Thanksgiving with the kids

I drove down to Gainesville today to "do lunch" with my youngins. Officially, it was our Thanksgiving dinner together-although none of us had anything to eat even resembling a Thanksgiving Day meal and it was also a day early for Thanksgiving. However, that is how you do it in the "modern" world I live in. I actually enjoyed the experience very much. Although it was beautiful weather on the drive down...the drive back was long because of the fact it gets dark early these days... Lacey was my companion on the drive down and she could not have behaved better! She sat on the passenger side and just looked out the window or leaned her head against the head rest and looked at me. I did stop and get her some chicken nuggets for lunch and she seemed to enjoy them. On the way back, I got her a vanilla milkshake from McDonald's and she slurped that up in no time at all! She loves milk in all its forms-whipped cream, ice cream, milk and milkshakes...I guess that is why she is so pretty!
I love cell phones! I got to talk to all my siblings today on the drive back and that was neat...it also helped the time go by on the trip...Thanks for the companyCarol, Nance and Jimmy!
I also RSVPed the Mayor's office today. I received a letter yesterday inviting me to ride on the City Council float in the Christmas Parade next Saturday. He said they wanted to include me on the float cause of the work I did on the Moving Wall. I told him I appreciated the offer, but I was going to be walking with my History Club youngins. I can't believe this will be the 4th year we have done it...Maybe this year, people will know who we are when we pass by them! If any of you have nothing to do next Saturday...come join us...it's great exercise!!

The joys of a Friday in the middle of the week

Today was my last day of school till next Tuesday. (I have two doctor's appointments and a drive to Albany State to take an admission exam for my Specialist program. So much for a "day off" from school :-(. I am truly on a real BREAK and for that I am most grateful! I have some very simple plans for the Thanksgiving holiday...I am going to visit the kids tomorrow and we are going to "do lunch" in Gainesville before they have to go back to the happiest place on earth. Apparently about a gazillion people want to go there to see my youngins do their thang!! (I guess there MIGHT be some other reason people go to Orlando...)
I hope Carol and Joe had a good driving day today. They spent the night in the local "Mary Ought" aka my house instead of the other "Marriott" in town. I think it was the first time in a very long time that my big sis has spent the night at my house and I have rarely seen her in bed before 10:00!
It was a pleasure to be able to do something for my fiercely independent older sister!

and so it goes....

Currently I am sitting in my 5th period class and they are struggling over a test on the American Revolution. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have known some of this stuff so long I think I was born knowing it! It not only surprises me, but depresses me as to how little my students actually know about their county's history. It makes me grateful that Mom and Dad always allowed us to satisfy our curiousity about things by exposing us to places of history. I never realized how much that year in New Jersey was going to affect my life today...

life as a potential icecube!

Why is it that the weather always changes when you are not totally prepared for that change? The heater in my house is not working at the moment. I am waiting for the part to come in and was informed today it wouldn't be here until about the middle of December. Although I love cooler weather, I don't like to get dressed in the cold nor can I sit at a desk very long without becoming stiff. At the present time, I am snuggled up in my bed with a little space heater and as long as I don't venture into the rest of the house, I am quite comfy.
I have also just finished updating myself on the comings and goings of the rest of the family. I feel absolutely comatose compared to the active lives my siblings are leading these days! Other than being overwhelmed by paperwork, I am really enjoying my "down" time because I know that in a couple of weeks, my world will speed up again and will be in full steam ahead in January when I start back to school. I have pulled out of the school I was attempting earlier in October for several reasons. In January, Valdosta State has a new online degree program I will be participating in. It is called Education Specialist Degree in Exemplary Teaching. I am really excited about it because it is a new and totally different focus from any other Specialist degree program offered around here. It is also something that is practical for my everyday world in the classroom. I will be finished in 14 months which will mean that in 3 1/2 years I will have worked to increase my yearly salary by $10,000 and I think that is really cool! One lesson I learned after Tom's death was to never be in a position where I had to totally depend on someone else to provide me with my income. I think I am much better prepared financially to handle my latest life changing situation! Whew...one less worry is always nice!

The Ripple Effect

Today was a day when I realized again that the things we do in life have a ripple effect on people. While working on the Wall, I met many wonderful, special people. One of these guys was a veteran who served 3 tours in Vietnam. His name is Dan. He came yesterday and spoke to my students. Long story short...It was a beautiful experience. I was really proud of him because he has started on his journey of healing by wanting to talk to my students. My students were really supportive of him and asked wonderful questions that showed they were really eager to learn about his experiences.
Today, he called me to tell me how much he felt "changed" as a result of talking to my students. He said he has started to feel whole, worthy and proud of his service. He also said that while he was volunteering at the Wall, he talked to about 5 visitors and discovered that not only had he done business with them for years, he also discovered that they were Vietnam vets also. Like him, they had closed off that period of their life. They also discovered that they also had served during the same time and at the same base and they never knew it until the Wall visit!
Also, during the Walk with Heroes today, my kids talked almost constantly about how they never knew there was so much to learn about Vietnam. They were surprised about how interested they were in it! They were like detectives or bloodhounds when it came to searching out the specific gravesites. We were there about 3 hours because they didn't want to leave!

Odds and Ends of musings...

-I am really tickled about the weather these days. It is absolutely perfect :-)
-I am worried about Travis because he is going to have surgery this month and although it is just hernia surgery...it will be his first major surgery.
-I thought by this time I would be "back in the swing of things." after the chaos of the Wall visit. I must confess that I am not! I don't know if it is because of the time change or just because I am more mentally exhausted than I thought I would be, but I just can't seem to get energized after I get home in the afternoon. I hope this changes soon because I have so much I want to get done.
-I am looking forward to the Thanksgiving Break. I did not get to appreciate or participate in the Fall Break we had this past month because that was the weekend before the Wall visit. My Summer break was a series of huge emotional ups and downs...Spring Break was spent in the hospital in Albany and Christmas break of last year was spent in the hospital here in Tifton because of issues with Don. I realize that this will be the first official break I have had in a year that I have not been in some sort of emotional limbo.
-I am making sure that I am taking my time when it comes to making any major decisions about what direction I need to go in several aspects of my life. I want to be sure that I don't fill my life with just "things". I want to make sure that my activities outside my classroom fill my life with joy and is meaningful not just to me, but also helps me reach outside my comfort zone.
Look out !...I have no idea what is in store!!!

It took me a while, but here are just a few moments from The Wall visit....

It took me a while to get them in the right order, but enjoy the pics... comments are welcome..of course!