How was your winter break? 

Was it relaxing? Was a chaotic? I'm going to hazard a guess that for most of us, it was a combination of both. 

I love winter break. I love the idea of stepping away and thinking about how we interact with our work. Having a week or so to not check my bazillion email accounts and turn off my work phone felt pretty darn good. 

Well, the Christmas tree is up. We drove to the mountains (with our permit, of course), hiked in the bitter cold, cut down the best we could find, and brought it home.

The trunk bowed slightly, especially at the bottom. We set it up, but in order to get it to look straight, the tree was actually at quite the unbalanced angle in the tree stand.

We put the lights on, and the ornaments (I noticed we have specific tastes - wood, felt, glass, and pine cones), and I went to bed.

I heard the sound at 1am. It was a slow but steady crash; with some measure of lightness to it's heavy thud.

Am I a good enough SLP?
My friend came to me, eyes downcast with a slight frown. She's been working at a job for 2 years as an SLP.
"I just feel so unprepared. This isn't what I thought it would be," she told me.
She loved her students, but her caseload was unmanageable.
She enjoyed working with parents, but parents who were angry or in denial were taking up most of her time and brain space.
She enjoyed planning sessions, but it was just taking too long. Even when she felt like she'd run a great session, the unrealistic lesson plans on blogs and Instagram we're getting her down.
She enjoyed many of her coworkers, but they were burned out too. This led to a feeling at work that was one of hopelessness at times.