Just Winding Down

It's Friday. Another teacher is on my roof cleaning out my gutters. Seems sad that he has to do that to make enough money to support his family, but I am glad he is available. I will be going back to school to get ready for Monday. It will take several hours. I would rather do it tonight than have to go on Sunday afternoon. I get blue enough when I have nothing to do but enjoy the day and the thought of Monday creeps in.

Tomorrow I am taking my first horseback riding lesson. I have posted some pictures of my daughter on her horse. She is great. I have been on one, but never enought to get the hang of how to make the monsters do what I want. I just kind of hang on, bounce around, and laugh at my lack of control. I got new paddock boots for the occasion. Any occasion to buy a new pair of footwear is good. If I had lots of cash, I would have a closet full of shoes. Some of the other moms of the girls at the barn are going to take lessons too. The rule is that the girls can't watch. It will be humiliating enough without the giggles and comments from them.

I am also teaching a pottery lesson tomorrow. Maybe I will actually have a chance to make some things this weekend. I did hear back from the folks who have the kick wheel. I haven't been able to reach them yet, but I am hoping it will work out to bring the thing home this weekend. I made enough money selling some pieces that it will be almost paid for. I got my kiln hooked up, and want to have something make to fire. I want to try it out.

Claire is working on painting the basement. She is moving downstairs. The chosen color is just awful, but I can live with it for a few years. It looks like a (I can't think of a darn thing to compare it too)... It is this "berry pink". It's pretty dark. When she got it, I though it would look okay if she painted one wall and used a neutral color to dull it a bit. No! The whole room glows. Isn't pink supposed to be calming?

I'm off to start my weekend. I guess it will start with a trip back to school. The good part is I can cut a movie, or ballgame, on and get my work done while I watch. It should be fine.

Mom and Dad are at Donna's. Dad called and said they were having a great time, even though it's raining.

It's all good!

Claire at the last show of the season. We were taking a lunch break.

I do need to have some fun!

I do love my job! At least the part where I get to actually teach kids. The thing that gets me down is that every day when I leave, the whole time I am away, I am thinking about how much I should be doing to be ready for the next day. If it isn't that, it is the mountain of papers that I need to grade, or the "homework" I have to do from one of my staff development activities. There are also the sad stories I know are the actual lives of kids. You can't just leave that at school. I don't really want to, but I can't help them and it makes me so damned depressed. I waffle back and forth on whether I should find something else. Each time I think I just can't do it any longer, I wonder what else I could actually do. I wish there were a place, a website, a counseling service, something, for teachers who need to make a change. A friend once told me that one of her friends took a day off to go out job hunting. Her discovery was that there was nothing that she was qualified to do but teach. Dear God! If that is the case, I am in deep doo-doo! I can see myself sticking it out for another 4 1/2 years, until Campbell gets done, but then something has got to give.

Erin is right. I need some grown up entertainment. I do need to talk Ol' Dan into taking me up to the home of the World Series Bound Cleveland Indians! (please, please...) I need to meet his college friend and chill. I need to be Beth for a little while, not Ms. Aspray!

If anyone out there has any ideas, I am open to suggestions. What can a middle aged, mother of 2, who needs benefits, do to make a good living. Anyone been where I am right now and found a good solution?

Seems too depressing - so here is something not so dismal. The weekend is coming and I can't wait. I don't have any plans yet, but the weather is supposed to be beautiful. It is fall, and I can't think of a more wonderul time of year. There is something about being outside and feeling nice and cool, but the sun shining on your hair until it feels hot. The smell of the pine straw and leaves makes me feel like my spirit is just outside of myself enough to be part of the crisp air. There is no other time as wonderful. My favorite day of the year is the day that it changes from daylight savings to standard time. I love that extra hour, and no matter how tired I am, I stay up for another hour, just because... It is best when shared with someone you love.

I called someone about an add for a potter's kick wheel. maybe they will call me back and I can work on my setting up my studio this weekend. That would be sweet!

Now I can go to sleep, dreaming of what I will be when I "grow up", and wake up tomorrow, one day closer to the weekend. Anticipation can be a good thing.

Let's see...

My life lately:

• school
• pets
• school
• driving children around
• school
• meetings at school
• school
• meetings about children about school
• school
• trainings for school
• school

The First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. It was a good day!

Almost a Year! #)$^!

I can't believe I haven't done this in almost a year. Where has it gone? Between the kids, school, teaching pottery classes, and life with a horse, I haven't taken the time. Shame! Here are a few images.

This is Claire and Story at a horse show.

Isn't it fun to be silly! I am so thankful for my family.

Not the best photo. I took it with my cell phone. That pelican was sitting not 5 feet away from me! He didn't have a care in the world. I didn't either at that moment in time.

Wendy the Buddah cat.

Back Again!

This time I have a good reason for not writing in a long time. I haven't had a computer. There was a little accident involving 2 labrador retreivers and a white kitty. My laptop was the victim. It took awhile to save enough money, but I bought a pc and I am back in business.

I Can't Believe I Haven't Written In So Long

I keep thinking that I need to do this, but I am always too tired when I get home. The school year has been a killer. I am not sure why, but it seems harder than ever before.

Here is a quick run down of what has been going on:

• December: We had a great Christmas and Claire, Dad and I all had birthdays.
• Januray: Can't remember a single eventful thing, but I am sure there were some.
• February: Got a real Valentine card from Dan. Wow!
• March: Took Campbell to the zoo and Raleigh for his birthday. I will give more details about that, since it didn't happen too long ago, I might be able to remember some of it.

I have been wanting to go to the NC Museum of Art for months now to see the exhibit "A Potter's Eye". It ran for several months, but I put it off until it only had one week left. I am so glad that I went. I am still addicted to making pots and it was inspiring. We used Campbell's birthday as an excuse to get there. He wasn't too excited about the museum, but he had a fun weekend.

We started with a day at the NC Zoo. If you haven't experienced this place you have to go, but take your good walking shoes. There is a tram, but you will still be on your feet a lot. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I would have a fortune in film processing fees if I didn't have one on this trip.

Not only are there beautiful animals there, but there is some amazing art too. Check out the snake Campbell is holding. It looks pretty real doesn't it. Believe me. Campbell wouldn't be holding it if it was :)

It is now after ten o'clock, and I am about to turn into a pumpkin. I had better hit the hay. I will put more zoo pictures on soon.

TTFN

Music, My Sister, and much more

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Much to do, but all good. One of the best parts was that my sister, Donna, was down from her home in Shutesbury, MA. She works in the admissions office of Hampshire College. I hadn't seen her for a long time. In fact, I think it had been about 1 1/2 years since we had been together. We had a great time. Mom spoiled us with our favorite dinners. We sat around and laughed a lot. We went to Claire's horse show which deserves a little more comment, so I will do that in a minute. We had a picnic in Pisgah National Forest, where we are blessed to be adjacent, on a beautiful fall afternoon. And, we went to the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC to hear the Del McCoury Band.

A little more about the picnic. While we were there, Campbell worked on pulling a tooth that was in desperate need of coming out. The permanent tooth was already coming in. It was quite a production. It took about 30 minutes of shaking and crying and procrastinating. Isn't if odd how a kid can take a spill on a bike or get a big gash on his head in a football game, but can't pull a tooth that is dangling by one little thread of skin. The picture is of my mom trying to talk him into letting her get hold of the tooth. There were tears involved to be sure.

Earlier that morning we had been at Claire's horse show. Let's just say that there was little to celebrate. Her 13 year old attitude was showing for some reason unknown to any other living creature and she came in last place in every event. The judge even told her that her riding was not bad, but she acted like she didn't care at all about being out there. Attitude! It is so important!

Speaking of horses. Thanks to Claire and Campbell's grandfather, Poppi, Claire is now the proud owner of a horse. He is a very sweet 6 year old who was given away because he wasn't wanted. He has been the center of our world for the past couple of weeks and it has been a good thing for everyone. Campbell hasn't asked to watch tv or play video games and both kids are getting along really well. Tempers seem to flare when there is no physical activity and they spend too much time indoors, so the fresh fall air has been great emotional therapy. I have even riden him a couple of times. I am not too secure on a horse, so my rides are sometimes short, but I am working on getting the hang of it. The horse is now spoiled rotten. He seems more like a big dog than a horse. He gets excited to see someone coming and he is very at ease with people around. You should see him eating dried corn on the cob. The funniest part is the neighbor's dog, Rex, standing underneath to get the kernals that drop.

My Addiction

I have become addicted to pottery. I am taking a class, and I can't get enough of it. I just love it! If I could, I would quit my job and make pots. But, I am not that good and would be very hungry. The studio is the Carwile-Dodson Studio for Pottery Instruction at Mud Dabbers. Check it out!

It's Halloween and the goblins are grazing

I just got in from the cold. I was standing in a parking lot handing out candy and what we call Trunk-or-Treat. Our church sponsers it and we went through about six hundred dollars worth of candy in 2 hours. Can you believe that! The scary part is that all those kids go to school somewhere tomorrow and we teachers are going to have to be the ones to deal with the sugar highs and crashes. I had better get my game plan on. I will have to have something really good to keep them engaged. There were a ton of little ones out there. They are so cute. In particular was a little girl dressed as a devil. She had all this red ruffled stuff on and she was adorable. There were also lots of Mr. Incredibles (one of my favorite characters) and I noticed a lot of princess fairies.

All that brought back one particular Halloween. It must have been about 37 years ago and my cousins were up visiting. They lived in a very rural part of NC and had never been Trick-or-treating. Mom and Aunt Janice got busy and quickly fashioned a quartet of ghost costumes. The thing I remember most about them is that for some odd reason, that only those two women know, we all had these little pointed ears. I must have thought it was different, because I remember it in particular, but it was a fun night. I don't remember the candy, but I remember loving being with Donna, Carla, and Vanessa. Too bad we can't go back and do some of that again.

I can't believe that I haven't written in so long. I won't even try to catch up, but a few highlights of the past month are that school is going well. We are already through with the first quarter. It is flying.

Dan, Claire, Campbell and I went on a hike a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful. We took the dogs and went to Dupont State Forest. I hadn't been up there in years. We all had a good time. Claire decided she was ready to go about halfway, and so we had to listen to her complain for a while. We were walking up a pretty steep hill and she said, "I'm done." Even though we were about an hour from the car, she wanted to quit. So, we listened to her for the rest of the time. The scenery made it worth having to listen to the whining of a 13 year old. She has vowed never to go back. What do you bet she does...

Parties, Plumbing and Pickens County Museum

First the party. Last night the team I work with at school was invited over to one of my best friend's house to a cookout. I am lucky to work with the coolest people in the world. We had a ball. The night was cool, the food and drink were great, and we talked about everything from movies to music to real life ghost stories. We are going to try to get together every couple of weeks just to let off steam.

Campbell and Claire stayed home to spend time with their dogs, and when I got here they had been practicing their instruments together. Claire had been teaching Campbell some tunes on his trombone. They said they had been playing for about an hour and a half. I could almost recognize the tune Campbell performed for us. He will be good if he keeps practicing.

The Pickens County Museum is second. Yeah Dan! He just got a job working at the Pickens County Museum. I haven't heard him this happy since I met him. He is so glad to be out of Lowe's with the horrible schedule and the brain numbing monotany. He is very talented and will add experience, creativity, and great planning and problem solving to the organization. He has a lot going on right now and this seems to be perfect timing. I am selfishly excited that he will have a regular schedule and consistant days off.

Last, the plumbing. I have had a flooded basement and was piddling around with the bathtub pipes when the spout came out in my hand. Question answered and hopefully a pretty easy fix. I wonder if it was ever glued when it was put in. It was only a couple of years ago that I had a new one installed. I wish that I could tear the whole thing out and put in a shower and build some shelves in there, but I just can't afford that right now. Claire is downstairs cleaning the basement shower so that she and Campbell can use it. I took some pictures of what I am dealing with so that I can show it to Dan and he can help me plan my attack.

I am going to print my pictures, take a shower, fold some laundry, work on a job chart for my class and get myself cleaned up. I need to run by school and feed the class fish and take the kids over to my parents. Dan's dad and his wife are taking us out to celebrate the new job tonight at the Cliffs. I haven't been there before and am looking forward to it. It is a beautiful fall day. The windows are all open in the house and the crisp air is refreshing. A great day to be in Western North Carolina.

Thankful for little things

My dad has chronic lukemia and he went to the oncologist today. His white blood count had been going up for the past few visits, but today the count was down 1000. A little thing that is a big thing to be thankful for!

Also, as I was watching the news and looking at the lines of cots and air matresses being inflated for hurricane victims, I was very thankful for the comfortable bed I have to sleep on each night.

There are way too many to name, but everyday the little things we take for granted add up to a multitude of reasons to say thanks.

I wanted the font to be in a pretty fall color because that is what it feels like today. It is my favorite time of year. I love September and October. The leaves are just beginning to show a hint of color and the sky is the most brilliant blue. The mornings are chilly and you need a long sleeved shirt, but then in the afternoon it gets really hot. By the time the sun goes down the chill is back and you can sleep with the windows open and snuggle up in your down comforter. It is the best!

It has been a while since I wrote anything here. I have been so busy with school. I have worked almost every single night to get ready for the next day and haven't even cut the computer on here at home. A lot has happened. Hurricane Katrina hit southern LA, MS and AL and has flattened communities. There are so many people that need help and I feel so helpless. I hope that somehow I will be able to do something to make a difference. In the meantime I will keep on doing what I do each day. I will teach and love the kids I have.

My daughter, Claire, got braces today. She is doing surprisingly well. She has a hard time chewing and sounds like she has a mouth full of bb's, but she looks cute. The front bands are green. Boy, how things have changed. You can pick a color for your braces these days.

Campbell is doing well adjusting to middle school. Now I have no idea what either of my kids are doing. When they were with me at Brevard Elementary I could check up on them easily. Now I just hope and pray that they do the right thing and are responsible for what they need to be. I was talking to someone today and said that of all the great things God has done for me, giving me two great kids was up at the top of the list. I don't have to worry about them too much.

It is only 7pm and I am about to crash. Last night was one of those that didn't produce much sleep. Just a lot on my mind I guess. It took a double dose of coffee at school today to keep me going.

Speaking of school, it is going well. I got an assistant today and she is going to be great. It made the day much easier. There were no discipline problems to speak of because having an extra set of eyes deters the acts. I think we got more done than we have so far this year and even finished our math a bit early. Most of the kids even got their homework done in class.

I think Claire wanted me to help her study for a Social Studies test, so I will get on that. I also need to do some laundry and a few other tasks. So TTFN.

Too pooped to ____________.

You insert whatever you want there. Last night came and went and I met 15 out of 19 of my students and their parents. I brought my own kids home and went back to school for a couple more hours. I think I have already logged about 40 hours this week. It is only Thursday. I am going to bed and it isn't quite 10.

Tomorrow night. FUN. Going to a place called Sock-em-Dog to hear the Little River Band. Can't wait.

Tired but wound up.

I worked hard today. I went to school this morning and hit the floor running. My room is looking good. I get better at the set up process every year and I have even weeded out a ton of stuff that I will not use. That feels good. Tomorrow evening the kids and their parents will be there to meet me, so I should be in bed asleep, but I am wound up and felt like writing a little.

I must say that there is a guy out there who is the best friend I could ever ask for in addition to being just the best. Thank you again! You know who you are.

I was putting up a bulletin board, which is one part of my job I could do without. It takes too much time. I went to the workroom and cut out the letters to say "welcome to fourth grade". It takes more time than you would think, and I got them done and went back to my room. I had to put them down to go be on an interview team, and when I got back they were gone. I looked everywhere I could think of and they were nowhere to be found. I thought that the custodial staff had done an extra thorough job of cleaning up the area, becuase it had become the dumping ground for a couple of storage rooms that were cleaned. I laughed a bit as I stamped back down the hall to recut the letters. When I got back I put up the board and was admiring it as I moved a box to throw away. Right there were the letters. All 20 of them. I felt like the biggest doofus. The sadest part is it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last.

I am now starting the big fade. I have unwound and can hardly hold my eyes open. Good night and sweet dreams.

Work

The first day back has come and gone. It went pretty well, but I have the panicked feeling that I will not get everything done on time. I worked until 7 this evening and could go back, but I think I will wait until tomorrow. I am looking forward to the everyday routine starting and getting to know the kids. That is what makes my job doable. The kids.

Campbell slept well. The shades worked. He didn't wake up until after noon today.

Claire is amazing. She made a big NC county map for me and did it much faster than I ever could. It looks great.

Now I am off to do something quite humbling!

Using the Fabric

I worked on Campbells shades today. I didn't like the way they looked the first way I tried to sew them, so I took out the stitching and tried something else. I think it is going to work much better. Claire has four windows, so I am glad that I did Campbell's first. They have a good bit to go, and are now thumbtacked to the window becuase the light from the neighbors yard was bothering Cam. Hopefully he will sleep soundly tonight.

Summer Vacation is Over!

Tonight is my last little bit of summer. Tomorrow at 8 I will be at school sitting in the first staff meeting of the year. When that starts, the chaos will begin. There is a lot of anticipation about how this year will go. We have a completely new administrative staff. I am anxious about what new things will be implemented and how it will affect us. The waiting is over. We hit the road running in the morning.

My room is turned upside down, as most of our stuff was pulled out of storage for cleaning and left in the hall for us to deal with. I know it was needed, but the timing was terrible. We will have parents in there on Wednesday afternoon to meet us. Sorting through years of junk and deciding what to keep and what to trash is a lot to add on to the normal rush to get the room ready for "Meet the Teacher" and being ready to teach on Thursday morning. It will get done, but that's all that will be done for the next few days.

One of the last fun things that we did was go to the lake to swim. Claire was with the church youth group at lake Keowee and Campbell, Sam, Rusty and I joined her there The dogs loved the water. Sam just sits in the edge, or wades around and drinks. You would never know that he is a Lab and has webbed feet. Rusty did inherit the webbed feet, but he is a but skittish about the swimming. Campbell managed to coax him out and when he realized that he was actually swimming, he would turn around and head for shore. He was on a leash and Campbell would stretch out and body surf behind him as he swam. It was hysterical. Rusty is a very fast swimmer. I hope he will get so that he enjoys it as it is great exercise for him.

Better get to bed. The alarm clock has to be set and I have to get up in time to make lunch. I don't want to be grumpy and tired.

Goodbye summer...

Mystery Canisters

I have started storing some of my photos on Snapfish and they have bombarded me with new member perks. When you sign up you get 2o prints of digital photos free and they send you a mailer to process a roll of film free. I started looking around and found a couple of rolls of film in a basket with my unexposed rolls. I filled out the form and stuck them in the envelope and sealed it up. Since one is free the cost will only be $2.99. I figure that is pretty reasonable to find out what in the world I shot. I don't even know how long ago I took them. So the mystery canisters are going out in the mail this afternoon. I will be anxiously checking the mail to see what I thought was important or beautiful or inspiring at some point in my past.

I have been using my digital camera pretty exclusively, but this made me want to get my 35mm out and play with it some more. I love to take photos. I wish I were better so that I could make some money with it. I have thought about putting some of my better shots up for auction on ebay and seeing what happens. I guess I am afraid of rejection or something. I need to just take a big breath and try it. What can I loose?

Fabric Shopping with Kids

Tonight I went to a fabric store with my kids and my parents. My dad sat in the car the whole time. He was very patient and hopefully enjoyed the peace and quiet. Claire and Campbell went in because we were looking for fabric to make shades for their windows. We suffered through the torture and they actually found something that they seemed happy with. The objective was to match the fabric to the color that we just finished painting their rooms. That greatly limits the available choices, but after lots of "Yucks!" and " You have got to be kidding. That looks stupid." we came to a consensus. Campbell will have dogs on his windows. He is disappointed, however, that there was no yellow lab in the group, but we will add those in somewhere else. Claire, who has a very interesting sense of style, chose an opera goer theme. The colors are stunning and it is pretty cool. I think both will look good. Now I have a great excuse to pull out my sewing machine and loose myself in the rhythm of the needle going up and down. I would love to find a way to sew something that would be the next big hit and make me millions of dollars. If you have any great ideas you can send them my way.