Plans

So I made plans to go to Philadelphia in a few weeks.  I will go to the teacher's convention for one day, then on to Philly.  Super excited to go back to Wooden Shoe.  I haven't been there in years.  I certainly do not need more reading material, but there is just too much good stuff out there to read.  I have finished the first issue of my zine and need to get up the nerve to see if they will take a few copies.  To sell or offer for free?  I don't know.

I also have to make the plans for Paris.  I waited until hubby asked for the new week off.  Then time to brush up on the French.  One good sign:  I was yelling to Millie from the basement that it wasn't noon yet (her feeding time) and almost said it in French.  Have no clue where that came from, but I hope it keeps coming.

I have been completely exhausted - like every other teacher in this country, it seems.  My free time is spent reading, combing fleas off Millie and trying not to fall asleep.  However, there are a few art shows I want to get into, so I need to get on the stick.  There's just too much going on right now for me to carve out a sliver of time for my art.  Not good....

Students blogs

SO this Friday was the first day of responses to my Photography II Visual Journal.  I had a few type their responses.  The ones I have read so far have been really surprising in their depth of thought.  I have just looked at the Tumblr blogs that others have started.  Ooooh, they are great!  I am glad I let the students use that host site.  They have such a level of comfort with the site.  They have posted images that flesh out their ideas in ways that I have wanted to see since I started this assignment a few years ago.  I am so proud of them.

I needed that kind of surprise.  Teaching and the issues this profession entails have been defeating me lately.  While I love what I do and the moments in the classroom are still the best part of this, the outside forces are wearing me down.  And it has absolutely nothing to do with the school I teach in.  It comes from higher than that.  I am tired like I have never been before.  I slept ten hours last Friday night.  I normally get by on six.  This is not good.  Thank goodness the kids keep me going.  I am working hard with groups outside of the school to stop the harmful changes and implement worthy ones.  People say I need to slow down.  That's all fine and dandy, but there are too few of us fighting for what is best for the students and school communities.  If we stop or slow down, we will lose.  More importantly, the kids will lose.

Fixing things...

So now that this website has been unblocked, I can now post more regularly.  When I am home, I get distracted while on the computer:  politics, educational issues, art stuff, and cat pictures.

It is October 4th and I am already sick.  I wish I could have taken two days off, but I don't like the mess we inevitably come back to.  No matter how good or bad the sub is, the students never want to do the work.  But right now I feel like it is a battle keeping the boogers up and off the work...

So many things are changing with education so I know I will be speaking about that a lot.... I just need to try to breathe right now.

Sharing

Really excited about sharing my plants.  A co-worker came over today to get some.  I will be giving some to my sister and gave some to my parents too.  I have stuff that spreads and I hate to thin them out and just toss them into the compost.

I also found out that my asthma medication probably gave me a bone problem - osteopenia.  It is a pre-cursor to osteoporosis and usually doesn't come about until after menopause.  I am nowhere near menopause.  I use an inhaler that has a steroid.  I rarely use it at this point, but I don't ever plan on using it again.  I grow mullein in my yard (yeah, that tall grey-green fuzzy leaf thing you see on the roadside) and would rather use something that doesn't hurt me and costs nothing.  I pick the flowers and either put them fresh in my water or dry them and use them later in the year.  Screw the drugs that made me get this condition...

Oh, and it is REALLY hot here and Millie, hubby and I are getting by with one wall unit air conditioner and the rest of the house with fans (ceiling and floor).  Hell yeah!

Summer update

So let's see...

I went to Italy with a bunch of students.  Had a grand time.  Swam in the Mediterranean, had some gelato, introduced a couple of them to real espresso and cappuccino....

I built a railing for the basement steps.  And it doesn't wobble!

I fixed a crappy patch job on the baseboard trim in our living room.

I have been gardening like hell.  Being away from home in the beginning of summer when things are in full force means a great deal of clean up and catch up.  I am finally getting it under control.  But the damn mosquitoes slow me down.  I tried lavender, mint, natural repellent products and even resorted to lethal Woods Off!.  Nothing works.  They love my blood.  I might resort to eating garlic cloves on a daily basis.

Graduation

So the senior graduation was last night.  I am always sad to see individuals go.  However, this year I am overwhelmingly sad to see a large amount of them go.  There are a greater number of students I will miss dearly.  I tried to have an impact on all of my kids - not always successful, I fear - and I want them to remember their time with me in a positive way.  But I also want to know how they will continue to do after PV.  And I know I will only ever hear from a few.  There are some I really grew fond of, protective of, or admired a lot.  I have never felt this sense of loss in my 15 years of teaching and it is weird.  I went to bed very sad last night.

I guess the closest thing to this is when a parent/parents have a child move away.  I will never have kids and my students are my kids.  There are those who I know will do well, and I want to know all their happy stories.  Then there are those who shared way too much or those who put up a wall and shared nothing and I will worry about them.

There are many teachers whom kids want to keep in touch with; they meet for coffee, talk about their lives.  I hope that if any of my students from this year want that from me, they know that I would be more than happy to.  I believe that a good teacher never stops caring about his/her students, even long after graduation.

Gosh, having feelings like this is so weird for such a sarcastic, non-touchy feely person.

At least I have those past students who like to keep in touch, visit, talk online, and sometimes even meet for coffee.

Sniffle....

Budapest observations

Some cool things:

• The cigarettes they smoke must be quite mild.  I am allergic to many American ciggys and hate having the smoke blown in my direction.  Tears, itchy eyes, etc..  But we could walk directly in the path of a smoker and no problems!  More natural tobacco with few additives is my guess.
• With the weather so horrible, hubby started talking in a fake East European accent about the "brutal" weather.  It was funny to me, at least.
• Seeing a man in line to buy tickets at the train station kiosk with a bird of prey on his arm.  No one looked twice.  Except these two dopes.
• Having the clerk at the Mai Mano House of Photography book store think I was Hungarian because of how well I spoke my greeting.  Score!
• Meeting a really cool guy at the Printa store/gallery/cafe.  This place was amazing.  He was nice to talk to.  They had so many cool screen printed items.  Just a hub of creativity and nice people.  Breaks all stereotypes Americans have of the former Soviet satellites....
• Chestnut dessert.  Thin like angel hair noodles.  Texture of marzipan.  Heaven.
• Wonderful prices on coffee and super strong.
• Cafe Montmartre with a death metal/Megadeth obsession. Don't ask.  It was weird.
• The architecture.
• The appreciation for art and music.

I cannot convey how much I love this place.  I feel like I belong.  Yes, there are crazy bad things - like every place - but the only other place I feel so at home is DC.  Sigh....