As luck would have it...

"I am what I am and, you know, I'm a very lucky guy."
-Michael Bloomberg

What a crazy afternoon! The power went out at school, and was out for about 45 minutes. Luckily, it was my planning period, and I had no kids around. And, then to round things out, just as the buses were being loaded, we went into an official tornado warning. I grabbed about ten sixth graders who were leaving for the bus and had them crouched in the stairwell. They were scared, but luckily we only had to be there for 30 minutes.

Afterward, the teachers who were close to the weather radio were talking about how a tornado had been located at the intersection nearest to our neighborhood. And, then had been spotted on the street behind our neighborhood. Of course, I panicked a little bit, but thought even if half my house is gone, it's already been raining for half an hour... better not rush off too quickly.

As I drove through the pelting rain, all traffic was being rerouted around our neighborhood, and I had to ask a police officer to let me through. As I drove through the subdivision, I couldn't really see any damage in the dark. Luckily, I arrived to find our house was fine, and the power was even on!

But when I searched for the local news, I was unnerved again, just seeing how close it really came. The neighborhood right next to ours was hit pretty hard. Just across the field. Not 2500 ft away.

We are so lucky. And, I'm not taking that for granted tonight!

A written reminder...

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."
-William James

Today was the first day back to school after a long break. I lost my voice during first period. I lost my patience during second period. And after school, when the school lost power, I decided to call it a day.

But because I have a new resolution to think positively, I want to share a note that I received from a student last week. She's a really low-level, ELL (English Language Learner), so I haven't made any changes to her grammar. And, even though I'm still a little unclear of whether she is actually leaving our school (she was at school today)... this is a reminder of why I teach.

"Dear Mrs. B--,
You are very nice when I first meet you. Mrs. B-- I am telling you all about me and my heart because I am smart because of you who has been trying hard to get me through all the works or all the troubles that I don't know. You are the BEST Mrs. B--, I um I just want to tell you that whenever I say good bye then that's my last day of school. I was wishing that one day I could stay at this school forever but I guess my wish didn't come truth. Mrs. B-- thank you for everything. I hope that God will guide all of the teachers that have been trying there best to help me out. Thank you so much to all of the teachers who have been trying there best to help and support me. Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
S-- T--"

Finally I hear him snoring...

"I learned a long time ago that minor surgery is when they do the operation on someone else, not you." -Bill Walton

I've been eager for these days of vacation from school, but today in the pre-op room, reality finally struck. This was going to be no picnic. Today Rob had surgery on his nose to correct his deviated septum and remove excess polyps...aka to help him breathe correctly.

I was a little bit nervous, afraid I was going to cry when they wheeled him away to surgery. Sometimes I'm just too sappy for my own good. This was just day surgery after all. Rob, too, was a little bit nervous. But, mostly he was just hungry. He couldn't eat or drink ANYTHING for the last 12 hours.

As soon as they took him away, I hurried downstairs to the food court to fill my own belly. And, then I sat in the waiting room. And, sat. And, sat. They messed my name up every time they called it over the loudspeaker. Each time, I cautiously crept towards the desk... "did you mean me?"

Finally the doctor called the lobby to tell me it would be about an hour more. However, he meant an hour until I could see my husband. He didn't mention the two hours we would spend in the recovery room, with a dumb nurse, an obnoxious conversation behind the next curtain, and another patient who seemed to be coughing up a lung. From Rob's last surgery, I most remember his flirtatious and boisterous nature in the recovery room... this time he was just ornery, and getting crabbier by the minute.

By the time they finally pushed his wheelchair to the car it was 6:00. We had a thirty minute drive back home and arrived at the Target pharmacy just moments before it closed. When the pharmacist replied, "Don't go far. We close at 7." I replied, "I'm running out to the car to change his bandages, but don't worry, I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."

We got Rob settled in the bed upstairs (his choice, and I wasn't going to argue), propped up on old pillows (he refused to dirty the new ones), wearing fleece pj pants, two shirts and a load of blankets (he was cold), gave him a couple of slices of bread (his first food of the day), popped a pain pill (he's too manly to ask for two), and waited for sleep to come.

Finally I hear him snoring...

A Week in the Life...

"Memory... is the diary that we all carry about with us."
-Oscar Wilde

Inspired by Ali Edwards' "Week in the Life" project, my mom invited me to join her last week in documenting my week with words and pictures. The ultimate goal is to create a scrapbook/mini-book to remember the daily grind. However, who knows when that will actually happen, so here's my week in review. I've also written a daily journal as a Google document to remind me of the details of each day.