Senior Recital

One of my former students invited me to her senior piano recital. I first met her when she was in second grade and had just come to our school from China. She didn't know any English. A few years later she told me about her first impression of me. She thought I lived at the school because my classroom had sofas and a rocking chair. She came to see me last week at school. I had a newspaper photo of her on my door. She is one of the top five students in her senior class at a large high school. Heading for Duke University in the fall.
This is what I love about teaching. I really like getting to work with students for several years. I see them grow and make progress. It makes up for lots of things like paperwork and stupid tests and idiots on power trips.

Too much to do

WARNING Don't read this. I just had to get this out of my head. Should have written it in my journal but here it is.
I don't feel like doing anything and yet I have too much to do. I want to just sit outside and read in the shade or go to the pool and swim all by myself. But this afternoon I ran here and there getting signatures on forms for summer school field trips. I found out we don't have enough money to pay the admission fees for the field trips and don't really have enough money for the buses either. The whole idea is to get the kids to places they don't usually go. There isn't money to buy the new summer reading books either, so I may end up buying them myself.
After getting the paperwork to the final office, I went to see my dad. He goes over the same concerns almost every time I visit. He doesn't like it there and wants to go home. There isn't any way he can go home because there is no one to care for him. Mom is not well enough and everyone else is working. I feel really guilty when I read about other families who take their elders into their homes. This stresses me but I don't think I could take the stress of the alternative any better. I don't like this 'season' of my life.

Quilting again

Started the new quilt. Everything is cut out except for one block. Tomorrow I hope to start putting the blocks together. There will be 20 diamonds each made from 4 blocks.
Looking for the final Percy Jackson book. One of my choir kids said she had it and would lend it to me. Didn't realize the same author wrote the 39 clues series. Showed my third graders the six books I have read in the last two weeks and they were amazed that anyone could read that much. I've got a long way to go with that group.
There is so much to do to get ready for summer school and not much time to get it all done. I've got to make a list and get going.

Back to the books

I am back to reading children's books. I just finished the second Percy Jackson Olympian book and started the third one. Pretty good read. Before that I read the first How to Train Your Dragon book. Funny and goofy-gross. Should appeal to kids who like farts in movies. I read the first of the 39 Clues books. Want to read the others. Not sure about the subtext but it is entertaining and there's nothing good on TV.
I spent mega bucks yesterday on fabric for a new quilt I'm going to start Monday. I'm ready to start some projects that don't involve school or writing or testing.
Oh, yeah, finished testing all 75 of my students today. Yeaaaaaa! About 5 weeks of school left. Looking forward to going to the pool soon.

Second thoughts

Sent the 'box' off to the national boards place this afternoon. Now I'm having second thoughts. I had another week to write and perfect and deliberate and tweak and fine tune the thing but I was done. I was sick of thinking about it. I had read and reread, etc. I really wish it was a talking thing-an interview or something interactive. I think better when I talk and have someone to bounce ideas around with. Anyway, if I don't pass this time, I'll do better next time. It took three tries for the original certification, so I guess I won't be too upset if this time is a repeat. Peggy, my mentor was great help. She is so calm and seems to get right to the point of the questions. I don't know why I have such trouble figuring out what the questions are really asking. I think I skim when I read and don't really contemplate what I'm reading. So many things going on in my head all the time.

Today was act crazy day at school. The kids got to wear blue jeans as a fund raiser. The deal was they paid a dollar to be able to wear jeans instead of the uniform. They must have thought it also entitled them to act crazy, too. Or it could have been weather related. A storm was coming and the sky was strange colors. Several teacher took the day off, so the subs added to the craziness.

Then tonight I had craziness from dad. He got the nurses to let him use the phone and he called me and went off on money. He needs to get his money out of the bank, he says. Don't even want to write down all the crazy stuff he said. Then brother called from Atlanta to ask about him because dad called other brother twice today with same money issue. I'm already sick of this turmoil. Help! I don't know how to deal with this. Can I just get in bed and sleep for a week? Will it be better when I wake up?

On the good side, I'm really getting good at making videos on my laptop. Finished Anne's last night and burned two copies. She picked them up this afternoon. I hope she liked it. She'll probably pass this national boards thing and I'll be redoing mine next year. AYYY! Time to retreat into a book or something to turn off my head.

Just my luck

It's just my luck that last Saturday when I was trying to help a friend make her video for National Boards, I got a mini DVD stuck in my laptop. Who knew it wouldn't play mini DVDs? So I calmly call Apple support and get a very nice voice who tells me he doesn't know what to do, do I want an appointment at the store? Huh? Of course. So my friend is filled with guilt and I'm so unconcerned. I wanted to get on with the video but otherwise, it's going to be okay. I take myself and my lovely laptop to the store. The helpful guy comes and asks what's the problem? Mini DVD stuck. Let me see what I can do. He goes into the back room and is back in less than 30 seconds. The DVD is out. Laptop is fine. No charge. So, I ask, what did you have to do? Just tapped it on the counter, he says. Oh, my. Feeling dumb now. Packing up and going home. Just my luck.

92 year old enforcer

My little ole 5 foot 6, ninety-two year old dad has recently moved from home to the community care center at the VA. He is by far the most mobile of the residents there. He shuffles a little but generally gets around well using a walking stick for extra support. The other day I went to visit him after work. I looked in the day room but he wasn't there. I looked in his room but he wasn't there either. Then I thought I heard his voice. When I looked across the hall I saw him sitting in a wheel chair shaking his walking stick in the air. I called him and he scooted out of the room, using his feet to move the wheel chair. When I asked him what he was doing in the other guy's room, he said he was telling the guy in the bed to be quiet and not wake everyone up at night. What? He said that the guy made lots of noise at night just to be annoying and that the nurses couldn't do anything to make the guy shut up. Sooo, my little ole dad decided to take things in his own hands. Huh? I have only heard stories about how helpful my dad was to everyone he meets-well, maybe he thinks he is being helpful now.