If only you did what I told you....

I really needed today.  Lately I have questioned if I wanted to continue teaching - especially high school.  The frustrations can be overwhelming at times.  When I started teaching (15 years ago) I LOVED my job.  I was excited to go to work every day.  But lately I have felt like I have been worn down like a rock in a river.  It sounds whiny, but I have felt unappreciated.  By students, by parents, by the administration and by the other teachers.  And it is a bit whiny, some of it is very true, some of it is build up of frustration.  I have felt my passion slipping away.  I have put less effort in to my teaching because of it and I believe it shows.

Which is why today is so important.

Today I got to spend time with some former students who reminded me why I do what I do.  Who are self confident.  Who have achieved (or are working on) their goals.  Who have stuck to them even when things haven't gone the way they would have liked.

Any who insist I am the one that inspired them.

Now, I know it is not all me.  They are the ones who have put in the work and are making their lives successful.  I don't take credit for that.  Yet, if I have been able to be some small part, a cog in the machine that has brought them to where they are, then what I am doing is truly worthwhile.

YOU inspire me.

I needed this.  Thank you for returning the favor.  Thank you for taking the time to SAY it.  Keep going after your goals, your dreams.  I have great faith in you and revel in your success.

For everyone else out there - if someone has been a positive influence for you, remember to tell them.  It may sound simple.  You may think they know.  But nothing replaces you saying it.  And I am a little biased, but especially say it to your teachers.  Those who have not taught, do not understand (although I know many of you try) how challenging teaching is.  And one of the biggest challenges - especially in today's culture - is the lack of appreciation.  So many think teaching is something you do if you can't do anything else.  Or that you teach so you can have the summer off and get out of work early.  I work longer hours than I ever worked in the 10 years of office work I did before I became a teacher.  I have to continue with my own education - for the rest of my career.  This isn't a "get your degree and that is the end of it" kind of job.  I have to renew my certificate every 5 years which requires constant classes/training.  And the state is always adding requirements on top of that.  I have to get training to teach students who don't speak English as their first language.  I have to get training on teaching Special Education students who are placed in my classroom.  I am expected to give input on every IEP for those students.  I am supposed to call home every time a student is not achieving - I have app. 150 students every year.  That is a lot of phone calls.  And they can't be made during my work hours as parents are at work at those times.  So much for getting out of work early.  If I am going to connect with my students I need to attend their games when they play sports, and their performances if that is what they do.  I seldom eat lunch at lunch time because someone needs my time.  I not only help students with their work, I counsel them when they are having trouble at home, or with another student, or have broken hearts.  I help them print out their work for other classes.  I write letters of recommendation so they can get into college.  I advise multiple organizations because our clubs and sports are what motivates many of our students to stay in school.

And I love doing all of this.  But like that rock in the river, it wears you down.  I begin to feel tumbled along.  I begin to wonder why I work so hard.

And then a day like today happens.  Then you get reminded why you work that hard.  Your motivation returns.

So thank you.  Thank you for helping ME be the best teacher I can be.  Thank you for reminding me why.

Now, we all need to pass it on.

As promised, the saga of the car wreck.  :)

So, here I was, driving down East Bay Drive, minding my own business...ironically on my way to a checkup appointment at my Chiropractor.  Traffic was the usual afternoon traffic, stop and go, moving slow.  I was going slow enough that my foot was not even on the gas pedal (it was not on the break either, the car was creeping along.)  Next thing you know, I heard a loud CRASHING sound - I immediately stepped on the break, my first thought being it was something in front of me.  It took a moment to realize it was ME!  What clues me in was the scrapping sound my car was making as it was slowing down.  I sat there for a moment kind of stunned.  Then got out and looked for the other guy - about 100 feet back from me at that point was a large white Ford F250 truck.  The glass from my back window was all over it.  The older gentleman driving the truck finally got out, it took him a while and I began to wonder if he was OK.  He finally got out and came over to me, he was obviously VERY upset (not at me, but about the accident.)  There was a lot of traffic, but no one stopped.  I got my cell phone out and called 911 and while we waited a very nice lady in scrubs came out of the building we were next to and asked if I was OK.  My back was stiff, but I said I believed I was OK.  When the police arrived they insisted on calling the paramedics as well (I had told them there were no injuries when I talked to 911.)  The paramedics came and made a big fuss over me, one standing behind me holding my head still while the other questioned me, moved my limbs around and took my Blood Pressure (170/120!)  They kept asking me if I was *sure* I did not want to be transported and said I should at least get xrays.  In the meantime I called the chiropractor to tell them I would be missing  my appointment and E called and I told him to go to the YMCA program and someone would be there later to get him.  The police also called AAA for me as my car was not drivable to get off of the road.  They brought a flat bed tow truck and cleaned up the class in the road.  While waiting for the police and tow truck to finish I called my insurance company and got that ball rolling.  They got me a rental car reservation as well.  Meanwhile, the gentleman who hit me stayed the whole time, even once the police had ticketed him and finished the report and kept asking me if I was OK as well as stating repeatedly that he had never had an accident in his life.  He was obviously very worried, I felt bad for him.  I got the impression that he was worried that he would loose his job over this - I hope he does not!  We finally finished up all the paperwork and the tow truck driver dropped me at the rental car place on his way to take my car to the house.  It was 5:30 by the time I got the car and I decided to try to get into the chiropractor right away and called them to see if I could get in - which I did.  A cursory exam and 4 xrays later it was determined that yes, I was banged up :) and that I would have to come back today, which meant taking a sick day from school.  I headed home where I promptly crawled in bed.  By that time I felt like I had done a really stiff workout and I was *tired.*  Today was back to the doctor, 4 more xrays, a more thorough exam, and an adjustment, and an interview with their insurance person - along with another appointment for tomorrow afternoon.  I also had a long conversation with my adjuster and the salvage yard picked up my car to make their evaluation of what it was worth.  Although it is not final yet, everyone involved seems to feel it is totaled.  So now the car shopping begins.  It is going to be a challenge - my little RAV4 was paid off - but it had 148,000 miles on it and was 13 years old.  So I don't anticipate getting a lot for it.  *sigh*  Here is to hoping we can find a good deal, and find it quck!

So there it is, the saga of how I ended up walking around in a neck brace.  :)

I can't believe it is almost over, it always goes too fast!  Most of this week has been spent with E and a friend of his who stayed with us much of the week because his parents were working.  We started with TMT last weekend and a chance to see some friends we had not seen in a long time.  And a chance to celebrate a bunch of birthday's - including E's.  :) 

Monday was his 13th birthday and this year he chose to forgo the giant birthday bash and have a couple of his closest friends over instead.  They got pretty much the run of the place, we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and at least got chicken sandwiches into them before the madness began.  Then on to MovieStop, where they each to go pick out a movie (with two for E as he was the birthday boy.)  Zombieland, Alien v. Predator, Poltergeist and Happy Gilmore ended up being the choices.  Next stop was Publix where each boy got to pick a bag of chips and a 2 liter (and some cookies got thrown into the mix.)  On to home, where the Movie Palooza began and I ordered pizza for them.  They switched back and forth between the projector in the living room and the TV in Edward's room - and between movies, the Wii and one of the boy's Xbox.  What more could a group of boys want?  :>  They finally wore themselves out in the wee hours of the morning and when I woke up they were already up and watching another movie. 

Tuesday they spent the night at one of the friend's house, and wednesday at the other one's house.  Thursday was our day out (me, E and his friend.)  We met the husband for lunch, visited with a former neighbor and then went to the mall for new shoes for E.  Men's SIZE 9!!!  Argh!  Bought the boys a couple of video games because they had been so good all day (including incredible patience while I visited with the neighbor.)  And then everyone went to their respective homes for the first time all week.  While all this was going on this week I worked on balancing the bank account and mortgage modification paperword.

Today has been productive around the house.  The neighbor had tree guys there to take down the tree between our two houses so he could put up a fence.  We ended up piggybacking on what he was doing and although we spent a big of money, got a lot trimmed back and cleaned up around here.  Also now have a nice pile of firewood that needs be piled up to age.  Got the boy to pull some giant weeds and finally got the flat screen TV mounted on the wall.  That really opened up the family room!  The stand it was on went into E's room and we did some rearranging (and the requisite cleaning behind things) and opened up some space in his room.  In between all that was interviewed by a former student for a paper she is writing and met our new neighbor and their dog, Studley.  :P  Now E has gone off to spend the night at his friends house again and I am working on organizing and filing receipts and bills.  Woo Hoo, big fun!  :) I also need to get some planning done for school.

And now the week is over, only the weekend left.  And I still need to plan, work on college paperwork and find a place to have an SCA event.  The fun never ends! :)

Edward's 1st round of their Soccer tournament was this weekend.  They had three games, 12:30 on Saturday and 8:00am and 2:00pm on Sunday.  They won all three! 10-0, 6-1 and 4-1 if I remember correctly.  The 1st two were great games.  Unfortunately the last one left something to be desired.  The team we played was VERY aggresive, there was a lot of shoving and tripping going on.  But where things went really sour was when two players started shoving each other and would not stop until the ref red carded them.  First you have to know..one of the best players on our team is middle eastern (specifically what ethnicity I am not sure, but it is obvious.)  His family is Muslim and the women dress accordingly - his sister is at all the games in a long robe and scarf.  This young man was one of the ones shoving, a behavior that is highly unusual for him.  As it turns out, he says (and team mates confirm) that the boy he had the altercation with had been calling him names and had escalated to calling him a terrorist.  And he finally broke.  So now he has a red card which we are told means he can not play the next 4 games (extending into next years season) and could be fined up to $250!  The kid and the other coach are completely denying the whole thing.  And the ref says he did not hear it either.  And we are being told there is no appeal process.  The whole thing really sucks

This morning I ran over one of our dogs.  I am completely perplexed at how it happened.  She was 16 years old and seldom moved off the cushion in her kennel.  How she managed to be out on the front driveway at 6:45am is a complete mystery.  :( 

I backed up to leave for work, I felt a thump about halfway down the driveway and immediately stopped and then heard what sounded like a scream.  I jumped out and she was behind the car - I picked her up and brought her in (Guy had run out) - she was pretty unresponsive, her eyes were twitching and that was about it.  Checked and our vet opens at 7am, so took there (after calling in to work) and found out they don't have a doctor there until 8am so they sent me to the emergency vet on Belcher.  On the way there she arched back, then her legs started twitching.  She never made a sound past the scream.  By the time I got there, the vet said he heart beat was intermitent and she passed shortly after.  The vet was very nice, and said she believed Daisy was pretty much gone from the time it happened, it took about 45 minutes for her body to figure it out, mostly electrical impulse.  She was a tough little dog!

She had been fading out slowly.  Her eyes were milky from cateracts, she didn't hear most things and would sit and bark to herself (Guy said she was singing) and when she walked her back legs kind of went sideways.  She would actually go outside about once a week - you could get her to the backdoor where she would look at the about 1 inch drop and turn around and leave.  We used puppy pads for her in the house.  She spent about 90% of her time on her big fluffy pillow in her kennel, even being fed there.

So how did she end up on the front driveway?  And half way down it, in the dark?  I am completely at a loss to figure it out. And now she is gone.  In a shoebox (she was only 8 lbs, smaller than some of the cats) and will be buried in the back yard with the gerbils and turtle. 

Can it be so long since I last posted?  Oh Facebook, you have lured me away!  :)

Life has continued to be interesting.  E had a great summer, what with time with Grandma, 5 weeks in Tennessee with his Aunt and Cousins and 2 weeks at Pennsic.  He was VERY happy to be home - and then his two best friends were out of town!  Total bummer.  One is now back and they spent most of the weekend together playing with his new gerbils.  Yes, the third time is the charm (we hope.)  He is being VERY careful about keeping the cat away from them this time.  And we bought 3 - yes 3.  I am a big softie.  We were planning on 2 (since they are social animals) but there were only 3 siblings there and that would have left one alone...and...well, as mentioned I am a big softie!  They are all 3 very neat - they are not very scared of people and are very active.  E started out by reusing the previous names, but he and his friend renamed them over the weekend to Oreo (black with white markings and a very cute white tail tip), Cinnamon (light brown but with a dusting of dark brown - I had not seen one colored like this before, it is like the hair tips are a darker color) and Frost (not quite white, reminds me of the shetland pony I had as a kid, kind of white with cream.)  The husband has declared an affinity for Frost, Oreo has been my favorite from the beginning and E says Cinnamon is his favorite.  So we have one for every family member.  :)  Over the weekend E and his friend built a house for them out of Legos and have made mazes for them out of toilet paper and paper towel roles.  Fortunately they do not seem any worse for the wear...

We all really enjoyed Pennsic.  E did not want to go, but as suspected, once he was there he had a great time.  He made several friends and this was his first Pennsic to be able to run around with parents directly in tow.  (Rules are that under 12 you have to be under direct supervision.)  He made some extra money doing Ice runs for people and enjoyed spending the money he made.  The husband got to do a lot of fighting - and found that there is now wireless at Pennsic so he was happy.  And I discovered that I REALLY like Gin.  :)  Spent a lot of my Pennsic time just lazing around and it fealt great.

So now we are back and getting back into the swing of things.  This week I spent a day at school getting the furniture back in place and then 3 days working for the photographer.  This weekend has been a bit lazy.  Did get the house cleaned (with some help) and grocery shopped today with the family.  That was SORELY needed.  Go back to work officially tomorrow and then it becomes the mad scramble to get everything done before school starts officially on August 25th.

Add to all this that my USF class starts the same week.  On Friday I bought my books, bot my student ID and put in my tuition voucher.  Now it all is so much more real!  I am excited, yet scared witless.  It will all be great, but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed - once things get started it should be all good....

At the AP Reading.  And boy am I tired!  Got through the first day which is mostly training.  Did not start scoring until the afternoon.  Moving faster than in the past but still slow! 

Gerbal #3 is now in the pet graveyard.  A real bummer because she was a pretty cool gerbil.  Came home from TMT and it seems that the boy left his bedroom door open.  :(  Gerbil was nowhere to be seen and the cage was still closed!  (Although later made the realization that the boy had not been putting the clips back on the top part which means there was nothing actually locking it down.)  He was very upset and after some consolation we went back to unloading from the weekend - I was in the garage getting the laundry started when the cry of "MOM" went out - the boy had found the remains of the beloved gerbil in dad's office.  Pretty gruesome.  A burial ensued, but it did not involve all of said gerbil as the head was missing.  After the burial we headed off to <lj="peacockharpy">'s house for the Memorial Day festivities. But, there is more to this taie.  When the boy went to bed that night he came bounding back out - as the gerbil head was in his bed! Ugh!  I have been pretty sick of Cicero's antics (one of the cats) but this about put the icing on the cake.

It seems that I have not posted in a while again.  So, I am going to play catch up...but...for those who are actually still reading  :)  I think I am going to post a several small bits instead of a big long one and you can choose what you want to read!

This is the TEST shipment you asked for

• 02:40 I couldn't find a tweet to post for loudtwitter #
• 02:40 So I posted this. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter