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This is my niece, Lina, and my nephew, Leonard. They were in town to see my mom, who has been recovering nicely. We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, and it was so much fun! I'm still recuperating from the work of hosting such a big celebration, but it was definitely worth it!
The guy on the left is my son, Shaq, who did a magnificent job in the drama club's production of three one-act plays. That's his buddy, who was also phenomenal (and one of my students too).
My life has been crazy, but I wanted to take a minute to share a little of what has been going on lately. Best wishes for a wonderful week!
God bless!
not literally (I hope)!
Yes, I had a parent/teacher conference with her after school today, and she was so stuck on stupid.
It's teachers like her that make it so difficult for some kids to enjoy learning. If you hate children, why are you in the classroom?!?!?!?
It's all good though; I warned her that I would be speaking to the principals regularly throughout the school year. She can continue to mistreat my son if she wants to, but she better prepare for a battle.
'nuff said.
May I vent for a sec?
Why must married men be the only ones interested in me? What in the world do they expect? Wouldn't they wonder about ME and my fidelity if I DID choose to date them? My pastor and I happened to chat about this briefly this week. I find it intriguing that anyone would consider having a serious relationship with someone who would cheat (or be the "other" woman).
I got propositioned today, and I was totally offended. How dare he think I would even CONSIDER something so...so...inappropriate? Sheesh! Yes, I desire intimacy and companionship, but NOT with someone else's husband, for goodness' sake!
(whew)
Prayer request: Please pray that I remember that I am a child of God all day tomorrow. I will need to address something that happened to my son, and his teacher is my co-worker. (Yes, I teach English at the high school that my sons attend).
I tried to exhibit restraint by NOT addressing her today, but I definitely need to have a chit chat with her soon. Please pray! This is also someone with whom I have shared my faith, and that makes this doubly tricky for me.
Happy news: Pastor had my back today, and I totally appreciated it.
More happy news: My friend is feelin' pretty wonderful after her surgery this morning!
Even more happy news: My teenage boys are actually getting along, laughing, and playing a game together. I'm letting them stay up an extra half-hour just to hear the joy!!!
Best wishes for an incredible Thursday! God bless!
In case you hadn't noticed, I've had very little time to chit chat here. That's because I have been forced to grade all of these stupid practice OGTs for my 160 students. The reading test had 7 essays, and the writing had 1 short answer and 2 extended response questions (think full-length essays).
I don't want to grade any more tests!!! :o( It took 2 hours to get through a single class set of reading tests, and I have six classes. I'm halfway done; I left the rest of those at school.
I just finished the second batch of writing tests, and I have 4 more to go. I might be able to knock those out tonight; we'll see.
On a MUCH happier note, I met with Jamie and J.J. after church today, and it looks like I'll lead a Bible study for a local group of women beginning on Tuesday! Woo hoo!!!!! That's exactly what the Lord has been laying on my heart lately, but I had no idea how he was going to allow me to minister the word. Now I know! :o)
I also ran into a friend in the grocery store this morning before I went to church, and we're both having trouble in the guy department. In fact, after hearing my pastor's response ("Maybe God doesn't really want you to 'play' right now...") and her circumstances at the moment, we've both agreed that the single life is for us. Sadly, my heart yearns to be loved, but I guess God doesn't want that for some reason.
Church was especially hard today. Pastor rocked (as usual); I just felt this incredible sadness during the service. I even missed communion because I left the sanctuary for a bit to compose myself; I thought I was going to cry in front of everybody. I'm not sure what's wrong with me, but I'm glad I start ministry again soon. I rarely focus on my own issues when I'm loving and encouraging others.
I've given myself a 30-minute break, so I've gotta go; I wanna play Tetris before I resume where I left off. Have a great evening!
My morning began with a surprise visit from two of my fabulous friends, Melanie and Annette. They popped into my classroom to sing a few worship songs! Wow, what a fantastic way to start the day!
My classes seemed to run much more smoothly too! I had to give a few yellow tickets for excessive talking AFTER several warnings, but nothing major happened.
This afternoon I received a phone call from a parent who had some prayer requests. Isn't that amazing?!?!?!
I spent most of this evening at Bible study. Man, it was nice to have Pastor Matt back. Yes, the substitute teacher did his best, but it wasn't the same.
I'm tired but very peaceful at the moment. And you?
Seeing my friends in Columbus was fantastic! We also finished our work an hour early, so I was able to get home by 6:00 p.m. instead of 7:00!!! :PUnfortunately, I caught a nasty cold. I was up every few minutes all night on Sunday evening coughing. Hmph. Maybe I'll get over it soon.The trip itself was incredibly relaxing. I'm grateful, though, for kinda sorta living in the "country" - - - I don't think I'll ever get used to big city traffic. Where I come from, if there's not enough room to cut in front of someone, we usually just stay put. On a happier note, I'm hoping that my students were well-behaved! :o) We'll see in a few minutes...
Most of my kids did very well on their oral quiz today.I'm ready to relax for a second, though. I woke up incredibly early, worked all day, went to a 2-hour professional development class, and then prepped my stuff for tomorrow - - - but I still went to Bible study tonight. I left this morning at 6:30 and didn't get home until 9:15! Man, that's a long day. I'm definitely on the sleepy side! :POff to check FB, play a game of Tetris, and hit the sack by 10:00. G'night.
I've been running myself ragged...kinda like the Energizer bunny which, by the way, will eventually go kaput once the batteries die. We just never see that part in the commercials. :o) I need to rest.My weekends have been booked with prepping for school in August and grading papers last week. I'm burning out, but I'm not quite sure how to change my routine without getting behind in my work.I'm not doing anyting at church except praying for the ministries and building relationships with the women, so I don't go to meetings, have choir rehearsal, or teach Bible study anymore. Yet I'm STILL swamped. Where is my time going???? Hmmmm...I will leave for Columbus Sunday afternoon so that I can work on the proficiency tests for the state of Ohio. It's not exactly a glamorous job, but I haven't seen these folks in a long time (perhaps even a year). They are dear friends, and I'm excited about this trip! I'm also looking forward to having the hotel room to myself since there's no such thing as "quiet" time at my house. :PAmazingly, the start of the school year has been glitch-free! I've only had one gal push my buttons, but I pushed back - - - and lately she has been honoring the boundaries I have set.I hope all is well in your world. I'm going to play one game of Tetris before I hit the sack. Have a good one!
I went to work today to get ahead on preparing for the first day of school. I:
1.) cleaned out my cabinets.
2.) threw away stuff I knew I wouldn't use.
3.) worked on making folders for each student.
4.) made all the copies I need for the first three weeks of school.
5. checked my rosters.
That's when I realized that they had accidentally put my son in my English class! :o)
I will let them know about that tomorrow. High school is hard enough without having your mother for English class! :o)
( I'll keep this rated G.)
My friend, Melanie, went to Subway to pick up sandwiches for our lunch, but on the way back she saw a guy riding a bike. What's so odd about that? Well, he had apparently forgotten to put on his clothes.
Yep, he was adorned with only his birthday suit as he exercised. :D Thankfully, the police were quick to arrive.
On a happier note, today was my last day of summer school!
On an even happier note, every student passed with a C or better!!!!!! WOO HOOOO!!!!!!!! One of my little darlings said, "Ms. S., I learned more from you in four weeks than I did in a year. Thank you."
Wow.
Thank you, Lord, for blessing them with understanding as I presented material. Please keep your arms of protection around them as they begin their senior year of high school or, in some cases, graduate.
Father, all of them have tickets to "the 99," so PLEASE touch their hearts! Let them be curious enough to attend. I pray that all of them receive you as Lord and Savior! In Jesus' name, amen!
We had an unannounced fire drill at an awkward time: break (lunch).
But it wasn't a drill at all! Somehow the lunch ladies caught a pizza on fire.
Umm....I'm not quite sure how one does that, but that's the story I heard.
So my students and I enjoyed the beautiful summer weather for 45 minutes while the firefighters got everything under control. Unfortunately, one of the workers suffered smoke inhalation, which is why it took such a long time for us to receive clearance to reenter the building.
This afternoon, I'll meet a friend at 5:00 to help her with a project, and then I'll just sit tight and wait for my church's Bible study to begin. (We'll be at Panera; come join us!) After that, I'll get some much-needed rest. I stayed up late playing the piano/singing to the Lord, but now I'm sleepy!
Have a wonderful evening!
After work, I had a meeting with Pastor about my role in the church, and I feel MUCH better about everything. You may have noticed that quite a few of my blog entries have disappeared. That's because I have decided to erase every entry that contained even one ounce of whining.
:D
I want this blog to bless, NOT DEPRESS, people!!!!
(Hold me accountable to that, please. I'm on an "accountability" kick, and I'm getting blessed by the words of truth that my friends are sharing with me.)
I'm going to spend several evenings with some fellow Christians as we witness and pray with young people in the next few weeks. Please pray that we say the exact words God is calling us to use.
My boys will be home soon. They went to Cedar Point with their youth group, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about it! :o)
I praise God for every blessing, and I'm looking forward to seeing what He's up to not only for my life but for the lives of everyone I know! I love you, and I'm interested in your testimonies. I'm all ears!
I have had a long, busy week. I worked 7 hours every day, and then I helped with the kids at church on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening for Kids Fun Nights. Although it was enjoyable, I still greatly prefer teaching my teenage students. :D
I'm pleased to say that everyone earned an A or B during the first "semester,"which ended yesterday. Only ten more days until my summer begins!!!!
The weekend will be spent working on homework for my next grad class. It doesn't begin until July 27th, but I'm getting a head start since I already have the book. I'm looking forward to enjoying a few cups of decaf tea as I catch up on some recreational reading.
Enjoy your weekend!
I figured I'd just write short notes throughout the day so that people can pick and choose what to read (instead of one really long blog entry).
Tonight I met Nancy's sister, who thought I was beautiful and couldn't believe I was old enough to teach high school. (She got a great big 'ol hug for that one!)
Nancy's momma is doing better today because there was no radiation treatment. Hopefully, she'll go home tomorrow, so I'm glad I was able to get up there today. Please pray for Nancy's dad; he's understandably having a rough time.
I have a 9:00 a.m. meeting tomorrow; all of the summer school teachers have a meeting with the summer school principal (my friend, Mary), and then we'll have time to get our classrooms ready for the young uns on Thursday.
My buddy, Marlena, called, and she has more clothes for me. As she loses weight, she gives me outfits that don't fit her anymore. I'm going to give her two bags of clothes (that are too big for me) so that her residents can see if there's anything they'd like. I'll pick up her bag of goodies on my way to class tomorrow evening.
I'm going to work on my project again now. Then it'll be sweet dreams! Have a good one!
I proctored an ACT test this morning, and it was LOVELY! Man, I wish all of my classes could be that quiet for 4 1/2 hours! :o)
I did my workout and stuck to my eating plan for the day.
Then...
My mother brought KFC over.
I will not eat any...I will not eat any...
Alas, my willpower is pretty much shot at the moment...so I'm going to sleep. I can't eat fried chicken if I'm not awake! :o) I have been working too hard to ruin it with a little piece of chicken. Perhaps I'll have a skinless piece tomorrow for lunch, but I'm all out of points for today.
Sweet dreams!
I haven't been up this late on a school night in quite a while. Thankfully, ALL of my written homework is finished for this week!
Unfortunately, I couldn't complete the reading. I will try to get that done tomorrow afternoon by 4:30....which is when I need to head to class.
I forgot all about commencement tonight. I had planned on working straight through from 2:18-? to complete all of my homework, but I had to stop from 5:45-7:30 for graduation at school. It was beautiful! My job was to dispense programs...but only one per family. That always irritates some folks.
I finished writing, copying, and labeling make-up tests and then organized everything for tomorrow. It was 9:30 p.m. as I pulled out of the parking lot to go home. I had instructed the boys to make their own supper, but alas, they were waiting for me to cook when I walked in the door. So I made some ghetto spaghetti: I couldn't find a single box of real spaghetti, so I used my last box of pasta (lasagna). I couldn't make real lasagna because I didn't have all of the ingredients. I threw in a bag of frozen veggies to thicken the sauce, melted some mozzarella cheese on top, and voila! They had supper at 11:00 p.m.! ;o)
I'm not entirely upset about cooking so late at night since I now have a very nice lunch to take to work tomorrow. That way, I can eat at work and head to class as soon as the last child leaves my room. I can get quite a bit of reading done between 3:30 and 6:00 when class begins.
Thank GOD I don't need to keep up this pace much longer!!! Tomorrow is the first of three days for final exams (should be quiet at work for the rest of the week). Then Monday is basically a free day (and an early release day), so I will simply distribute final exam grades, 4th quarter grades, and year-end grades. I rarely see more than 40% of my kids on the last day of school.
As of next Wednesday, I will be able to work every day on my 19th c. American lit. class. I will be finished by June 24th, and then summer school starts on June 25th.
Let the good times roll...
This may not seem like a lot of time to you, but it's fabulous when your professor ends class early!
Yay!
Thankfully, my next project (the one due Wednesday) will definitely be finished tomorrow. I am NOT a night owl; in fact, I'm going to sleep in a few minutes. I will wake up early to work on it. Perhaps it will be finished before I go to work so that I can relax in the afternoon. That's my goal anyway. We also received the next assignment (due next Wednesday), but I won't even begin to do the research for that until Friday. It's finals week; my plate is full!!!!
I made some chicken in the crock pot, but it's too late to eat. The boys had supper while I was in class; there may not be any for me anyway. I don't exactly like chicken legs, so I won't be disappointed if it's all gone.
prayer request: Please pray for my friend, Kim. Her back hurts, and I'd like God to heal her asap! :o)
Have a wonderful Tuesday!
For the second time in one week, I've had to turn down a job offer.
I was approached to be the music director at a church I've never attended. If I wanted to play every Sunday, I could! I didn't accept because I feel God leading me to simply rest for a while (although the extra income would be lovely).
My first day at Maranatha was probably over ten years ago. I enjoy talking with the pastor and his wife, listening to Pastor's sermons, going to the women's Bible study, and participating in fellowship opportunities. My children already know everyone, and it's nice to simply be in the congregation for a change (instead of leadership).
Let's pray:
Father, thank you for the many income possibilities you have provided for me! I do, however, want to listen to your voice instead of being greedy about my finances. You know that I've been hurting, although I'm thankful for the peace and forgiveness You've helped me to feel towards some folks. Now, Lord, I'd like to move to the next step: I want to be able to show love to the individuals who have been harsh or merely didn't support me recently. Jesus, when I see these folks, help me to love them. Help me to see what You see, in Jesus' name. Amen.
I spent an extra hour in the grocery store this evening. :o)
Yep, God gave me a chance to minister to someone who was hurting. By the end of the conversation, she was laughing! God is awesome!
I feel great! I can't even describe how free and exhilarated I am at this moment. Wow.
My day at work was awesome too. One of the assistant principals tried to get me in trouble on Friday (after being a dork himself and attempting to "correct" me in front of my class). On Friday, I could have dwelled on it and stewed all weekend, but God had me re-focus my thinking. I had planned to go to the Relay for Life, so I kept my mind on those cancer survivors who continue to need prayer.
This morning the Lord led me to stay positive, so I spent a few bucks on thank you cards, packs of bubble gum, and some 100-calorie bags of chocolate covered pretzels. I wrote an individualized thank you note to each of the principals who have helped me this year. I encouraged them and deliberately mentioned specific acts of kindness they had shown me.
That made their day! It was so cute to see their faces light up when they saw me. Isn't God amazing? Instead of letting me whine and complain (which is exactly what I had planned to do), the Lord nudged me to be a blessing instead. That, my friends, was MUCH more fun!
My principal wanted to know exactly what happened on Friday, and I told her. I also explained that I didn't expect her to do anything about it since I'm a big girl; I simply wanted her to know that I wouldn't be as polite if he ever did that to me again. She said, "Oh no, I am going to do something. We (principals) have a meeting today, and I will make sure he doesn't treat you that way again."
Today I lived the scripture, "All things work for the good of those who love the Lord!"
Ha! I love it!
Then I got a hug from her (not a reprimand or a write-up) and was thanked for all of my hard work.
So there, devil! God is always in control!
I'm also getting pretty excited about starting class next week. It will, no doubt, be difficult to keep up with grading, lesson plans and my graduate work, but I'm sure God will help me. I'll keep you posted.
Keep me in your prayers, especially next week, okay?
You will definitely be in my mine. God bless you, my friend.
I had forgotten what it's like to have an entire day off.
For quite a while (years, actually) I have been working seven days every week during the school year. That's why it was a fabulous treat to sleep in (until 9:00 a.m.) yesterday, work out, cook, read a book and watch a few movies on television.
That's all I did! ;o)
No stress - - - no running around - - - no frustrations.
I have two more Saturdays to spend like that until my graduate class begins on May 18th. I'm actually looking forward to being the student for a while!
Today I will worship the Lord at home. I'm thinking of visiting another church this evening because I love corporate worship. We'll see what God leads me to do.
Tomorrow I'll be able to work ahead on lesson plans for summer school because my students will be working on a reading project that is due on May 14th. Midterms are due at 8:00 a.m., but I don't need to rush to school early because I turned in my grades last Thursday. :o) Working ahead on projects reduces my stress immensely, which is why I try to stay on top of everything.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend too! We (my children and I) will get a few things done around the house, but sometime this week we will need to get the weeding finished. All in all, no worries!
Have a great day! God bless!
This is my niece, Lina, and my nephew, Leonard. They were in town to see my mom, who has been recovering nicely. We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday, and it was so much fun! I'm still recuperating from the work of hosting such a big celebration, but it was definitely worth it!
The guy on the left is my son, Shaq, who did a magnificent job in the drama club's production of three one-act plays. That's his buddy, who was also phenomenal (and one of my students too).
