A Sour End To The School Year

This year really ended on a sour note. Some of what I am about to say really sounds negative, but remember, part of the reason why we have this blog is to relieve stress. Okay, the story begins like this. All this year I have really thought I was going to get a type of job promotion. Then, towards the very end of the year, I found out that someone who I had thought was not after the position swooped down and got the job. Yeah, I know, poor me. Unfortunately, my family could have greatly benifitted from the added income. The second discouragement came at the end of the year as well. Having been hired to teach Chemistry and Physical Science, I have now been demoted to teaching General Science, the lowest level the school offers. I still have three sections of Earth Science, which I do enjoy teaching, but again, that is not what I was hired to do. Perhaps the worst part of the whole deal is that no one has ever told me that I am not doing a bad job. I was once told that I had just over 5% failures in one of my classes, and I had better do a better job if I wanted to keep my job (not exact words, but message was VERY clear). To that end, I shaped up and all my students passed. Much more could be said on this, but I'll leave that alone.

So, where does this all leave me? Well, I have been at this job for nine years now, and I have taken every opportunity to advance my education. I now sit high enough on the salary scale that many schools simply don't want to hire me for that reason. I was told this just today by a superintendent in a district that I was hoping to work in. Schools want to hire new people out of college, because they don't have to pay them very much. In my opinion, there is a good chance this is the reason why I have been demoted. The same type of thing is happening to other teachers who are even older than I am. The general feeling is that we are trying to get pushed out. What are my options? Well, I had an interview yesterday in a small school. Since I can't teach math or driver's education, I don't think I will get that job. I found out today that I didn't even get an interview in another place I was really wanting to go. There are some job fairs in North Carolina that I am thinking about going to. I hear they treat their teachers a little better in that state. Las Vegas is really needing teachers, but that is a little like Lot in the Bible, when he "pitched his tent toward Sodom." Of course, if you know the story, Lot made it out, but his wife turned to a pillar of salt. Hmmm, don't know if Amy would go for that. I might be able to teach underwater in New Orleans, or in the dark in Alaska. Or, of course, in East St. Louis, Chicago, or any other place that teachers don't go because of danger.

I've thought about going back to school. I did some research on what it would take to be a Medical Technologist. Basically, it would mean dragging my family through a really low time for way too long. I'm afraid most programs would be that way. Perhaps nursing would be a little quicker, and Rend Lake sure is pouring out nurses from their program. If it were just me and Amy, I would quit and go back to school to do something else. Not sure what, but something where I felt appreciated. I might even join the military.

Okay, I've had my pity party long enough. If anyone is still reading this, you should have found something better to do after the first paragraph. I'll end by giving a rather ironic bit of information. I picked up the newspaper today, and discovered that I came in second place for best teacher in this year's Best of the Best.

Memorial Day Weekend

This was a good weekend. On Saturday we had a huge rummage sale. Wow, that was an ordeal. We got up around 5:00am to get stuff ready. A special thank you to Rachel and JoAnne for helping. Sunday was a really busy day as well. I played bass at Orchardville, so I had to be there at 8:30am, which meant I had to leave around 7:30am. After church was over, I we had the family reunion to go to. I had to be back at church at 5:00pm for practice before the evening service. Today, Monday, we left early to go to St. Louis to look at music equipment with Bobby, Fred, and Kitty. Nena, Amy, Faith, and Cassidy all went the same direction to go to the zoo. Everyone had a wonderful time. I had the chance to look at several bass amps, and decided to go with one from a catalog instead. This evening we spent more time at Bobbys where Gary caught up with us. All in all, it was a WONDERFUL Memorial Day weekend. Too bad it is back to work tomorrow!

More Pictures

Here are some pictures. I thought I would post something quick. Things are extremely busy right now with finals. Cassidy and Callie are both getting big--wow, time goes by quick!

Two More Weeks of School Left!

So what has been going on this week? Well, this is truly the busiest time of the year. With school getting close to the end, I have a ton of things to do, and just not enough time to get them all done. I did find time this week for Survivor Night at Bobby’s house. That was exciting. And Amy and I went to look at fire pits. I know, doesn’t sound that interesting. Today (Saturday) was the men’s conference at the church. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it too much. I probably would not have went, but I was asked to help with praise and worship (bass guitar), so I ended up going. I was really glad I did. The speakers were really good, and the topics were good. The food was great! All in all, a rather enjoyable experience.

Amy and the children are spending the day with Nena and Faith. They were planning on going to the science center. They wanted to go to the zoo, but the weather is just terrible.

What else? Hmmm, Cassidy scored a perfect 100% on her pre-school screening the other day. We were happy about that. Of course, anything less would have been unacceptable (just kidding).

I’ve included a couple of pictures from the square foot gardens. The weather has been terrible, so they don’t look that good. Again, I hope to have more pictures in the future. Our connection speed at home is just so slow, it seems like it takes forever just to load these small ones.

People keep asking me what I am going to do this summer. The question is usually something like this, “So, what are you going to do with all your time off?” It is usually in a rather condescending tone of voice, which makes me want to say, “Probably sit on the couch and watch soap operas all day.” At that point I generally explain to them how I get laid off for 10 weeks, and how lucky they are to have a job that is not so seasonal. In actuality, I plan on working hard to get by blood pressure back to normal. Not that teaching causes high blood pressure, but stress does. I’m hoping for a stress-free summer. Yeah right!

Added: Here is a snake picture... dad didn't want to see it

Busy Time

This time of the year is really really busy! I hope to have some good pictures up in a few days if I get the chance. In the mean time, I took an online career test, and these are my results. You will notice that administration is rather far down on the list. I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it makes me think a little more about going that direction. Something else that is interresting is Health Service--- #1 on the list. If I ever decide to switch jobs, maybe that would be the field for me.

Chickens?

I am considering building this project: Click HERE

Still Working on Garden

I thought I would give an update on the garden. It is certainly coming along. Below are a few pictures of it (them). I spent the last couple of evenings trying to come up with something that would look better for a trellis. The second picture shows what I was originally thinking, but I decided to take it down. We just were not happy with it. Perhaps if I could find some bamboo someplace? If not, I guess I will stick to the original idea of using conduit and wire. I really want something more natural, but maybe next year. Thanks for reading!

Events of the past week and misc. stuff

This past week brought many different feelings with it. Tuesday was the first day back from Spring break, so I was excited to begin my classes again. That day was wonderful. The students appeared interested, and the material we were studying was my most liked subject--astronomy. All that began to subside around Wednesday, and by Friday I was once again scanning the job market for possible openings at other schools, and even thinking about changing careers. What a difference only a few days can make!

I attended the visitation of a friends family member this past week. It was another reminder of the brevity of life.

Saturday I spent all day working outside trying to get my square foot gardens ready for a viewing. In other words, I had to make them look as presentable as possible because friends would be coming over on Sunday and would most likely see them. By the end of the day, I was totally worn out! Saturday night was really fun. We all went to trivia night at the church. Due in part to a slow turnout, our team really had a chance to win. However, we just couldn’t pull it out. Maybe next year!

Sunday’s service was awesome. Several people came forward to dedicate their lives to Christ. The church was full! The music was good, and the preaching was great! Sunday afternoon, Bobby, Faith, Nena, Gary, Fred, and Kitty all came over for lunch. We had a great time with our friends, and everyone seemed to like the gardens.

Things to look forward to:

1. Only 26 more days of school left!
2. I think I still have a personal day I can take.
3. In May I will begin playing bass guitar with one of the praise team’s at church.
4. Also in May, I will begin team teaching the teen Sunday school class

My mind is preoccupied with the following questions...

1. Should we sell the house? This was the original plan.
2. Should I sell the jeep? It still has value, and I’m liking it less and less.
3. Should I seriously consider changing jobs?
4. If we keep the house, should I get chickens? Maybe a rabbit?
5. Should I do anything about my high blood pressure?
6. What is the future of public education?
7. Why do I fight depression so much?
8. What will happen with the economy over the next few years?
9. What is going to happen in Iraq?
10. Why am I singing the “Tootsie Roll” song at this moment (Whatever it is I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll to me)

Hiding Easter Eggs

Today Cassidy and Callie spent time at a friend’s house. This gave Amy and I some much needed rest and relaxation. Investing in quality time together as husband and wife is wise. A former pastor of mine spent a lot of time talking about the importance of this, and we have done our best to take that advice. Our marriage goes much smoother when we make time for each other.



Yesterday Cassidy and I colored Easter Eggs. Unfortunately, Easter, the Easter Bunny, and the Easter Egg all have roots in Pegan religion. The story goes something like this. The festival of “Eastre” (the celebration of the goddess of springtime) seemed to come at the same time that the Christians celebrated the resurrection of Christ. The rabbit symbolized this goddess, who was also known as the goddess of offspring (which makes sense to anyone who has ever raised rabbits). Finally, eggs were often traded during this festival, and were probably colored, and maybe even hidden by the Pegan children. When the Good News of Jesus Christ began to spread throughout the different parts of the world, people were still able to enjoy the festival, but now for a different, and far better reason. The spelling was changed along the line to “Easter,” and became synonymous with the Resurrection. To me, the egg symbolizes a new birth, which is what Christ brings to each of us. And the Easter Bunny, well, to be really honest, the only Easter Bunnies I like are the chocolate ones!


This morning I got up really early and hid the eggs we had colored and decorated. Cassidy had a ton of fun running around the yard finding these eggs.









So what else have we done over this break? Not as much as we needed to. I got a lot of gardening work done, and fixed a few things around the house. We spent a lot of time thinking. Amy and I have really been debating whether or not we should put the house up for sale. This was the plan originally, but we need to have peace about it. So far, we are still thinking.

An Honest Explanation

Today was a good day, didn’t do a whole lot. This afternoon and evening I went with a friend over to Fairview Heights to do some shopping. When I got back home, Amy confronted me about something. Apparently, I had a receipt that had been in my pocket and was laid upon my dresser. The receipt had a girl’s name and phone number written on the back. The receipt was from Lone Star, and was dated April 2. In her loving way, Amy said, “I was just a little curious about this receipt.” Honestly, I was at a total loss for words. This looked rather incriminating. I had absolutely no idea where in the world this came from, and how I came to have it in my pocket. The girls name (we’ll call her Jane Doe) looked to have been scribbled on the back rather hurridly. Now, from a husband’s point of view, any guy in this situation would look guilty. Why did I have a piece of paper with a girls name on it and her phone number. It might just as well have said, “Give me a call cutie,” thank God it didn’t! I knew there had to be an honest explanation for this, but I totally could not think of one. I did not want to act guilty, but everything I said just made me look more guilty. I looked at the date, and immediately gave my alibi. “That was a Sunday,…I wasn’t at Lone Star that day, remember we all went out to eat that day at the Pasta House?” Amy quickly replied, “Well, you were at Chilli’s that day, but she could still have given you the number, that has nothing to do with it.” Wow, was she ready. I knew right then and there I was in deep trouble if I could not figure out where this came from. “Perhaps it is someone from the church. Maybe someone gave me their number for something.” As if on cue, Amy quickly grabbed the church directory, “nope, no Jane Doe‘s in the directory.” (Something told me she had already checked out that one) I was now starting to sweat. Here is where it gets really sad. The absolute best I could do was to attempt to convince Amy that I must have opened my door someplace, and thinking I had dropped a receipt out of my car, accidentally picked it up, not noticing that it had a girl’s number on the back. I mean, I really hate to see liter on the ground. How lame is that? I knew the chances of that happening were like getting struck by lightning. Had the situation been reversed, I would have laughed at that pathetic explanation. “That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it” I thought. Then, when my humble wife finally said, “Well, I trust you,” It came to me. Jane Doe is the person who came and looked at the car I had for sell. She had made an offer that I did not accept. She said, “If you change your mind, here’s my number.” I must have placed it in my pocket and forgotten about it. An honest explanation at last. (By the way, Amy had already looked in the phone book and found out where Jane Doe lived, so my she can check this out for herself if she needs to, which she agreed she didn’t since she was at home when Jane came to look at the car, and she saw Jane, and well, enough said).

So I guess the moral of this story goes something like this: “Trust stands alone, but an honest explanation provides a more stable platform for it to stand on.” Or maybe, more simply, “Clean out your pockets before you send your pants to the wash.”

Thanks for reading, and remember, “INTERRESING CATCHY END LINE TO GO HERE IN THE FUTURE!”