Filling the Well

Now that the chaos, otherwise known as JUNE, is over I can concentrate my energies upon "refilling the well". I have willingly although sometimes snappishly worn myself out on behalf of my family and my students, and now it's time to replenish my spirit and my strength.


June, as all teachers can attest, is the month that saps one's resources more than any other. Year end trips, culminating activities, exam preparation, IEP meetings, graduations, proms, shopping expeditions for said prom and graduation dresses, packing up the classroom, exam supervision, report cards all contribute to the bittersweet emptying of what was, the previous September, a very deep, very wet well.


On the last day of school my inner well resembled that dry and dusty pit of despair as illustrated above. But the proms and graduations are over, the exams are marked, the report cards filled in, lockers are empty though still smelly and supplies are packed into boxes to await another September.


Let the refilling begin.


The refilling of my well began at about the same time that my daughter filled out her prom dress and struck a pose with her beau. She puts a smile on my face and joy in my heart.


Stay tuned for more wellfilling moments.........

Best Buddies - Track and Field

My student, in blue, is running the 400m helped out by three members of our Best Buddies Club: one girl jogging ahead on the left, another pointing as she runs and a third jogging along on the other side. With the help of her buddies she kept running all the way around the track.
Our first place ribbon winner in the long jump. I love my other student watching in the background (grey T-shirt, blue pants) as he is jumping at the same time.
My best picture poser! "This is a shotput. See?"
"And this is how you throw the shotput!" She was third overall.
Our buddies sure had fun, even though it was so cold. How cold was it? I don't know, but I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets.
Running the relay, despite a valiant effort in the last leg by our 100m 1st place winner the gap was too big to close, but we cheered all the way to the finish line.
I call this photo "The Agony of De Feet."
But we can never be sad for too long, not when we are surrounded by best friends and blankets."Wow, I sure threw that ball pretty high!"
(That's me smiling - I think my smile froze into place!")
Making it to the finish line is a wonderful feeling.

A day with my best buddy is the best kind of day.
Meeting up with an old friend who moved away a year ago.

Tears of happiness.
I love my yellow baton. I don't really want to pass it on. Maybe I'll just keep it. Maybe no one will notice.
I am fast, I am Superspeedyfeet woman!
Look at my form, look at my steely-eyed determination, look at the goosepimples on my arms and legs. Hurry up and start the race already!

The End

Special Olympics - What a Great Day!

These aren't my students. I hope to have some photos up tomorrow from our track and field meet today. But the same competitive spirit is there in those smiling, victorious faces.


As the track meet was in another city, we endured a bus ride filled with exuberant special athletes and many peer coaches from our hugely successful Best Buddies Club, about 22 in all, plus 7 staff, all singing Kumbaya at the tops of their collective lungs, over and over and over again. And then again. Coulda been worse, coulda been 100 bottles of beer on the wall.


It certainly wasn't the best day weatherwise. Only about 9C, windy and overcast except for a 2 second glimpse of the sun through a tiny break in the clouds at about 10:00am. But other than a few rain drops we remained dry, frozen solid, but dry.


But I heard no complaints, except from my staff (and me) while guzzling gallons of strong, hot coffee and gorging on double chocolate muffins and cookies provided by our most excellent hosts (St. Joseph's Highschool in lovely St. Thomas, Ontario - thank you!)


We managed to score quite a few ribbons for shotput, highjump, long jump, 100 and 400m races but the best prizes were the looks on the faces of our kids as they crossed the finish line with arms raised in the air, jumping up and down because they finished the race.


We met up with old friends who had moved away and made many new friends too as evidenced by the frequent exchange of facebook info - I had to keep loaning out my pen - sheesh! Love was in the air! Things were heating up!


The ride home was much quieter, I even heard a few snores! And our bus driver, God bless him, made a pit stop for us at Tim Horton's. You can never have enough hot coffee on such a chilly day. We made it back to school with the same number of kids as when we left - that spells success for me.


American Idol is certainly a long drawn out affair tonight, I enjoyed David Cook singing with ZZ Top. And it was nice to see Donna Summer still hobbling around - she sounded pretty good. Which David will win??? Being more of a rock fan I'm hoping for DC, but DA has the preteen and little old lady market cornered. It'll be a close one.

Trailer Made!

You will notice that my blogging output decreases in direct relationship to good weather and "trailer time!" Last July I purchased a trailer in a summer park just outside Bayfield, Ontario. It was the best money I ever spent. I lead a somewhat (hah!) stressed existence as a single parent of a university bound 17 year old child/teen/woman (cheeman...chilteman...cheenan?)

The other major stressor in my life is my job. I love my job, don't get me wrong, but it wakes me up about 3 or 4 times a night. I jolt awake and wonder how to convince "Sam's" father to accept some help, like a support worker for Sam, a medical checkup....etc when he sees any recommendation as a sign he is a failure as a father (she just moved in with him last August after her grandmother died and we just want to help him out but he sees it as interference). A little while later I open my eyes and worry about "Tanya", a student with autism who is graduating this year, she is 21, as her parents have made no plans for her - what is she going to do all day? Then about an hour before the alarm goes off I sit upright and hope that "Rusty" remembers to take his medication for epilepsy when he goes on his overnight trip with his Gr. 9 band class. And on and on it goes.

When I go to the trailer I can leave all of these worries behind me. When I am at the trailer I am no longer a teacher. Instead, I am someone who can take apart a large, heavy sofabed with a hammer, a screwdriver and a pair of scissors. (It came with the trailer but it needed to go and it wouldn't fit through the door so I took it apart- it was for the best as I was able to recycle all the metal and kept the wood for burning in the firepit!)

When I am at the trailer I become a beachcomber, walking the shoreline everyday picking up kindling for that night's fire. I become an expert at recognising birdcalls, and keep my eye on the birdfeeders and bird houses nestled in the trumpet vines across from my trailer. My heart rate slows down and the most important thing I have to do is ride my bike into town to drink iced coffee in front of the Bean Bag, buy delectable pastries at the bake shop for tomorrow's breakfast and a bottle of wine for tonight's BBQ. Well, that's important!

This week's trailer task is to take up a futon to replace the sofa bed and two storage ottomans to hold my daughter's clothing/stuff. Hopefully it will be sunny so I can finish raking the leaves and plant the climatis I bought a week ago and plant the native grass seeds a friend gave me. Then we'll be ready to stay through the Victoria Day weekend, better known in Canada as the May two four weekend (in reference to a case of 24 beer bought by millions of Canadians as we kick off the long-awaited summer party weekend season.)

I'll stick to a six pack myself.

Walk Don't Drive

With the nicer weather I have felt compelled to get outside more - I've wanted to see firsthand the many signs of spring that you can't see as you're whizzing around in your car.


With a busy lifestyle as a single parent and Special Ed Teacher I had to get creative to find the time to get out and about using my own two feet.


So I've started to do my daily errands by walking to local businesses in my own neighbourhood.



First stop yesterday was to the local video store to drop off a movie. It had been a very windy day and the sand from a long winter of sanding roads and sidewalks was turning into an interesting pattern of sand dunes. (note to self - find a synonym for the word sand).


Next stop was the local bank where I used an ATM to deposit a cheque from my insurance company for my daughter's last trip to the dentist.


A sure sign of spring there was the young boy selling chocolate bars outside the front door. No I didn't
buy one tho' I'm sure it was for a
good cause :(

As I made my way across the street on my way to the Giant Tiger store my heart soared with joy as I noticed a Zeller's employee sitting atop bags of fertilizer perhaps waiting for someone with a key to the Gar_en Shop! Yes - the Garden Shop is getting ready to open! (We'll take a short pause while I dance my happy dance!)


Then I briskly walked on to the All Canadian Giant Tiger store so I could purchase an umbrella for my daughter. Battling hurricane force winds and rain that morning (her words) on the way to the bus stop her umbrella had turned inside out so many times it was a tangled mass of broken spokes.
Inside Giant Tiger everything related
to spring was on display: BBQ utensils, beach towels, gardening tools, swim suits and sandals. I was tempted, but only bought an umbrella.


As I headed homeward, I walked by the local cinema to see what was playing. I am very lucky as my cinema shows films that are a few months old and a matinee is only $2.00. I was happy to see that Juno was still playing, as I haven't seen it yet.


I arrived home with errands finished and more sure than ever that spring is here to stay. I also have to say that walking through my errands is much more pleasant and relaxing than racing around stressed out in my car looking for parking spots in a myriad of over-crowded parking lots, and a lot more environmentally friendly.

And the view is infinitely more interesting!

In Need of a Wife

Many times over the long years of single parenting I have often felt things would be a whole lot easier "if I only had a wife" (why do I suddenly feel like dancing down a yellow brick road?) However, as a woman of heterosexual persuasion I haven't yet figured out a way to make that work.


I suppose one answer would be to hire a cleaning service like Molly Maid, but really I don't feel my house is presentable enough to let someone come in and clean it! (if ya know what I mean and I know that you do!)


Do I really want a stranger shaking her head in disgust as she tries to scrub red wine drips out of my carpet? Again? Besides, if I had a wife she would do it for free. Right? And if I had a wife she would bring me my 3rd glass of red wine so I wouldn't have to stumble around with it myself thereby eliminating the need for rug scrubbing altogether.


And while I was sitting feet up in my Lazyboy recliner after a hard day of teaching, sipping my well-deserved wine and lingering over the daily newspaper, I could try to guess what succulent delights were on the supper menu based on the aromas of home cooking coming from the general direction of the kitchen, wherever that might be because I wouldn't have to know seeing as I had a wife. Beulah, peel me a grape! No, bring me the bottle!


Sigh....however, as no one has yet responded to my personal ads looking for a wife, I guess I'll have to survive on Costco's BBQ'd chicken wings and pick up a few more area rugs to cover the wine stains.

Just How Nutty Am I?

I have to say that I like all kinds of nuts. Just keep your mind out of the gutter, however, and we'll get along just fine. I only talk about walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts etc and....oh yes, I often refer to myself and other folk I know as "nutty" or "off their nut" and if I get really upset I just might whip off a bold "nuts to you" type comment.

Take today for instance. Although I am well past my lunch-time I have yet to leave the computer to go downstairs and partake of some. Instead, I sit here trying to start up a blog in the hopes that there just might be some people out there, like me (hear me out), who will stop by to visit and share their wisdom with me from time to time.

People like me could be over 50 years old (yikes, I admit it, I'm over half a century old - but only on the OUTSIDE!), a single parent, (I have a 17 year old princess but that's another post, or even another whole blog...hmmmmm), a teacher, a family history researcher, and/or could be trying, really trying to live a simpler and hence greener lifestyle.

So welcome to "Just How Nutty Am I?" and let's explore the world's nuttier side. So many nuts, so little time....