Additional Tidbits

It was brought to my attention over the course of this past week that I left out some important details from my experience at Ashley Community Schools.

So here it goes.

I'm not an educator, in case that wasn't obvious before.

I am the youngest teacher in the building the closest to me in age is I believe 3 years older.

According to a Kindergardener, I look pregnant. I was then asked by a high school class if I was going to announce a pregnancy... They seem slightly baby crazed at this school... I AM NOT PREGNANT AND I DO NOT WANT A CHILD AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE!

According to a fourth grader, I have a problem with my skin because my face turns red. "You should get some cream for your face so that it isn't so red all the time."

Apparently, I am British and have the appropriate accent for it.

One of the lovely ladies that I have lunch with is the one that gave me this regal distinction. She even took the time to patiently explain the game of baseball to me. I hear that it is a lot like cricket.

Lunch time is a riot with my new friends. We always have a story to tell each other and most days lead to so much laughter that I am in tears before I have to go back and try to teach the unruly mob.

Junior boys ARE the unruly mob.

Sometimes I have daydreams of bringing in a real Mexican gang member just to scare the unruly mob. They have some twisted idea of how cool it would be in one of those gangs. I don't even know anyone in a gang, so that idea is out the window.

I've been invited on the end of the year fieldtrip. I've already forgotten the name of the place but it sounds like a riot and hopefully we as chaperons won't be left out of the fun.

I'm counting the days until Spring Break and I can honestly say that it isn't coming fast enough.

There are two weeks and counting until Spring Break.

Midterms are on Friday this week and my kids had better study because this will not be an easy test.

I got a perm. My hair is super curly. I don't think that anyone from the school even noticed unless I told them... they haven't known me long enough to really know the difference so they are forgiven.    I LOVE MY CURLS!

I'm really trying hard to hold back the stupid humor that I'm not sure many people would understand.

I am sometimes baffled by the children and the things they have never heard of or don't pay attention to. They can watch a video of a rapper trying to bring awareness to the problem of severe poverty and only see the fact that he has tattoos and he styles his hair different than famous people in the U.S. FRUSTRATION!

One the same token and to end on a good note, there are some students who are genuinely interested in what I'm teaching them. If it weren't for them I would have already made a decision about staying or leaving once June rolls around.

Of course, my new friends come into the mix of the good stuff also. The same ones who threw a hissy fit when they weren't mentioned in my last blog. Thanks for keeping my spirits up!

To catch you up on the hand situation,

I'm in a cast. No surgery required. I have this cast until the 26th then I get another for 2 weeks. This one is green for St. Patties day and I think that I'll do purple for the next.

The cast has been beautified by Cassi who also took time to do my nails and watch movies with me this past Friday.

I am still open to other artists who would like to make their mark. The only rules are that it must be school appropriate and it must not be a signature.

Bring a sharpie to lunch.

I think that's about all I have for now.

As Always,

Blessed Be

Written on Ice

It's been a while.

Too long for all the news I have to share really.

But as always, I will do my best to get everything written here.

Jenny the snuggle dog is here with me this morning as we are in the process of moving me into the den. I enjoy the natural light much better than the light bulbs and I don't take up much space.

I was going to tell you about how we renamed the fish Jesus after he made an unsuccessful suicide attempt while we were cleaning his tank. I really thought he was dead up until the moment I moved him to send him down the potty. Then miraculously he moved and we rushed to get him back into his tank. I found the unfortunate Jesus this morning, dead in the bottom of his tank. I suspect that he died of internal injuries sustained during his suicide attempt.

He was a good fish, always swimming fervently around his tank, trying to attack anything even remotely blue. He liked to relax in his yellow plastic grass when he had some down time and he always ate his breakfast even if he was angry about moving to Michigan. He was a survivor of the battle of The Wedding Reception and will always be remembered fondly for his ability to keep secrets.

Services will be held before breakfast Sunday morning with taps played by Zeke Holley on his trombone. Join the family afterward for cinnamon rolls.

I'm sure that many of you already know this but I'll write it out anyway, incase you haven't seen the news anywhere else yet.

I'm a teacher at Ashley Schools. Officially, I'm a long term sub with the possibility of becoming a teacher in the fall if I want to. I teach Spanish to K-12. I've been there a month and so far I feel like I'm muddling through. I am still on the fence about whether or not I want to continue teaching but I still have a few months to decide. Teaching is very difficult and for those of you who do it as your career, all I can say is that you have guts and you should all get medals.

I have an hour drive to get to Ashley from Farwell and sometimes its a little longer. Snow and ice make for really interesting drives, especially like the drive home this past Tuesday when I broke a bone in my hand. My right hand, the one that I do everything with.

So yeah, life is throwing me a curveball and I'm doing my best to handle it. Mom and dad and even Zeke have been pretty helpful so far. Doing my hair, cutting my meat, tying my shoes, pouring me juice from the massive Hi-C container....etc. I even had some of my students help me because writing on the board is now a challenge.

Tuesday was a rough day. We had a big snowstorm move through and layer everything with snow, ice, and slush. I was driving through the tail end of the storm on my way home that night and had to stop every couple exits to get the ice off my windshield wipers so that they would work properly. I had nearly made it home and stopped again between Mt. Pleasant and Clare to snap my wipers. As I got out of the car, I slipped, falling backwards and hit my hand hard on the door frame of my car.

At first, I just thought that I was stupid and would have a good bruise, after I picked myself up. Then I decided to try to snap my wipers right handed anyway and that just didn't happen. I carefully got back in my car and proceeded to drive home because I figured that mom be able to help me get it iced and feeling less like I had a nail through my hand. By the time I got home with all the tears and curse words, I pretty much knew that something was broken and I couldn't move my hand at all.

So off to ready-care we went, mom driving this time. After some painful manipulation and x-rays that seemed to take a lifetime to process, they determined that I had broken the extension of my ring finger that is in your hand/palm region. It's a clean break but I was still referred to a specialist who I will see on Monday. If I don't need surgery, then he will probably put  me in a cast and I'll be on my merry almost ambidextrous way.

For now, I'm typing with one hand pretty well and I have slaves doing my bidding so I could have things much worse than they are. I'm so glad that I have my family for support through this because I'm not sure if I would make it without them.

One big adventure after another. That's how life goes. If you can find a way to keep your head up through it all, then life will probably throw some good in with the bad.

As always,

Blessed Be!