trudging through a lot with work and everything and we just need to take care of each other sometimes.  Neither of us are people who like to be “handled” but it’s just little things like making sure the other person eats or even just sending a text to say that you’ll be late; it matters.

It’s the tiniest things, but they do matter.