Things I miss

Did you ever notice that as time passes, some things fade out of your life? Some of those things are things you don't want to keep around (strep throat, alcoholic boyfriends, stuff like that), but some of it, when you think about it later, makes you smile.

1. "Neil's Dad!!": Fighting Sioux Hockey Season 07-08. Riding the fan bus from Overtime. Once we realized that the bus driver was the owner's dad, Amanda and I wasted no time coming up with a slogan that was his alone. I am sad that Neil sold the bar, mostly because I will miss Neil's Dad driving the bus.

2."You girls very beautiful.": When I lived in Oakdale, my friend Naomi and I would go get french manicures done every few weeks and we always got this one guy (that we nicknamed Naomi's boyfriend) and he always had to tell us how beautiful we were. It was creepy but it always made us laugh.

3. "You moving out with me?": When I was in high school, when we got home from school, we used to clean up the house before mom got home from work. Usually, we would listen to music while we did this. Often times, I would play some tape so that I knew the songs and one of the tapes was Billy Joel. I would listen to Anthony's Song, and when it would get to the "I'm moving out!" part, I would always ask Steph if she was moving out with me, and she would always say yes.

I am sure that there are tons more, but it's late and tomorrow is going to be a long day (going home for the 4th), so I better wrap this up. Feel free to mention some of your own.

A novel experience

So yesterday, I had a novel experience. I went to a graduation open house. Now I have been to several of these. Some, I have attended as a friend, some as a cousin, even as a sister. But yesterday's experience was novel because I have never attended one of those as a 'teacher'. And I have to say, it was fun.

Even though the invitation was given to me, I brought my family with me. And I had to laugh because when she (the student) saw the small person with me, she immediately knew it was Lukin...my husband, not so much. She came up right away and asked if that was Lukin and then said, "I have heard so much about you!" And then I introduced my husband and she was like, "Nice to meet you." I thought it was funny. Obviously, we had spent more time talking about little kids during our sessions because her mom runs a daycare.

I enjoyed the experience seeing as I have never had a student who was a senior before. And I have to say that if I work in that school again next year, it will be sad to not have her around. She could always make me laugh. And I wish her the best of luck in the future.

No stay-at-home wife here

I can think of lots of things to write about but one in particular jumps out in my mind tonight. I dated this guy back in 2003 who once told me that I would not be able to handle being a stay-at-home wife. I think I was angry at the implication but then the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with him. He was right (about that...he seemed to think he was right about everything). Anyway, as we are getting to the end of the second week of summer vacation, I think that being a stay-at-home wife just in the summer is a bit much for me. There's no set structure, except that which we create, and I am worried that I am not offering enough exciting educational experiences for my son. But, he's two, and I am pretty sure that he is excited to go outside and play ball, blow bubbles, and slide down the slide at the playground every day. But I can see myself getting bored with that everyday.

But when I think back to when my boyfriend had made that comment, I think he was referring to the fact that I couldn't handle: a) the unorganization that is the joy of having children around, and b) having to get permission to spend money. He was wrong about a. Lukin is the best thing ever. Yeah, he's a kid that sometimes makes messes, but that's part of their carefree, impulsive nature.

But he was right about b. That would pretty much just piss me off to no end. Seeing as I started my professional life being single, it's hard for me to think that people do that. "Can I go buy something?" Eff that. Sometimes, I tease my husband that I have to get "The Sarge's" permission to buy stuff, to which he replies, "Like you would listen anyway." He's right, I would be like, "Don't tell me what to do." And I would go buy whatever it was anyway.

Still, the whole 'being at home' thing has really got me thinking about what it is I want to do in the fall. I will confess that there is a certain appeal in the idea of working full-time, year-around, that I have never experienced. Not that I wouldn't experience it and hate it immediately, but you never know.

I will wrap this up by saying that as I was finishing up grad school there was this guy I knew that told me that once I finished my graduate work, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I laughed as I said that I would sleep. But that guy had incredible insight because he could see that I wouldn't deal well with little or nothing to do. I still don't. Hmmph. I bet that guy has his Ph. D. and is making a lot of money with that insight now.

No Day but Today

So, on Wednesday night, I took my husband to see RENT. If you have seen the play, then you understand the appeal. If you have only seen the movie, you need to see the play to understand the entire appeal. To quote the usher at the play, "the movie sucks." I agree with him. I was trying to explain that to my husband, even though he has never seen the play or the movie. In the play, the entire first act takes place in one night. In the movie, it takes place over several nights. That ruins it for me right there. It's kind of like how a book is always better than the movie. It's like that.

Anyway, for those of you who have seen it, it was awesome! It was my third time seeing the play and my first time seeing it since I became a soundtrack owner when I lived in ND. We sat in a box. That was awesome. The lady in the couple sitting next to us was seeing it for the fourth time and she and I promised to try not to sing along. Although, we both confessed during intermission that we were mouthing along. That was funny.

Anyway, that was our culture for the week. Now back to the daily grind. Have a swell weekend everyone.

Last Day (again)

So here I am. Ten in the morning and I am actually done with everything that I need to do. My shelves are all organized and my car is packed. There is a tiny pile (maybe ten sheets) of paper that need to be shred. And my check out paperwork sitting beside me. It's a far cry from the way the room looked when I got here this morning.

Yesterday, I came with this energy to get everything done. I had completed all my necessary paperwork but wanted to make sure that I organized the files for each of the students only to realize that I hadn't cleaned out those files since I started here. That process took all of my morning and part of the afternoon. I had a box that was full, and couldn't be closed, of papers that needed to be shred. By the time all that was done, it was 2:30 and I hadn't even touched my classroom. It made for a fun day.

But it did have a fun ending. We all went out for adult beverages. It was fun to sit and visit with some of the people you never really have a chance to visit with during the year. And it was especially important to go in case I don't get to come back next year.

So, I have packed up my room, again and will spend another summer interviewing for jobs I don't want, again, and waiting for the phone to ring and for Stephanee to offer me my position back with the necessary time allotment that I need in order to qualify for insurance, again. I hope to be back and I hope not to have to do this packing again next year.

Looking out for Number One

This morning I did something that I wouldn't normally do. I called a woman back regarding an open position in her district. Granted, I didn't actually talk with the woman herself, but the message went something like this:

"Hi, I am calling in reference to the message that I received regarding the .5 position open at your high school. I wanted to let you know that I am currently looking for a tenure-track position with benefits, and so if the position you were calling about meets that criteria, please call me back and we can set up an interview. The interview time that you had suggested does not work for me as we are still in school."

I have to keep telling myself that what Autumn said is true: They need us more than we need them. If there is such a need for people with my training, then I have the right to ask for what I want in a job. That doesn't mean that I will get it, but I know that I won't get what I want, if I don't even ask. So we will see. Like I mentioned before, keep your fingers crossed for me.

Thursday ramblings

So today i stood up for myself. Well, I don't know if that's the right way to say it but, I did something today because I want to have my same job in the fall. Yesterday, I talked with one of the teachers here at school and found out that our building supervisor actually has no control over who is hired as the SLP. Great. I wish I would have known that fact. I thought that by asking me if I wanted to come back was kind of indicative of that not being true.

Regardless, I found this out yesterday and had a mini-nervous breakdown because I am not seriously persuing other options. I called my husband as I drove between buildings and talked it over with him and then proceeded to go to my next school where I talked it over with the SLP that I share an office with. She told me that she sent an email before stating what she wanted to work and basically just letting the 'powers that be' know what she was looking for in staying with the district. She also let me know that she did that when she was not tenured, so that it would be okay for me to do that, not being tenured.

So that is what I did. I typed up this letter and wanted to show it to the building coordinator, but she was in a meeting with the rest of the special ed. coordinators so I sent the letter to all of them via email. Now I wait. I felt silly and rather presumptuous in doing that, but many staff have told me that by doing that, it was a good way to let them know I am interested and to keep my name in their ears. So keep your fingers crossed for me.

Random thoughts on a Wednesday

So I want to give a quick shout out to Sonny's best man, who came down to see us this weekend. Granted he wasn't even here for 24 hours, he still made the trip. We took him to a Twins game and then out for wings and beer (and Amanda there was sports on the TVs around us). It was fun. But I learned not to make bets about people who have never come to see us, coming to see us. It's like an instant incentive for them to show up and then I lose. Boo.

So last night, I was trying to do my jumping jacks and jump roping again, but my knees still hurt. Yuck.

I am ready to be done with school. Working into June is way outside my ZOF. Having gone to school up through college and then into the professional word for four years not working in June, it is hard to get out of bed in the mornings these first two weeks of June. I know, most people don't work in education and have to work all year around. But, like I said to my husband when he made a comment about that, "Whose fault is that? Not mine."

This morning I finished up the last two reports that I have to complete for the year. Thank goodness. I stared at this last one for like 10 minutes because, even though it was adequate, I felt like I didn't know what to write. My brain is ready for summer vacation. I wish I got to go on a bunch of field trips in the last seven days of school, but I don't. Itinerant staff never gets that luxury. Bummer.