Regaining Sanity One Laugh at a Time

I have a fellow teacher, named Bev, who is an absolute treasure. She's southern, with a fantastic sense of humor, an easy-going personality, and a non-intimidating conversational style. We totally clicked, very early in the year. I love her! She's the science/math teacher, so, as you will know if you read my last entry, she is the one who was out last Monday.

The catch is, she asked her husband to call the school to let the headmaster know, and her husband forgot to do so. Consequently, no one knew where she was. Calling her cell phone wasn't working, and we didn't know her home phone number. Despite my generally optimistic outlook, I couldn't help wondering if something awful had happened and she was dead or something. I was relieved to see her the next morning.

Today was parent/teacher conference day (yes, these two things will tie together eventually). I only had ONE conference scheduled, so the day was practically a day off for me (I lead a charmed life). I popped in to talk to Bev after my conference, and we ended up having the best chat ever!

And in the midst of said chat, I had a very "Tuesdays with Maurie" moment, because I remembered that during that past Monday, when I thought she was dead or something, I was really horrified at the thought that I'd never let her know how much she meant to me. So I told her the story of how I thought she was dead (with a lot of laughter on both sides), and then I told her how much she has helped me this year.

Being a first year teacher, I'm still getting used to my co-workers as well as the way things work at the school. In recent months my patience has been short when it comes to some personality quirks and people's blunt ways of approaching things. I grit my teeth in the teacher's lounge much more often than I do in the classroom. But what has helped me immensely is Bev's approach. Over and over my blood pressure would be rising, and I would hear her laugh. I would suddenly realize that I don't have to be irritated by this! I could laugh it off! The personality clashes were becoming a big deal in my mind, and she saved my life repeatedly. She is like oil on troubled waters: a peacemaker without even knowing it.

As I told this to Bev, she seemed quite surprised, as well as happy to hear it. She told me that her first year at the school she'd also had a hard time dealing with the other teachers. But it got better once she adjusted. And then she blessed me so much by telling me that she had noticed I was bothered a couple of times when things were said to me (this kind of scared me, actually, because I thought I hid it pretty well. She and I are pretty similar in some ways, though, so maybe that has something to do with it.), and she had prayed for me those days! Can you believe it?! It was my turn to be surprised and happy. I had no idea she'd prayed for me! I had a secret ally!

I came out of the room loving her even more than when I'd walked in. I passed on a compliment to her, and got back a whole new understanding of God's goodness in providing us with people like that.

Just wanted to share my happy tale:)

Speaking of Choosing a New Identity...

WHO AM I?!?! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD ME!?

What brought on this identity crisis, you may ask. Well. I will tell you. Monday I got back from Spring Break to the news that the math teacher was out, and I was the lucky one who was subbing for her. I walked into class expecting to monitor a study hall, and found lesson plans instead. And then... (gasp) I TAUGHT MATH. And what's more, I really enjoyed it.

Really!

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

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Here I was, I who had disparaged math for so many years, enjoying the fact that parallel lines intersected by a transversal always create equal angles at points 2, 4, 6, and 8. Always! I think what got me was the absolute-ness of it all. There's no saying, "Welllll, you could have phrased that better" on a math problem. It's either right or wrong. But even better was the whole mystery solving part of it all. You get this weird picture of lines all crisscrossing each other, with only a few angles filled in, and by breaking it down into smaller parts you can fill in the missing angles bit by oh-so-sure bit. Wow! What a treat!

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My school is looking for a new math teacher next year (since our present one's husband is being restationed. Waaaaah!). Maybe I should apply! Of course, I can't promise any ability past about the seventh grade level, but still...

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Hurrah for the discovery of new delights!

Craig's Recital!!!

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(words won't do it justice)
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But it might be close to say: PRAISE THE LORD!
And: Yay Craig!

FRIEND!

I found this picture on another blog, and it might be totally weird to post a stranger's personal picture on my blog (if any of you blog etiquette people are screeching in horror, let me know and I can take it off). But the reason I snagged it is this: this is a picture of a game of Catch Phrase, and LOOK at the GIRL! BOTH hands over her mouth. She had ANDREA SYNDROME (n. the irresistable urge to help out the other team if you figure out the answer before they do). Obviously the guy is guessing, and the girl is trying with all her might to refrain from Andrea Syndrome. Hee hee hee. I AM NOT ALONE!!!

Choose your own Identity

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I was just going to comment on Penny's blog when I spotted something that made me forsake it to come over and post on my own (sorry Penny! I did love those Easter eggs a lot!). What I spotted, or rather what finally registered on my brain, was the little phrase "choose an identity." (Side note: speaking of registering on brains, during our shopping day I said to Katie, seemingly out of the blue, "Yes! You should go to a Red Sox game!" This was because the night before she had said how she needed to get to one some day. And it took about 18 hours to finally sink in! Oy vay.) Anyway, finally the phrase "choose an identity" caught my attention, and amused me. Cool! I can comment as anyone I want to!

I could choose someone else's identity if I wanted to. I might decide to comment as Shakespeare and be wicked eloquent. Or maybe Gerard Manly Hopkins and sound really, really complex yet beautiful. Or I could comment as Ann Coulter and sound incredibly biting but smart. Perhaps I should choose a generic athlete and say the same exact trite phrases again and again no matter what the post is about.

Or, I could choose an identity with a totally different personality. No longer would I be easy going and people pleasing. I could come out with rude and blunt statements. Or I could be totally shallow, and treat everything as a huge joke, no matter how meaningful the post was. Perhaps I should be an ultra-blond and miss every point.

Speaking of ultra-blonds, perhaps I could choose an identity that is based on stereotypes! I could comment as a southerner, a liberal, a hick, a "person of ethnicity."

And speaking of "persons of ethnicity," I could post as someone who embraces every aspect of political correctness! Now that would be a fascinating experiment. I could take offense at so many things that weren't in the least offensive.

The possibilities are endless! Blogs are so much fun!

The Shopping Extravaganza!

I am taking a little break from my preparation for teaching Greek Philosophy next week (and the week after) to proclaim to the world that I (the one who gets incredibly frustrated after 1 hour of shopping) spent MOST of the day yesterday in the most productive pursuit of clothes I've had in ages! Maybe ever!

Katie and I, weeks ago, decided to do a shopping day together, in hopes of finding something suitable to wear to Fritha's wedding (a.k.a Jeff's wedding, in case you were confused). Both of us also needed warm weather clothes.

I was driving Mrs. L home from church Sunday, and told her that we were hoping to find lots of beautiful, cheap, modest clothes. She laughed.

And indeed, as I awoke on the morning of the BIG DAY I barely dared to hope that we would come away with anything. Many's the time I spent hunting, hunting, hunting to come away with 1 item or less. But we piled into the car in good spirits nonetheless. Katie, I should add, is not a big shopper either. Somehow both of us missed out on that part of the feminine stereotype.

We arrived in Wrentham, MA, where there are a bazillion outlet stores, an hour later. We began the dance: into the store, circle around, shrug your shoulders or raise your eyebrows, out of the store. BUT the bookstore proved the first great hit. I found copies of the Aeneid, 3 for $10! I snatched 6, because we'll be doing that book at the end of the year.

Shortly after that, the FLOODGATES OF HEAVEN OPENED! Well, actually, we each found a few things at another place, and THEN the floodgates of Heaven opened! And in this instance, the floodgates were pouring out J. JILL items! For those of you who haven't heard me rant and rave about J. Jill, both how beautiful and how expensive the clothing there is, I will just mention briefly that it is a clothing company that specializes in beautiful, feminine, linen-type, classic clothes. I love it! But I've never really been able to justify spending that much money there. But lo, here was an outlet store with reduced prices!

Katie and I giggled and squealed our way around the store, as if we had hit the jackpot. We both came away with many beautiful purchases! I couldn't believe it. After the giggling and squealing, came the looks of disbelief as we realized what we had just done. We'd shopped at J. Jill, and found beautiful, semi-cheap, and modest clothing! Unbelievable!

And that wasn't the last of the purchases, either. What an incredible day. And wonder of wonders, neither of us got grumpy, tired, or discouraged, despite the fact that we were in and out of stores for hours on end! That is pretty miraculous right there.

Bring on the Wedding! Bring on the Summer! Kate and I are ready.

On Break!!!

Ahhhhh, life is good. For one thing, the weather is incredible. For another, this is the first day of my Spring Break! (Well, technically I have it off for Good Friday and next week is spring break.) And just in case that isn't enough to convince you that life is indeed good, I just finished filing my tax returns! Amy P tipped me off to turbotax, and I must say that was incredibly easy. So now I'm breathing easier. I'm not usually one of those push-it-to-April-15 kinds of people, but this year, well, I was.

Spring break should be fun: I have to read the Aeneid, Greek philosophy, My Antonia (not the whole thing), and a lot of poetry. Then I should be able to cruise for the rest of the year! I only have 5 or 6 weeks left. Incredible.

My last day before break was great: I read "Epic" out loud to my high school, and showed the movie of "A Tale of Two Cities" to my junior high. Not too shabby. I also got all of my grades recorded on report cards, which was a huge relief (especially since I kept waiting and waiting for one kid to get his act together and turn in the two papers he owed...).

And the last event of the day was one of the fathers at school getting home from Iraq. That made me feel kind of weepy and sentimental all the way to Fairwood.

Which is where I am now! I love Fairwood. I think I breath more deeply here than anywhere on earth, if you know what I mean. And, as I said at the beginning, the weather is incredible.

And again I say, life is good.

Happy Opening Day!

Ya, ya, I know - opening day was yesterday. But I didn't post last night because of extenuating circumstances (like, ummm, sleep), so I'm doing it one day late.

Happy Opening Day!!!

It was a fabulous day for me - kind of like Christmas only different. I was so excited all day: decorating the chalk board, making sure the teachers knew (the one drawback of the school: no huge Red Sox fans amongst the staff), and (for the crowning moment) turning on the radio during literature so that we could all hear the first pitch. It was a ball. To Crisp.

Then I got to listen to the game all the way home, and watch it once I actually arrived home. I got to enjoy a fabulous victory (the first on opening day in 5 or 6 years I might add), and then enjoy an hour or so of interviews afterwards. I am definitely in the Crisp camp, after hearing him say he'd done alright, but made a couple of "blunders." Hee hee hee. Not among those blunders was the FABULOUS centerfield catch he made. Damon couldn't have done that (cough cough).

Then the game was being re-broadcast, so I watched the pre-game show! I might have started watching the game all over again, but it was getting later and later...

This morning, as I was getting off Rt 24, I practically burst into tears of joy when I remembered, "HEY! They're going to be playing AGAIN! TONIGHT!" Ahhhhh, baseball season. It's like the missing piece has been found or something. Part of me that was dormant and languishing is vital once more. Hurrah for baseball season!!!

The One and Only Uncle Paul

Now that the comment record on my blog has been blown out of the proverbial water, I would like to let you all know that the last post was Uncle Paul's idea. He woke up mighty early in the morning to ask me if I would post it before I went to school, thus securing the highest possible number of readers in the day. Isn't he a good Dad?!

And I would like to add, at this juncture, that he is a might good uncle, too, and a mighty good every other role he plays. I feel so blooming lucky to be his niece, living in his house, under his pastorship. He is an amazing man - funny, kind, sensitive to the needs of those around him, generous to the extreme, fun, and tenderhearted to the things of God. I've sat in his meetings and practically felt like crying for the poor rest of the world because they missed out on the sermon. He has ministered to me in so many ways - from the spiritual to the car-ful:) He has come out in the morning, just as I was about to drive away, to pray for me. He has instigated many a fun outing. He has jumped my battery many a time. He has sat Melissa and me down for long and interesting discussions. He has made me feel secure. He has made me laugh innumerable times. He has cooked me dinner. He has checked up on me, to make sure I'm doing okay in hard times. He has demonstrated what it is to lay down his life for others. He has been the most incredible uncle anyone could ask for.

So let's have three cheers for Uncle Paul!!!