Funny as Hell

This made me laugh out loud.

Almost Funny

This would be funnier if our county wasn't forcing us to go to school when there is no clean water, the clean-up isn't finished, and 40 roads are still blocked.

My Kids

Chelsea, Michael, and Doug

Michael and Doug

And btw, this is my classroom, if you ever wondered what it looked like. We were in a circle that day for the Native American storyteller who visited to share origin myths. :)

That's Right

That's right; I haven't blogged in a month, which is how long we've been in school. Care to hazard a guess as to what's keeping me so busy? If you guessed school, you get the cardboard cookie. School is kicking my butt, and honestly, it feels like the earliest in the school year that I have ever been so stressed. I'm teaching 6 classes, with 3 different preps: American Lit., Creative Writing, and Communication Skills. Students only have 4 minutes to get to class now, but there is construction going on, so we're supposed to be "a little lenient." Consequently, students are late to class, every day. Our principal has suddenly become the invisible man, hiding out in his office all the time. As mentioned above, there is construction, which, in the end will result in a beautiful two story building replacing the antiquated 100 hall, but in the meantime, is annoying, loud, and ugly. The lunch schedule is completely screwy this year because we have 7 periods now instead of 6. Our football team is on a major losing streak this year. Everyone is sick, so I've already been sick twice this year. Teachers have received a pay cut, along with furlough days, so we're doing more with less again. My classroom size is almost unmanageable. My students, by and large, are lazy.

I try not to complain this much, but it feels like if I don't get it all out, I will explode. The current plan is to start grad school again ASAP and see if I can make the transfer to teaching college (although you know I must be a masochist because I will probably stick to teaching high school, anyway).

I think I'm going to go play in the garden for a while. Sigh!

It's Here

School has begun. It's all good, but man, I'm exhausted. Feet hurt. Tired!! I'm teaching 6 classes -- 4 American Lit, one remedial writing, one creative writing. My classes range in size from 15 to 34. We have over 1700 students now, and we've finally gotten SPLOST to build another building full of classrooms. That's cool, but we desperately need a new cafeteria. I guess I am just happy I still have a job, when so many slots have been cut. I need to write a real post soon!

Feeling Furtive

Maybe someone will get this, but I wish you could see me using the food stamps debit card I received to help pay for groceries. This is money the Dept of Family and Children Services is giving me to help with the expense of having an extra child in the house, but it makes me feel guilty whenever I use it. I guess it's from a lifetime of working hard for my money. This idea of free money that I didn't earn is all new to me!

How's It Going?

That seems to be among the FAQ, with regard to our new ward, Doug. It's going very well, actually. He and my son are currently sharing a room; so far, they are getting along just fine. They have always been friends, and they are about 11 months apart in age, with Doug being the older of the two. He has a very easygoing personality, perhaps from all the changes he has already endured. He's definitely learned to adapt. He does suffer from mood swings, not surprisingly. His emotional seems to range from very happy to extremely quiet, with no outward signs of anger or depression, necessarily. He told me that he thinks he is bipolar, from what he knows about the disorder; this is certainly possible. At the very least, he must suffer from a certain amount of depression. It's only natural, and it's one of the matters I want to address, as soon as I can locate a counselor who accepts his Medicaid card.

We have discovered that we will need to watch out for his "Mr. Fix-it" quirk; things that are broken or aren't working properly trouble him, and he tends to take things apart to see if he can fix them. He likes to keep busy, so I've taken to assigning him projects. This week, he and I will be painting the boys' room and getting it a little more organized for all of their combined stuff. Unlike my son, he isn't a picky eater, thank God. He will pretty much eat whatever I put in front of him. Chelsea, who is now 18 and about to move on campus anyway, isn't home often enough for any problems to have arisen. Either way, she says she thinks what we're doing is great, and she has always thought Doug was a nice kid. He hasn't spent a whole lot of time with my husband yet, although Mike has certainly made himself available. He hasn't had a strong male figure in his life, and still idolizes his natural father to some extent, despite his dad's addiction problems and illegal activities. In time, I hope the two of them -- Mike and Doug -- will bond because I definitely think Doug needs a better role model.

As for me, everything has been good. I am already getting over feeling like I need to "entertain my guest," if that makes sense. I'm still trying to figure out the food stamps debit card, having had no experience with that kind of thing. I think the current card has been disabled, because the PIN that Doug's aunt gave me does not work. I will put in a call to the local office tomorrow and try to get some answers about that and a few other nitty-gritty details. We have one more week before our petition for guardianship is officially approved, so we might not be able to get his aid stuff coming until that date, which is fine. We're not in dire straits, but of course, every little bit helps.

Doug loves school and is looking forward to the start of this year on August 7. He will be a sophomore, and his grades have been excellent so far. He would like to try running track. His aunt never let him participate in any extracurricular activities because of the time commitment. She didn't want to be bothered with having to give him rides, paying for anything outside of the basics, etc. However, between working there, sponsoring Beta Club, and having a son in band, I'm pretty sure I will practically be living at VR anyway, so getting him to track practice shouldn't be a problem at all.

All in all, I think we're going to be OK.

Things are looking up for this young man.