Random stuff

I didn't vote today. It felt very strange. I voted last week absentee. So I've done my patriotic bit and I don't take it lightly. I'm a history teacher after all. I even rearranged my US history lessons to teach about Civics and the Constitution this past week, and I hate getting my chronology out of whack! (Part of my history side and part of my OCD nature.) After our test tomorrow, I'll get back to Colonial America.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat - or rather the stores have Christmas stuff out and holiday music playing. The day after Halloween! They couldn't even wait until after Thanksgiving! I will try my very best to refrain from playing my own holiday collection until after Thanksgiving (although I am busily loading them on my new iPod, a gift from my DH). But it IS time to begin shopping, and as usual, I have NO idea what my loved ones would like. And with packing to move, even less time to contemplate ideas.

Florida weather is odd. I know many of you in the eastern US are experiencing cold days and colder nights. I'd love to see some authentic foliage! Yesterday was short-sleeve weather. The thermometer this AM said just 2 degrees cooler than yesterday, so I expected the same. Brrr. The dampness of the air here intensifies the chill in the air. Last week I wore a scarf and gloves to direct the morning traffic at school, and that was barely enough! Strangely enough, there are occasions to wear my wool coat. Then the next day or week I'll need short sleeves again.

Bob and I are buying a house, Lord willing. I thought I'd post a picture of our future home. What? You're not impressed?? This is what we could afford, okay?!

Kidding!! This is a Florida Cracker house at a recreated Florida Cracker village at the park where we camped with other church families recently. Once we close on "our" house, I'll post a picture of the real thing.


Why is it I have all these thoughts about things to blog about at various times when away from the computer, but when I actually sit down to do it, those thoughts are gone with the wind? Short attention span, and getting shorter all the time. Lots of junior/senior moments. Ah well.

That's all for today. God bless you . . . and our nation.

Camp Bliss

I thought I'd share some photos of the boys during the time they spent with us this summer. So here they are!The gang at the aquarium in Tampa (the only picture I, the photographer, am in, thankfully).

Gatorland!! (And the boys tasted some of Gramps's alligator lunch.)




The cutest grandsons!!

















"Derek, the directions say to hang on tight!"












"I'll show 'em how it's done!"













"Yeehaw! I'm a Gator Wrestler."

Snow (um, rain) days!

One day back at school (not even a full day) and we're out for two days! Well, I can use the planning time, but I'd rather have had a break in later Sept. than the second day! And there go two days of our Thanksgiving week, boohoo.

And it was (so far, at least) a wash out (pun intended). We've gotten an inch or two of rain, no wind to speak of or tornadoes in the area. Loni and I've watched lots of Olympics today, though, and I've researched hurricanes (how appropriate!)and the first Floridians for my Florida history class.

The joys of living in Paradise . . . .

Satan, watch out!

One of the many, many blessings of the Spiritual Growth Workshop was the opportunity to be led in worship by Keith Lancaster and attend a too-brief singing session with him. In checking his blog for further info, I found this youtube video of one of their songs. It's worth a look/listen.



It reminds me of something I heard on Christian radio this morning that made me pause - interesting that I heard it just as I woke up. Someone whose name I didn't catch was quoting something about how Satan should be alarmed when a Christian wakes up, "Oh, no, Pat is awake. Look out!" Wouldn't it be wonderful if each of us had such an effect on the world that Satan was alarmed when we woke up and our feet hit the floor?

The kids are coming!

The kids are coming tomorrow. We get the boys to ourselves for a few days, then the parents, too. After they all leave (boo hoo), my parents are coming (yea!) to go with us to the Spiritual Growth Workshop in Orlando and spend a few more days. THEN I may finally get to move into my "new" classroom and finish my quilt. I know the rest of the summer will fly by.

Camp was good, and it flew by, thankfully (because it was hard work . . . and when it was done, the kids are coming!). It was a joy to serve, but we were kind of isolated in the kitchen so not much interaction with the kids and the rest of the staff. The kitchen crew was fun, though. We plan to do it again next year.

I'll post some pics eventually, but in the meantime, I'm devoting every minute to our boys!!

Ahhh, summer . . . .

Summer so far has been great, but 4 of 9 weeks is gone!

Last Friday was the Fourth. It was pretty laid-back in our household. In our two previous homes (Randolph and Tabernacle, NJ), we lived on the parade route. In Randolph on the Fourth the hometown parade marched right past our home. In Tabernacle, the parade was on Memorial Day. I miss that, but I love the patriotism. We missed the parade here in Mount Dora, not knowing when it occurred. (MD has TWO parades, Christmas and Independence Day - the weather is much nicer in December!)

At about 5 we parked downtown and listened to friends from church who perform around the area. They were at the park. I'm attaching a picture because I love the Florida cracker-style building that is central to the park.
At dark (about 9) there were fireworks over Lake Dora. We had parked downtown and ate dinner at Fiesta Grande, a local Mexican favorite. Some places have had to cancel fireworks displays because of financial issues; thankfully, Mount Dora did not. Loni told me that our cameras have a fireworks setting, so we had fun trying to capture the beauty. (Next year need to try a tripod.)
Speaking of Florida Crackers (natives), since I'll be teaching FL and US history this fall, and while I do know US history, I know FL history - um, not so much - I've been researching. I'm reading an interesting novel by Patrick Smith, A Land Remembered. It's a very enjoyable way to learn some Florida history and get a feeling for what life was like in Florida around the time of the Civil War.
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This week Bob and I are helping out at Central Florida Bible Camp. We're working in the kitchen, and Bob is also teaching a Bible class. It's interesting to compare Christian camps. I have a 40 year history (!) with Christian camping, beginning with Maine's Camp Ganderbrook in the 1960's and 70's. Then Bob and I worked many years at Pennsylvania's Camp Manatawny where our children were campers.

Today I met Lee Cain, whose family and ours knew each other in Massachusetts. Lee remembers my brother Jim as one of his Ganderbrook counselors. I love the small world of the Lord's church!!

Bob spoke tonight at the evening devotional. He mentioned our history with Manatawny, and yes, three campers here at CFBC have also been campers at Manatawny. One of them reminded us that Bill, the eldest son of the Garrett family who helped establish Manatawny, helped establish CFBC.
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Working in the kitchen this week - time to go put my feet up. Night.

First year done

Well, my first year has come to an end in several satisfactory ways. I've earned my professional license by passing my final test; my contract has been renewed; almost all my students passed on to the next grade; my schedule of classes is full (three 7th grade World Geography and - moving up! - three 8th grade Florida/US history classes - and that's as far "up" as I want to go!); new classroom in with the other middle school classes rather than in the "boonies;" and graduation.

Graduation was last night. We attended last year, and it was very nice. This year was more significant for me since I was among the robed and hooded faculty seated up front. In a few years, when my first students are among the graduates, it will be even more special. It was a lovely culmination of the year.

Today is the last day of post-planning. While I'm looking forward to all the summer rest and catching up on chores and projects, I'll miss the daily routine, students, and co-workers. I'll especially miss my lunches with my special co-workers. We probably won't share lunch next year. We'll have different levels of classes. My lunches have been so beautiful: a brief, relaxing respite in the middle of the day, outside in the quiet courtyard near a fountain (all year long in the lovely, mild Florida winter and even in these hotter, summer days recently arrived). These dear ladies have been my true mentors, not the ones assigned to me, but the ones who have nurtured and guided me through my first tentative year. I'd love them if that was the extent of our relationship, but factor in the bond of Christian sisterhood, and the blessing is multiplied. I'll miss them this summer.

But I'm looking forward to catching up with my blogging and email friends! Talk with you soon.

Tagged!

A. Attached or Single- attached for 32 years, almost, and counting

B. Best Friend- Bob

C. Cake or Pie- Pie - French silk!

D. Day of Choice - Sunday, even though it's too full and stressful

E. Essential Item - Bible

F. Flavor of Ice Cream- chocolate, plain old chocolate

G. Gummy Bears or Worms- um, sorry, neither

H. Hometown- Eustis, Florida (home is where hubby is)

I. Indulgences- chocolate, crocs, Pilot G-2 gel pens, waterbed

J. January or July- January (my birthday month and better weather in Florida than July, although July is no school . . . .)

K. Kids- four wonderful adult children (3 born to me, #4 married into the family), three grandkids, and a DH "kid"

L. Last movie I saw in a theater- Indiana Jones

M. Middle Name- Lucile

N. Number of siblings- one brother

O. Orange or Apples- (same as Lisa's)I like both, but I would choose clementines over all other oranges or apples

P. Phobias or Fears- speaking publically to adults/peers

Q. Quote- "Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children." -Walter Elias Disney

R. Reasons to smile- grandchildren!, beautiful weather, lunch with co-workers, days off with Bob, student hugs

S. Season- spring

T. Tag 4- Bob, Loni, my Mom (since she refuses to blog, she'll have to respond here), Trey

U. Unknown fact about me- I love classic movies

V. Vegetarian or oppressor of Animals- there's some judgment expressed in this wording, I suspect! I LOVE meat: beef, chicken, pork.

W. Worst Habit- procrastinating (i.e., laziness)

X. X-rays or Ultrasounds- not having much experience with either . . . I have to agree with Steph and Lisa — who would choose an X-ray over an ultrasound of your baby’s heartbeat?

Y. Your favorite Food- definitely chocolate!! Have you tasted Hershey's new Bliss Dark Chocolate??!!

Z. Zodiac - I don't do horoscope, so I won't go here. I'll go for zoo animal: giraffe.

Bonus!

For as long as I can remember, Bob and I have stayed until the very end of the movie credits. I think it began with my wanting to know where the movie was filmed (geography buff even then). Once in a rare while we're rewarded with a bonus for our patience. Tonight as we watched the credits roll, we were chatting about the empty theatre and how we're almost always the only ones in a theatre to do this and how we wish movie producers would wise up, that movie goers would more likely stay for the credits if they were rewarded with an extra bonus scene. A few years ago we stayed for the end of "Daredevil" and saw a surprise scene like this, an extra perk, a bonus hint of things to come. When this happens, we have an extra thrill that we've be given something others have missed.

Tonight it happened again. (Hint: if you go to see "Ironman," be sure to stay through the credits!)

Hmm, seems there might be a spiritual application to this, something along the lines of "he who is faithful to the end will be rewarded with a crown of life" (a very loose paraphrase of Revelation 2:10 "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.").

When the going gets tough or even when the road just seems long, hang in there. Be faithful unto death. The reward is infinitely better than the fleeting, shallow thrill of being one of the few to see the bonus scene in a movie.

Random Thoughts

We received two more "Christmas" cards/letters yesterday (Feb. 1). It's nice to know I'm not the only one who procrastinates (as evidenced by the fact that I haven't written my thank-you notes yet).

Some people get all bent out of shape by holiday newsletters. Not me. I love to hear what's going on in the lives of far-flung friends I only hear from once a year. Today I read that Andrea and Chuck's four boys are a year older, changing from cute to handsome, and the two eldest have become my brothers in the faith! Yea!

I hardly know Lisa's (Lisa my college BFF, not Lisa my daughter, her namesake) family. I've never met her husband and stepchildren and probably never will since they live in the opposite corner of our nation. But I like to see that she's happily married and travels the world to places I only dream about and teach about in my geography classes.

People who complain about those letters criticize the bragging and dwelling on mundane details. Not me. I skim the parts about people I don't know; say a prayer for my friends' aches, illnesses, sorrows and joys; examine the photos (thanks for sending those!) and lay them aside to reexamine from time to time; and am grateful that we haven't fallen off friends' mailing lists and from their hearts.

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Thursday night Bob and I watched the first game of the Mount Dora Bible girls' softball season. Ah, Florida. We sat in our camping/sports chairs in short sleeves, enjoying the balmy breeze and the crack (bats don't crack any more, they clang or something, don't they?) of the bats as the girls played in sleeveless shirts under the lights.

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How is it I have time to blog this morning? This is the first Saturday I've had in quite a long while without somewhere I need to be at some point. I'm also finding, gratefully, that my work isn't taking so much of my spare time as the previous semester: planning is a little easier since I've established a routine, grading papers can be put off a day or two without the earth ceasing to rotate, papers to be filed - well, if they haven't been filed before today, they probably can wait another day or week or month. Yes, today I need to generate a test to be copied on Monday, plan for the next week, mark three periods of tests, etc. but it's just Saturday morning. "There's hours to go before I sleep."

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I have two screensaver slideshows stored on my computers. One I've been using at school since August seemed appropriate for a geography teacher: Places I've Been. It includes photos of Prague, Edinburgh, Camp Manatawny, Maine, Lompoc flowerfields, a west Texas oil derrick and sagebrush.

Yesterday I decided to switch to Family Photos. I had such a tender feeling throughout the day as I gazed at my grandchildren, children, parents, and sibling (and hubby, of course! but I seem him every day, thankfully!!). Some of my sixth period girls wandered near the computer as they passed me their test papers and stopped to look at the photos: "Your daughter looks just like you!" (Loni); "You look like your mother," and "Aw, they're so cute." (the boys, of course)

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Epiphany: On Thursday one of my students commented (for effect, I'm sure), "You smiled!" I asked, "Don't I smile?" He said, "It's the first time today." I'm sure it wasn't, that he was just trying to get a reaction from me and his fellow-students, but it got me thinking.

I'm pretty much dissatisfied with the behavior of many in my classes. I have high expectations and, as a first year teacher who didn't have as much time to prepare procedures and things as I would have liked (since I didn't know I would be teaching middle-schoolers rather than elementary when I finally was blessed with a teaching job!), my students are often chattier than I'd like. However, that's the nature of the (middle-school) beast: sociable, show-off, talkative. And my classroom has a linoleum floor, cinderblock walls and a low ceiling - perfect for reverberating noise. Visitors (administrators) don't often come to my classroom, but I'm insecure, hoping that my students would be quietly (silently) working or better still, enthusiastically engaged (but with no side conversations!) in a lively discussion about geography or, even better, the Bible in some way that relates to geography (this IS a Bible school, after all). But subconsciously, I'm fearful that should that fateful visit occur, my students would be at their worst (a nightmare I don't want to even put into words of description here in my blog).

But I've digressed from my epiphay. I realized several things as I thought about his spontaneous remark: I am so intent on straightening out and controlling their behavior that I am without good humor; the situation I've got currently is what has evolved from August through January and is not likely to be improved significantly today or anytime soon; the behavior of my students is not as bad as I subconsciously think - it is just not my ideal and likely never will be (they are MIDDLE SCHOOL students, after all); if I want the students to enjoy and be enthusiastic about the information I have to share, I need to "lighten up;" I need to smile more and enjoy and appreciate these young people whose lives I've been blessed to share.

I'm looking forward to my new outlook.

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Bob, Loni, and I went to Disney for my birthday. I love Disney and may never get my fill. We had never been to DisneyWorld before moving to Florida and here we are in Mickey's backyard. I chose MGM Studios this time (which has been renamed Hollywood Studios for some reason) and off we went. I was afraid the weather would be cool, but it was really nice. We had on jackets which were perfect all day; we weren't too cool or too hot.

Fairly early in the day, on the StarTours ride, everyone in our (what to call it? Vehicle? Room? whatever) was gifted with a FastPass Special Pass which entitled us to go to the head of the line of every ride or show which was designated a FastPass ride. Yippee! We were excited, momentarily . . . but all the shows weren't doing FastPass that day. I felt like someone had given me a chocolate icecream cone from ColdStone Creamery, then took it back! So we tried not to be put-out (after all, it's not like something we'd paid for had been taken, or whatever) and just enjoy the day. The shows were fun. The crowds weren't too bad. And finally, yes, because we had the FastPass ticket, Bob and I decided to try a ride we probably wouldn't have otherwise: The Rocking RollerCoaster. Now, you have to realize that Bob and I aren't coaster people. And we've never been on one that goes upside down! BUT the Rocking Roller Coaster is in the dark. We were Bob the Builder, "We can do it! Yes, we can!" And we did it. Bob (DH, not the Builder) yelled, "This is great," over and over again. I kept instinctively closing my eyes, then making myself open them again (we were in the dark, after all!). It was fun. I might (MIGHT, no promises) try another coaster that goes upside down someday, but the next one won't be with dangling feet, I'm pretty sure.

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Since I had the time this morning, I spent an hour finishing a book I started before Christmas, His Dark Materials. This is the trilogy from which the movie, "The Golden Compass," was made. I decided, as a middle school teacher, to read the book so I could say with authority, and not second-hand, what was and was not true about the book. It is extremely imaginative and well-written. I can see why Philip Pullman won all the awards. And it is not until halfway through the second of the three books that the identity of the evil ones is revealed to be "God" and his angels and followers. The powerful groups of the "church" (recognizable as the RC church) are Pullman's really bad guys out to kill the innocent girl and those defending her (because somehow she is the key to who stays in control and what happens to the worlds and their inhabitants). Pullman's "god" is a fallen angel who has named himself "God." (Um, Mr. Pullman, where did angels and the rest of these creatures and worlds come from?) One of the good guys, a woman, was a nun who left the church and is no longer a Christian, but "free." Some of the other "good guys" are witches and gypsies. The story is fascinating and convoluted. I DO NOT recommend that anyone read it. I hope no one bothers. I sincerely hope that young people don't read it and become influened to his viewpoint.

I'm glad to be done with it. The book is now in the trash (minus a few pages I kept for reference) and I'll happily move onto my stash of Christian fiction and more innocent juvenile literature.

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Well, enough randomness for one day. I know anyone who reads this is amazed that there's actually something to read on my blog. You've probably stopped even checking in here. I'm glad you did.

Have a blessed day.