Sunday, August 31, 2008

Caitlinism

"We learned about nerf sharks in Marine Biology today." Caitlin announced to me.
I feel sure she must mean nurse sharks, but I'm thinking "this is gonna be good"
"Nerf sharks?" I echo.
"Yeah, they are the harmless kind", she says
Now, just follow her reasoning...it's made of foam rubber and you can throw it in the house and it won't hurt anybody....yeah....Nurf Shark!
I do so love her!

Ridin The Storm Out

So Gustav is in the Gulf
We in the South are kings and queens of the euphemism.
We can stretch 3 sentences into a paragraph without even thinking.
Since Katrina kicked our butts so bad,
we don't' even mention the word hurricane to each other.
Katrina is merely "The Storm"
What we are having now is "bad weather"
"Are you ready for the :bad weather:?" we ask with asterisks in our voices,
"Stay safe in the "bad weather"" we exhort each other in line buying candles.
So I am following in the paces of women all over the Gulf Coast
I am grilling all the meat in the freezer
getting out pallets to lay the children on
because they will all be coming home
to face the "bad weather "
together.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Yoga Feels Better Than Sex

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this entry.
I'm not sure what to do with realization I've come to mentioned in the title.
It's just that I wake up stiff some mornings
and so does my husband......


My husband
source of most of my joy
and much of my irritation
Do those of you who have been in a relationship a long time feel like this?
Some days I listen to old love songs
and I feel so disappointed....
the inevitable lies and hurts
 that build up over the years overcome me...
then I see him
and it's like the turn of a kaleidoscope
all I see is the charm and the gentleness in him I loved from the start
through the lens of the laughter,
 the babies,
 the fun
 and the stories that aren't funny to anyone else but us.
He is the only one that knows the me I once was....
So I guess I'll keep him.


Work is so hard.
I hve been transferred to the Multiple Disabled unit
I have 3 kids in wheelchairs
2 of them are also blind and deaf
I have 2 autistic kids and a brain injured child who are communication impaired.
They stay with me all day.
Plus I have to pull 11 other kids as a resource teacher.
I have 2 paraprofessionals who are wonderful
but the principal pulls one of them in the morning.
It takes 2 people just to change a child
3 of us to feed them
and that does not even allow for teaching time.
What if there was a fire?
I have made an appointment to talk to the principal
She is a very crazy uptight woman.
We shall see how that goes..
I think I will love it once I get things straightened out where I know what I'm doing.



When I pulled up at the house Friday
Terry
my son out law
pulled up at the same time
"Can we go in the house?", he said.
"I have something to show you"
He and Mariah have been together since she was 16
They are 27 and 30 now.
He shows me a wedding band and a rock the size of the end of my index finger.
"why now?" I asked after the crying and hugging.
"GG (my mom) is getting so forgetful and I know she'd like to be part of it"
So Mariah didn't know yet
and Caitlin and I have to keep our mouths shut....
She called me last night and said they were engaged.
"In what?' I asked innocently
"Oh,come off it, Mom, I know you know!'

and the circle turns again.




Friday, August 15, 2008

Grace

a few things happened today that made me feel a touch of grace
I'd like to share them with you



a young woman comes in the classroom
 her handicapped blind child on one shoulder
her 3 month old beautiful baby on the other
baby screaming
her face is totally composed
she is so serene
I have to stop in my frenzied preparation for the day
and enter her world
all is content there
She hands me the baby
kisses her son
In her eyes 
a joy
I talk to a mother
about her daughter
who has a severe seizure disorder
leaving her mentally slow
"she is a gift from God"
her mother says
her face glows
Do they know their lives are poems?

Monday, August 4, 2008

Walking in Love


I strolled into my school today, thinking I'd set up a few things in my classroom


My principal, who is not known for her tact, said,
" where have you been?"
I was taken aback
 "It was summer, wasn't it?"
She said "we've been trying to call you for 2  weeks.
I decided to move you to a new grade level and a new room.
The teacher who is going into your room wanted to set up , so we moved your stuff."
I said, "I changed my phone number"
,thinking to  myself,
 "I'm gonna do this every year, or else give them a fake one."
 Well all my stuff had been moved by the other teachers and THROWN in a pile on the floor.
I was not upset at all, while they were doing this , I was lounging at the beach.
 The teacher who had been in this room before never threw anything away.
There were still record albums in there!
And does anybody remember those purple ditto sheets?
 I worked all morning till my back hurt, then asked the principal for a key
 She said "you're not supposed to be in the office"
I had my IPOD on and Bob Marley was singing
"Dont' worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be all right"

So I just smiled and gave her one of my earphones
 then she laughed and asked me what I wanted
so old Bob works his magic from beyond the grave!
I'm gonna have an awesome year!
If people throw hate at me, I'm gonna throw love back!


I will love my new assignment, teaching intervention to K, 1st and 2nd grades plus I will have 3 multi disabled children who are wheelchair dependent, non verbal and must be fed and changed.
It's a real spiritual sort  of feeling , working with people in that elemental level
.
I'm going to have a good year
I decided already

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Lagoonagether

All's right with the world
Stace, Steph, Paula, Dana and I spent the night together
no kids
No husbands
No hesitancy
Just pouring out all our feelings
pouring a few cocktails too
saving up the fun till next time



Raw Oysters


Tom's 56th Birthday Dinner

Terry and Mariah took us out to Ed's Shed , our favorite place.
c

Twilight

I went to the bookstore at midnight
with Caitlin
to get her Twilight book.
It was a mob scene!
At least 200   teens
waiting for a book
when the magic moment came
the harried employee held up the first copy
they screamed like it was a rock star
some of them were reading on the way out of the store
some of them clutched their copy to their chest and cried
I love to see kids so excited about reading
There is hope!
Stephanie Meyers tells the story at an exhausting pace and can stretch PG rated sexual tension till your hormones ache
but it is all about love
romance
waiting
anticipation....

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Landmark


This day was a long time coming
but it took such a little while for it to get here...
My baby had her senior portraits made today.
These are just some I snapped
It just hit me
I don't know why I was surprised
Growing up happens so gradually
And all at once
At the same time.