a blended life

This is one of those times where writing might help clear up some thoughts I have. I've mentioned before that Hannah does or says something everyday that surprises me. This story is a classic example. It's been developing for a few days and has gone from shocking to hilarious and ended up at heartbreaking. Some background: Hannah had a best friend boyfriend. I don't know what else to call it. She loves him like a friend and had a kindergarten crush on the poor boy. Hannah has the emotional capacity of a 12 year old and I think it's hard for those her age to keep up with her. The Shocking: Last Thursday at dinner, Leah announced to the group that Hannah and her boy toy had been touching each other's private parts behind a tree during recess. I know I should be past the point where Hannah does something that surprises me. This caught me a little off guard, so I told Hannah we can't be doing that kind of stuff, bodies aren't to share like that, and do...

First of all, I know that looking at other people's vacation pictures can be excruciating. Thank you for being tolerant and supportive. I won't post anymore vacation pictures until the next vacation. You're welcome. Coming home has been both awful and mildly ok at the same time. I've had a major case of the tireds, but I'm also excited to wrap up this semester of student teaching and get on with life. I've got a lot on my mind and a lot of thinking/planning to do for the future. I promise I won't leave my faithful friends and family out of the loop, but I may not know what that loop is for a while. When I got home from The Big Trip, I found a candy bar poster on my bed. I actually laughed out loud! Here's what it says: "Dear Mom, U-NO us RUNTS missed you. It cost a PAYDAY or 100 GRAND to go on that SPREE. We liked the story of the WHOPPER SWEDISH FISH that did WATCHAMACALLIT in the water. LOOK, we know you had a LAFFY TAFFY SYMPHONY w...

This is long. No apologies. I always got snarky when people posted stuff about their tropical vacations. I will now be one of those people and if it makes you feel snarky, I totally understand and will not be upset if you don't read this. I have a relatively serious case of Adventure-itis so if an opportunity comes to get out of dodge, ya know I'm gonna take it. And if the opportunity comes to see a certain someone from a certain LDR (your acronym for the day for long distance relationship), ya know I'm gonna take that, too. March ended up on a super, extremely crazy note. I had to finish my student teaching portfolio--a collection of reports and forms summing up my student teaching experience. In addition to teaching, grading, etc, we also had to do 11 projects involving IEP meetings, testing for academic ability, and working with other teachers and staff. I finished that beast up on Good Friday and celebrated by throwing it across the room. Then turned it in. Easter...

My apologies to my faithful readers for the month lapse in posting. I have no solid excuse, except I've got my head in the teaching game. Plus some of you have asked about the mysterious relationship that I've been mysteriously avoiding talking about. Ahem.... There is a mysterious relationship. It's long distance. Don't ever do a long distance relationship. But he's fantastic so we'll let that one slide. Did that help?? Back to matters that are right in front of my face all the time. I've realized a few things during these few months of student teaching: 1. There are no jobs in the area. The schools districts around me AREN'T HIRING. #$%&^. 2. My daily adventures include issues with bullying, iPhones, healing tattoos, gauge earrings, ADD medication schedules, iPhones, useless faculty meetings, juvenile detention and major boyfriend/girlfriend drama from the students. And could you please put your phone away. Again. 3. I teach the ...

Is anyone else celebrating that February is over? I know I haven't posted much this month. I'm barely keeping my head above water with student teaching. Overwhelming doesn't really describe the stress I feel everyday. Luckily, I love what I do and still want to be a teacher. I had my final evaluation this week, will turn in a portfolio in a few weeks, and finish out this crazy adventure by April 26th. This month I've been teaching exponential growth and decay and will finish out my last weeks teaching  how to factor polynomials. Try to not fall over with shock--I still can't believe someone is letting me teach this stuff either. Here's a conversation I had with one of my students: Sophomore girl: What are we doing today? Me: Word problems with exponential growth. Girl: Yeah, well boys suck exponentially. High school issues are rough and the drama gets pretty thick sometimes. I've already dealt with kids being suspended, sent to juvenile detention, ...

She turned 6 last week.  Wanted overalls. I finally found some at H&M at the last minute. Likes Bruno Mars. Kissed a boy on the playground. Is the boss of everything. Is disappointed that she didn't lose a tooth when she was 5. Takes ballet and tap dancing lessons.  Always ready for adventure.

The second worst month of the year has been a mixed bag. I spent all of last week taking care of a sick Hannah with the flu, then all of this week taking care of myself (barely) with the same illness. I didn't have it nearly as bad as Hannah, but it was enough to put me in a seriously foul mood for several days.  But I can't be too grumpy about life. There really have been some sunny spots in our otherwise dark, cold days.  For example, the sun came out today for a few minutes. I think it warmed up to 40 degrees. I basked like a boss: School is both stressful and fabulous. I go to work happy, excited that I have found a profession that I love. It can be incredibly difficult--I feel like being a Resource teacher is akin to being a behavioral/emotional disorder counselor. I really love the students and honestly, truly enjoy working with them. One of them wrote a little note on my white board: Maybe I should have kept my shoes on for this one. Whatever...