It Sure Was Fun While It Lasted

Fall break is over. I get to get up early tomorrow and start back to school. My brain is rested. My body is rested. In other words, I did next to nothing for the past 4 days. I had such great plans. I always do. I seldom if ever get anything accomplished. However, I am a great planner of things to do. I used to make lists and cross things off as I finished them. I actually used to get to cross things off. I discovered as of late that I make the list, then don't get to mark off much. I stopped making lists. I see now that I still need to make lists. At least that way I can mark of a few things and feel better about my time off. We are so tuned to having to accomplish stuff that we feel lazy, unproductive, and downright sinful when we sleep in, put off projects and generally just do what we feel like doing.

D's Grandma would talk about how lazy she was. This woman washed all of her clothes by hand, worked like a man most of her 87 years, and took care of all of her own business up until the end. It's people like her that make the rest of us feel so guilty for not getting more done. Frankly, I enjoyed sleeping, watching TV, talking with Hubby D, visiting on the phone with Cap'n N, my sis and my bro, and doing as little as was possible over the past 4 days. I know I will pay for it tomorrow when the alarm goes off and I get to hit the floor running(slowly walking), but heck I am old enough to decide for myself how to use my time and that's what I did. The dishes, laundry, and cooking were taken care of so I wasn't completely useless. The rest of it will still be there for me to do when I get around to it. I'm thinking that might have to be sooner than later. Oh well, it will get done when it gets done. It is nice not having to answer to anyone butHubby D and me.

Maybe next week end will be the one.

Maybe we will both feel like getting things done.

Maybe our hearts will beat as one

.

Maybe we will make our work fun.

Maybe it's late and I must run.

Maybe this rhyming thing was fun?

or maybe not!!!!!

Whatever

Fall break came just in time. We used to count these days as school days so that the teachers had to go to Tulsa or OKC for a couple of days of "teachers' meetings" while the children got a break. Now they are just vacation days. I attended these meetings for a good many years and while some can be inspiring most aren't. We did get some "Fun Friday" worksheets about 20 years ago that I still use and my kids still love. However, since I am not inspired by inspirational speakers very often, the meetings aren't as valuable, rewarding or useful to me as they might be to some. My mother-in-law always loved her Spanish meetings, but then I am sure she was inspired. We're different like that.

Anyolewho, I am glad for the time off. We had planned to get lots of stuff done but Grandma Ann needed to go to the doctor and Hubby D is the good son who takes care of his mama. He took good care of my mama too. Dang he is good. Anyway, I started off Thursday by cleaning some, clearing out my closet some, and doing some laundry and dishes. I did manage to get some TV watching in there too. Since we have many new teachers who don't realize how hard we worked to get some benefits into our contract like not having to work the gate at ballgames, they voted to change some things as a compromise. Working at ball games was one of those things. Guess who got to work Thursday night? Guess who spent Friday trying to get rid of a sinus headache? Guess who would have been at the game anyway? I just hate going to a game and not being able to watch it. The view from the ticket booth is limited. However, we did sit on the track in our lawn chairs for the last quarter and I did get to do a little cheering(yelling). Oh well now it is Saturday and the headache is gone so maybe I can finish up on some of the things I started on Thursday.

I have papers to grade as usual. We just finished reading some Edgar Allen Poe and watching an old Stephen King movie, so I assigned my students the task of writing a Gothic story using figurative language. Some were excited about their stories while others were more apprehensive. One girl wrote about some kids from 1965 whose car broke down and their cell phones wouldn't work either. She is a sweet girl who is blonde and uses it to the best of her ability. From what some of my kids have said about their stories, I am looking forward to reading these papers. I will be amused, frustrated, and amazed as I read them. But mainly I will be proud of those who tried. I just hope some of them figured out how to incorporate smilies, metaphors, hyperboles and personifications into their stories. An English teacher can always dream!!!!!

While I was working the ballgame and Hubby D was at home trying to get rid of his headache, a miracle of sorts occurred. Snitzel Fritz(the cat) jumped up on Hubby D and actually slept on D's chest for 45 minutes. This cat does not jump up on people. This cat likes to be petted with feet more than with hands. This cat likes to be in the same room with you but does not want to be cuddled. This cat hides when we have company. This cat is atypical. Now that I think of it, he did let me hold him for awhile last Sunday morning. It has only taken 3 years. Who knows what the next 3 will bring!!!!! He is a strange cat but then we always do manage to get the strange ones. Some day I will write about Itty Bitty Pretty Kitty and our 20 years with him. Now he was a real sweetheart. Snitz and Bitty-------opposites for sure.

Hubby D is up and I need to get my "D" time before he heads off to work so I will stop my ramblings and go do some snuggling. My life is soooooooooooo good.

You Know That Time Flying Thing?

We have finished the 1st 9 weeks of school. It doesn't seem possible, but I have to have my grades entered by 8 Monday morning so I am pretty sure that the 1st 9 weeks is over. I have much grading to do but have not gotten myself into panic mode quite yet. Give me a few more hours.

I remember hearing "ADULTS" making comments about time going by so fast. I didn't put much stock into their comments because let's face it, they were OLD!!!!! Time has been zooming along my freeway of life here lately. Does this mean I am old or an adult? I always told Cap'n N that I might grow old but that I was never growing up. I do believe I have managed to stay true to that philosophy quite well. I guess I am just now getting the full effect of time moving at an ever increasing rate. Okay, so maybe for the past few years I have been getting the full effect. Heck, with time flying so fast who really knows when I lost my "sense of time virginity"? What I do know is that time has stopped marching on and now is wearing NIKE's and running at break neck speed. (Yes, I have been teaching figurative language over the last few days. My students would be astounded to know that what I teach might actually come in handy some day).

As I think of all those darling 14-18 year olds that I deal with on a regular basis, who have no clue whatsoever of their impending fate, I get a warm fuzzy feeling. I tell them, I warn them, I chastise them, I encourage them, I implore them, and I try to prepare them. I just have a hard time accepting the fact that they don't listen to my words of wisdom any more than I listened to those who tried to enlighten me back in the day. Experience is the real teacher. However, my hope is that maybe my words will come back to help them extricate themselves from some impending doom or disaster someday. Or, maybe I'll spark their ambitions so they will live up to their potential. Maybe I have had or will have at least a little impact on some of them so that their lives can be better and their experiences not so tough. Maybe this is why I am still at it in the classroom.

It's either that or the MONEY!!!!!

Liars-----Liars are cheaters and cheaters are liars.

Each day in my classes during the first 5 minutes, we try to do something uplifting, something to help develop a sense of pride/self worth or give some moral guidance. In the past we have done a quote, and I have had them write their own creed for each hour. The creed thing was getting old and more often than not they were not writing inspirational creeds. Their creeds were "Hey, let's do as little as possible, pass, and get on with it." Not exactly words to live by. This year I decided to start each day with a quote and a class cheer. Students are given different jobs such as door greeter, menu/daily bulletin reader, and leader of the quote. Each day the jobs change, and each week the people change. It gives each student the opportunity to get up in front of the class and take on a job of leadership. It also helps them learn that no matter how much they dislike getting up in front of people, they won't die from it. I always promise that if they do die I will do my best to get them into the Guinness Book of World Records.

If you read last week's blog, you got to hear about my liar. The guilty party did confess but it was really weak. Apologies or confessions which are buried in the middle of excuses just don't cut it. I should add that this young man is not the only liar that I deal with on a daily basis.
After my dealings with the "liar" last week, I decided to use a quote of my own this week. I have them repeat after me, "I will.. take full responsibility.. for any and all.. of my actions. If I expect to be treated as an adult,.. I must act like one." I have added little extras on a daily basis. Today we added "Lying is a naughty no-no". By Friday I am hoping to have at least made a dent. The culprit has looked mighty sheepish while reciting these words.

After all of the lying about my pencils, I had a student lie to me yesterday about something else. We had even recited the quote. They heard and recited the words. However, some of the students are so used to lying that they don't always seem to know truth from fiction. He lied knowing he was lying and knowing that we all knew he was lying. I called him on it and he confessed fairly easily but then here came the excuses.

My next project is to try to get them to understand or realize that cheating is wrong. I give assignments where students are to read and paraphrase certain material; you know write it in their own words. I have gotten papers that are paraphrased word for word, using the same misspelled words and wrong punctuation marks. I tell them that if they are going to use someone else's answers, they should at least read the answers, then try to put those words into their own words, and at least make their own grammar and punctuation errors. They even copy answers that have not been completed. HELLO!!!!! I am old not stupid. Any suggestions that don't involve torture, maiming, etc. would be gladly accepted. Love Mrs. E

Liars

I know I shouldn't be this upset over the following incident but this just got to me. I was gone from school Monday celebrating my 35th wedding anniversary. On Tuesday when I returned, I was getting ready to give an open book test to my English III class. It was multiple guess so we were going to use SCANTRON.

For any of you who don't know, SCANTRON is an answer the teachers' prayers. The student uses a no. 2 pencil and fills in little circles on an answer sheet; then, the teacher runs the key through a machine and feeds the students' answer sheets through. It marks them, gives a score, and even gives them the correct answer if the teacher wants it that way. ZIP, ZIP, ZIP!!!!! Since I require my students to use blue or black ink(it's an English teacher thing), I furnish pencils for test taking.

Imagine my surprise to find my pencil can empty. It had had at least 20-25 pencils in it on Friday. I mentioned this to my 3rd hour and 4th hour classes and was informed that someone from my last hour speech/creative writing class had absconded with the goods. It was a sophomore boy. I have 3 sophomore boys. I confronted the class last hour. They were in a state of shock after I got finished. They felt the total wrath of Mrs. E. They were not allowed to talk. They sat for the entire hour without talking. This in and of itself was a miracle because I usually spend lots of time trying to get them to quiet down and get on task.

I confronted the young men who had been implicated. I pretty well knew which one had done the deed. I thought I would give him the chance to confess. Now here is the kicker. He lied through his teeth. He swore up and down yesterday, as did his friends, that he had nothing to do with it. Today some of my juniors told me that he had taken them and had thrown them out the car window on a country road. Why? I have no idea. I don't know if the story is true or not, but today he kept denying it. The guys in the room looked on in disbelief and told him to give it up. He continued to deny any knowledge of the incident.

I really don't understand this. When caught lying, why wouldn't you just give it up? When you know that everyone around you knows that you are lying, why would you keep denying it? What would make you think that the teacher would suddenly look at you and say, "Oh, well of course you didn't do it; you've lied to me on many other occasions but not today. I know you are innocent and that these mean boys who say they are your friends are now just trying to get you into trouble"? I HATE THAT THEY THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE I AM OLD I AM ALSO STUPID!!!!!!!

If the kid had come out with it, confessed and offered to replace the pencils, it would have been all over. I am a forgiving person and I know that kids do this type of thing to be "cool". Hey we all have our stories of how we put one over on Old Lady Such and Such back in the day. However, if we got caught, we fessed up. We knew the consequences if we didn't. They don't fear consequences. They actually believe it is okay and that they will get by with it. I am not talking about all of my students but this class of sophomores has some dandies.

I know they are kids. I know that they have not been raised the way I was. I know many of their parents. Their parents would not have lied to me. This is a new generation and

Their Lying Really Gripes My Soul!!!!!

They want to be treated as grown ups. Right!!!!! I tell them every year that if they are going to do the deed, they better be ready to stand up and take responsibility for their actions if they are caught. That's how you earn the respect and right to be called a grown up. Accepting responsibility for your actions is a sign of maturity. Hmmmmmmm!!! I think that will be the quote of the week for the next 9 weeks. Maybe they will get the message. Maybe? Probably not. But a gal can dream.

Re: yesterday's pictures

Hubby D was able to enlarge the pictures on yesterday's blog by double clicking on them. This is for those of you who really want to get the full effect of our charming wedding pics.

We are off to big T town for a day of fun and frivolity also some shopping.

Have a great day. I'll catch you later.

Celebrating 35 Years of Wedded Bliss on Oct. 2

The memories come flooding back. How could it have been 35 years? Where did they go? I don't have the time to relate all of that but I can recollect the most important moments from that time.

We were married at the First Baptist Church in Wyandotte, Oklahoma at 2:00 p.m. on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. The church sanctuary was filled to capacity. We might have opted for a larger church, but since I was the preacher's daughter, my mom was adamant that we use our home church. I am glad we did. Even though there wasn't enough room for the reception and everyone wound up sitting in the church sanctuary to eat cake and drink punch, it was our home church with our friends and family.

The days leading up to the wedding were hectic. I was enrolled in my final semester of college and had planned on taking Friday and Monday off from classes, but on Thursday one of my instructors announced that we would have a major test on Friday. Okay, so now I am supposed to study for a major test and get ready for a wedding. My future sister-in-law spent the week prior to the wedding with my future in laws to help get their house ready for the rehearsal dinner. I stopped by their house on my way home from school to tell D about my test. I was, to say the least, a little distraught. The future sister-in-law took this opportunity to come down on me for not helping out with cleaning their house. The final straw came when my granddad came by to inform me that he was going to have a funeral for some man rather than come to be a part of my wedding. It wasn't someone he was close to or even knew really well. He could have told them he wouldn't be available or even suggested that they have the funeral earlier in the day. Nope. Not my granddad. Family always came second. That was the way he was and he never changed. Of all of the grandkids who married while he was alive, I am the only one whose wedding he missed. Judy(his wife) was furious with him.

After they left, I lost it. I don't cry easily, but that day the tears came. The release of all the tension that had been building up was cathartic. After all of that, I just decided to go with the flow. As long as D and I got down the aisle, said our vows, and made our union legal, nothing else mattered. The rehearsal and rehearsal dinner went well. D, his brother, his male cousins, his friends, and my brother took off for the bachelor party thing while we girls went home to sleep and get ready for the next day.

I got up on the day of my wedding and went out to D's house to check up on things. Yes, he saw me before the wedding, and it has had no adverse effect on our relationship. D does not do well with little sleep and much beer. Those naughty guys kept him out all night and got him drunk. Right!!!! Bless his heart, he did look a little worse for wear. He just sat on the couch in a kind of stupor. He did look better by that afternoon.

Dad walked me down the aisle and my Uncle Mike had the services until Dad was able to give me away. Dad did the rest of the service. He was especially good at weddings and funerals, always knowing just what to say and how to handle all aspects of any occasion. I sure do miss him. D just wanted to say the "I do" and "I will" parts and had made that quite clear, but Dad had him repeat lots more than that. Dad was rather ornery in some respects and I believe he had an inkling of what had transpired the night before.

Before the wedding, my nephew and little brother, who were both 6, almost got into a fight. I told the nephew that if he would just get through with Aunt B's wedding, he could beat the uncle up afterward. He took me at my word. We made it through the wedding and afterward during the reception someone came in saying G and M were fighting and that I had said it was all right!!! Oops!!!

Scroll down after reading this to see some accompanying photos. I tried to get them to fit in with my blog but somehow they moved to the bottom and that's that. The son was trying to tell us how to do this over the phone. When he comes home for Thanksgiving, we will have to get some personal hands on directions. D and I were both on the phone with him trying to figure it out. One of the things I have learned during the last 35 years is when to exit. We were both getting exasperated trying to figure this out so I left. When the two of them had it figured out, I came back. No harsh words, no arguing, no hurt feelings. I surely do love those two guys.

The first picture is just before the wedding. My niece was my flower girl and she wasn't too happy when the picture was taken so my sis covered her little tear stained face. I am supposedly showing them my garter; however, I had left it at home. The bridesmaids' dresses were perfect for the 1970s even if some have compared them to Denny's waitress outfits.

The next picture shows us walking down the aisle. We both had hair and were in pretty good shape. What a difference 35 years makes! In this picture I look like the cat that swallowed the canary and D look likes a deer caught in the headlights. He got over that pretty quickly.

The last picture is of the wedding party. One of the groomsmen was quite mellow. We didn't realize this until we got the pictures back and noticed his eyes. Good thing he didn't have to remember the wedding for a blog.

I have been truly blessed over the past 35 years. Not everything has been perfect but we have made it through everything coming out stronger in our relationship and love than ever. What will the next 35 years bring? Stay tuned.