Big week. I was able to teach for six days in a row. For those of you who are going to get me on the little stuff...that is Friday of last week and Monday - Friday of this week.

I started out in sixth grade for three days. The jury is still out on that grade. I headed to second for two days. Can I tell you how adorable second-graders are? So cute! Not a bad grade either. Old enough to be able to follow a discussion about a book and young enough to love teachers unconditionally. I like that. Today I was back in my first grade class. I love those kids but I am exhausted. Lots of tattling and tears today. I will blame it on the following: Friday, Spring Break, nice weather, spring, 6 years old. Get the picture?

Have I said how much I like this job? Only about a million times. I can not wait to have my own classroom. I find myself teacher shopping all the time. I want to buy fun books and posters but I have to wait until I know what grade I'm teaching and that makes me sad. Oh well...soon enough!

On another note...I am taking Paul Bunyan down to get his permit tomorrow. I'm not sure I'm emotionally ready for this event. He will be 16 on Saturday. I know I'm not ready for THAT! Wow, sixteen years and I often feel like I know less about parenting than before he was born. I must admit that this is the most frightening blessing one can receive. Some people with no children or small children always think that parenting an older child is easier. I am here to tell you that is a myth. So I don't have to worry about him drinking the stuff under the sink or drowning in a bucket of water, but in six months my baby boy will be operating a large vehicle alone. Those haunting nightmares of things that can happen to a small child have long since faded and are now replaced by new nightmares of mangled cars and such. No way to avoid worrying about our kids is there? Well, this turned into a not-so-cheery post now, didn't it?

More fun...I get to head out to Boise to celebrate an upcoming birthday! I can't wait!

Comfort and Joy

Comfort - Brownie chunks and chocolate chip cookie dough in chocolate ice cream! That's all I have to say! I'm not a big ice cream fan, but that stuff is heaven and manages to make the yuckiest day seem good.

Joy - I get to sub for Janet at LGE tomorrow! Yeah, fifth grade!!!!!!!!!!

I love teaching. Have I mentioned that yet. Even first grade has grown on me and I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. So, I sit and wait and pray for a job to open. I did discover that snow days are more fun when you get paid to stay home. I was supposed to sub in 5th grade at LGE last week and both of my days were interrupted by snow days. I was actually sad because I was looking forward to working, especially at LGE. Oh well. I get to sub for Janet on the 16th and I am really looking forward to that. Sub jobs seem to come in waves. Some weeks are a heavy load and some are really dry. One prayer was answered; the Conference Center called to see if I would work for them part-time. Yeah money! It's kind of fun to be there being able to make my own schedule and knowing that it's not forever. They work around my sub jobs. As a matter of fact, they are being so great and working around anything in my life. What a wonderful way to work.

Fun news is that my sister might be moving back to the mountain. San Diego has been good for them but they want to be back near family. I can't wait to have my babies back here and sometimes I even miss Heidi. Just kidding...I do miss hanging out with her on a regular basis. I'm looking forward to having time this summer to be the auntie that I want to be. Mom and I already have a ton of field trips planned.

Off to find something to do...

Just needed to get it off my mind...

So, I have come to an impasse. What do I want to write about? I had a whole speech in defense of something that was said about me but that seems pretty self-centered now. What I will focus on is how annoyed I am at “those” people that cannot be honest about shortcomings and choose to shine a spotlight on other people's shortcomings. Does that make sense? At the moment I am really peeved and my brain is working much faster than my fingers. What I mean to say is, it seems as though there are people in the world that use other's shortcomings as ammo. Ok, here is the deal. Unfortunately, I am one of those people that talks a lot and I end up becoming an open book. There is very little that my friends do not know about me and that is fine with me. Now, I don't necessarily share info with my friends so they will sling it back at me some day in a pathetic attempt to make themselves feel better about their lives.

I am speaking about “those” perpetually “happy” people that aren't really happy, they just want everyone to believe they are happy. Don't get me wrong, I know there are people in the world that are happy but let's face it, we all have our dark days. We all have issues in our lives. We all have days when our spouse is REALLY annoying and our kids make us want to run and hide. Does that make us awful people? No, it makes us human. It is also human to confide those feelings to our friends. Notice I said confide...not make a bullet out of it and fire it back at me via another person. Ugh! This would probably have been easier if I wrote about what happened but I can't do that.

I guess my feelings are hurt and I am having a hard time letting go of the crap. I know that I should. I know that I should pray for the person that was shooting at me because they have some issues that really need prayer, especially when that pedestal they are standing on gets knocked down. I know that I will get to that point but it is not going to be today. Enough of this. My brain is sad and tired and I need to bake so cookies. That is of course if I don't eat all the batter first.