Destination 30

Just about 20 minutes ago we arrived back home and got the girls in bed…that wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to go in to work tomorrow, but at the moment my only concern, or joy rather, is that though the symptoms of the carpal tunnel are still there, they have lessened dramatically from this morning and I can sit here and type with only mild annoyance.

The trip to Houston wasn’t too bad, just short and crowded. I did get time to think though. I was really worried about this month…Originally it was going to be my Super-mom month! I was going to be back home with my girls working on crafts and ABC’s, cleaning the house and all other super-mom related activities…I was going to devote my whole self to this family since I have to divide so much of my attention the rest of the year.

But now that I took that job for the EOC Academy for the month (plus the first week in July) I was stumped on what I could possibly work on for this month without focusing on school and hopefully allowing myself to get into that Summer vibe despite the lack of vacation…

Then it hit me as we were packing for Houston, the thing I always look forward to on vacation, the thing I make sure to pack for any road trip, and the thing that I honestly wouldn’t have much time to do if I was truly being Super Mom…BOOKS!!!

I do some light reading throughout the year and double it up during longer vacations like Christmas, but nothing says Summer like blowing through a library full of books. At the moment I have plenty on my own bookshelf that still begged to be read, and I am eagerly awaiting two novels: Shadow of Night (sequel to A Discovery of Witches)due out July and Happier at Home (sequel to the Happiness Project) due out in September…Still, I have a lot of reading to do before I can get my hands on those.

So this month is about relaxation…finding the time to do something that is both leisurely and entirely for myself, something that I truly enjoy…and should it spark the need to write more or do other creative endeavors all the better…Happy reading everyone!

Yesterday was the last “official” day of the school year. I still have to go back Monday for a teacher workday—basically cleaning out our rooms. And right after that official last day I went home to pack up to come to Houston to see Quinton’s youngest sister graduate from High School. So yes, I missed my post yesterday because it was a very late night and I was exhausted.

But it was not the road trip or the last day with students that stood out yesterday. Yesterday was also the official last day for three teachers at my school. These three women are retiring. Two of them were in my department, and the third was from the history department. I didn’t realize how emotional I would be until I watched them go up at our luncheon and have to say good-bye to the campus.

Though the third teacher, Ms. Balmer, was not in my department she was the first person I ever met on my first day at school. I was cleaning out a room that was unexpectedly vacated and was trying to sort through the rubble when a middle-aged version of a 1950’s barbie walked in the door. She wore what appeared to be a poodle skirt and had her shoulder length hair that flipped out on the ends was held back in a headband. She told me that my room was the first she ever had when she started at this school and proceeded to lay out all the secrets of the school, and of teaching.

Though she taught history some of our information overlapped and she gladly shared resources and ideas. And one day in particular, after I had been called in to the principal for my failure rate, she sat with me, on a Friday no less, until 6pm helping to assure me that I was in fact not, “failing as a human being,” as my principal had put it, and offered tips on how to prevent and document information to cover myself the next time. She shared books she read and dating stories and I was sad to be moved away from her the following year when they started construction at the school and everyone was moved around.

We were never as close after that year, but she made a blanket for my first daughter and attended my baby shower they threw me at school. She was quirky and set in her ways but brilliant and so full of knowledge and almost always wore a smile. I never forgot that first day and I would not have survived my first year without her and I just had to tell her that before she left…

Tear stained and unable to hide the sadness I sought out Ms. Hannah who was a teacher in my own department. The first day I ever walked into her room the only thing I could notice is that every inch of wall was covered with inspirational posters. There was no need to shop at a teacher’s store, you simply went to Hannah. And she was very generous with her supplies: posters,  dry erase markers, pencils, colored paper…all the things we come to covet in the teaching profession, and she gave it away by the box load sometimes. She too was filled with wisdom, sarcasm and quirky humor and had the silliest smile that I will miss when staring out across my hall. She was a source of great inspiration and person whom you could always vent to, a willing ear…and in response to my comments on her generosity all she could say through her own tears was, “pass it on.”

I cried a lot that last hour of school and I realized how much my department is going to be changing this year. We already have one new teacher who replaced T, and two more are on the way, maybe even a third if Candie’s husband gets a job out of state. The department is getting younger and I wonder if those new teachers are looking to me the way I looked to these women when I started. I wonder if they will remember my face as the first memory of their teaching career or would have wonderful things to say about my generosity or some other endearing quality of mine. Will I live up to the legacy they left behind? Now that I am “established” and “grown-up” will I be the positive and impactful force that these women were to me? I guess only time will tell, but it’s quite a lofty goal to reach…

Who impacted you in the beginnings of your career? What qualities did they possess that you hope to embody as you continue to grow as a person and a professional?

I love to organize and reorganize and pack up for next year…But I couldn’t get into it today. Maybe it’s because I know that I am not really leaving. I know that I will be back in a week preparing freshmen for retesting.

Maybe it’s that I would rather be relaxing or doing a million other things instead of packing up, like reading, writing, or organizing other things…

And then, of course, we are going out of town again tomorrow. Have we packed for that? No…

On top of everything else, I grew very tired sometime around 2pm yesterday, fell asleep immediately after last nights blog around 10, and and woke up just as tired as the night before.

All of this can only mean one thing…Summer has arrived!

They say when the student is ready the teacher will appear…But what if you are the teacher and your students are due in a week and a half?

As I said yesterday, I took a job this summer to help those students who failed our newly implemented state assessment at the freshman level. I have never taught this test, nor have I been trained for it, but I am told that  I should be teaching it as I teach my AP students. That all sounds great until you hear that I have to do it all in 12 days before they take the test again…

Learning new things, being challenged—all healthy things that are vital for creativity and success… and the  power of 20-30 warm bodies waiting for you to solve all their problems and get their high school career back on track is some great motivation. I hope I don’t let them down…

One of the perks of being a teacher is Summer. Some people don’t understand it and think it’s unfair, but it really is helpful, and in my opinion, necessary. At the end of the school year I am just as tired, worn-out and disinterested as the rest of the students. I spend my last week in a blissful state of packing up, knowing that the next time I open those boxes, after a couple of months of relaxation and recharge, it will be like Christmas morning and I will teach it all over again with enthusiasm!

And so the cycle goes…until this year. Another commonly held belief is that teachers are paid too much. I am here to attest that not only do we not make too much, I am about to give up part of my much needed Summer vacation, because I don’t make quite enough…at least not this year.

Despite my budgeting exercises (which are working by the way) there have been several unfortunate, recurring, surprising and necessary circumstances this year that have really tested my ability to stay afloat with just my paycheck. The good news is that by this time next year everything should have paid for itself and the loss of half my summer would have been well worth it. The bad news is that, until then, and at least for the next six months or so, money will be tighter than ever and we will have to see just how frugal we can really be. It’s time to put some more budgeting exercises into practice. Got any helpful hints?

I did not spend the day at a parade. There was no pool or barbeque in the vicinity. I spent no time pondering the importance of today. Not because I don’t believe in it, but because I am a teacher with two toddlers whose days and hours run together to the point where I forgot it was even Monday…I didn’t realize it until late in the afternoon that it was not Sunday and that tomorrow, would in fact, be Tuesday…

So what did I do today? We bought night lights for our girls. Special ones that project a picture onto the ceiling to encourage them to stay in bed after we leave the room. We shopped for “outside” shoes…things that don’t sparkle and will not get ruined as they do the hard work of play.

We went grocery shopping and cleaned the kitchen, played with our girls and made cookies. Chocolate chip cookies…my specialty. The girls like to put food coloring in them (they mix it together in a plastic baggie) and eat the colors they made. Chloe likes to make blue ones and Charlotte prefers pink. Today, however, the pink didn’t quite turn out right. I must have put too much, because it was very red. Quinton prefers his cookies sans food coloring so his were plain and simple…As we laid out the cookies on the baking sheet to go in the oven Quinton noticed what I had not…Our cookies were red, “White” and blue! How is that for patriotism.

I may not have given much thought to the day…but sitting in my kitchen making homemade chocolate chip patriotic cookies with my two little girls, I was very grateful to be living “the American Dream,” as one of my friends put it, and even more grateful to those who made it possible. Happy Memorial Day everyone.

When I found myself down and out Thursday night and I couldn’t help but cry I pulled out my phone and sent a text to my best friend. Even though we haven’t seen each other in over a year and she is a whole state away, she is still the only person who could understand my current problem. I guess knowing someone since before puberty will do that for you.

She couldn’t talk that night, she had guests over, but she promised we would talk soon. To my surprise and delight, she meant very soon and in person! She came in for a visit this weekend and I got a full three hours with just the two of us! This is a rare treat. And even though I build her up in my head to be this angelic creature who has magical powers that can make everything better, seeing her in person was even better than what I imagined. She is my best friend.

In three hours we talked about everything from family, friends, children and work. We covered months worth of information, and in great detail, and it seemed like we had never spent a day apart. More importantly, I didn’t remember that simply talking everything out with someone who knows me that well, could make everything seem so much better and brighter.

This is why I wish she lived next door, but I guess I can settle for three hours once a year…after all its not about quantity, its all quality.

Each semester my school gives us what they call “safety incentives,”—a reward for not hurting ourselves on the job, or being absent too much. In the fall they give us the option of a ham, a turkey or a fruit basket. In the Spring our options are brisket, chicken fajitas and a veggie basket.

We usually get the fajitas and donate them to my ultra-grilling dad. A couple of years ago we chose the veggie basket and didn’t know what to do with the over abundance of over-sized vegetables we were given.

This year we chose a brisket, for the plain and simple fact that, for only $10, our culinary arts program would season and smoke our brisket for us. It was hot off the grill and ready to be eaten yesterday, but we had a party to go to. So tonight we had brisket. And we will probably have it again tomorrow. In fact, BBQ in all its versatile glory, will be something this family will be eating for the better part of a week. And all for the simple price of $10…and remaining accident free, of course!