Update

Wow. Was July really the last time I blogged? Dreadful. Not that my blog-writing friends and family have done much better (except for Helena!). But I can't let that be an excuse. I will try to be a leader, not a follower. Maybe if I start blogging again on a regular basis, it will encourage others to follow.

I hate when my yearbook staff gives me excuses for not getting their work done. But I spend a lot of time with them, and they rub off on me, so I'm going to join the excuse club for a paragraph or two. Facebook. I blame my lack of blogging on Facebook. Sometimes I'll make an interesting observation or an astute realization, but instead of writing a blog post about it, like I maybe would have done pre-Facebook, it's easier and faster to condense it into a status update.

I can also blame the energy-sapping yearbook, but this year has been a lot easier, so that excuse is growing whiskers.


Long posts of text can be boring, so I'll throw in a random photo of something cute. Bella will appreciate it, if nothing else.

So when you haven't blogged for 6 months, what do you write about to dip your toe back in the frigid waters of Lake Blog? An update, that's what.

My Second Year Back at GHS
This year has gone well. I got my room more situated, to my liking. Got my IKEA lamps set up, so I can keep the big florescents off. Got blinds installed so I can make it nice and dark for my SMART board. I got an extra dry-erase board installed, and bought a full-size refrigerator for lunch and snack storage. And we are so much further ahead on the yearbook than we were last year. It takes a lot of the pressure off. As usual, I have one very challenging English class, the kind of class that makes me daydream about quitting and driving a UPS truck, but I've summoned enough patience over the years to not let a class like that get to me too much. One of the things I love about teaching is the cyclical nature of the job. Every year has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A dying and a rebirth. Inhalation and exhalation. This annoying class will eventually move on. And next year there will be another. Surfers perpetually hunt for the perfect wave. Teachers wait for the perfect year, when all their classes are like a dream. I laugh when I hear fellow teachers who teach all AP classes, or all IB classes, complain about their jobs. They usually complain about having so many papers to grade. They've forgotten--if they've ever experienced it all--what it's like to have a class of low-income, neglected-at-home, street-hardened kids who have no interest in being in school, are on a fast-track to dropping out, and may or may not make it to your class depending on whether they have a court appearance. "My kids are struggling with Antigone," they whine. "They were supposed to read the last 50 pages last night and almost half of them didn't do it!" Whatever.

Random explosion

Cristina
For the past 4 years or so, Cristina has worked part-time in a Waldorf Kindergarten classroom. She loves Waldorf education, and she loves being a mother, but she does not love working with small children as a paid job, day in and day out. So when she discovered that Florida requires a "license to touch" to practice Jin Shin Jyutsu, she decided to go the massage school. Not the cheapest route, but a versatile choice. And we have one of the nation's best massage schools right here in Gainesville. She's about halfway through the 6-month program right now and doing well. We'll be buying a professional massage table this week, which she plans to take to NC during Christmas break to get some of her required extra-curricular massages done. I remember when my sister Bonnie went through massage school and gave massages to family members during a family get-together. In fact, I think that was my first massage.

Sofia
Sofia's second year of high school has gone smoothly. Classes are fine, but for the past 3 months, it's all been about band. Her marching band season ended a couple of weeks ago with a state championship, so no matter what happens in her last 2 years, she will always know what it feels like to be a part of championship performance. The show was incredible. Here's an article from the school board website, and an article from the Gainesville Sun. I'm always amazed at how this group of kids--and when you see them during down-time they really are just a bunch of kids--can work so hard with such concentration and dedication to pull off something so complex and beautiful on so many levels. That transformation from kids-to-professionals is the coolest part for me. I admire the craftsmanship that they display. I'm so proud of Sofia!

Alex
As a 5th-grader, Alex has had the honor of being a safety patrol. Unfortunately, one incident of tomfoolery caused his day-glo belt to be taken away, but he's confident that he'll earn it back. In addition to learning specific responsibilities, safety patrols also get to go to Washington, DC at the end of the year. Not sure how we'll pay for that yet, but we'll figure something out. Alex's reading has continued to improve. He's reading at grade level, if not above. He reads every night before going to bed, and he completes novels with comforting regularity. He's not quite at Sofia's level of reading addiction, but that can be a bonus. He still expends, as he should, a good bit of energy on the trampoline or throwing the football. He's looking forward to another round of Upward flag football in the spring. He played Upward soccer this fall, but he'd like to try regular 11-man soccer, with full-sized goals and actual goalies. Stay tuned on that. Some of his school artwork is on display at the Thomas Center over the next few weeks.

Bella
Bella's reading has also grown by leaps and bounds. She is a much different reader than she was last summer when she still sounded out most of her words. She reads books on her grade level smoothly, often sounding out unfamiliar words, trying different sounds until she gets something that makes sense. Basically, what readers do. She enjoys Expressions Learning Arts Academy and loves her teacher, Ms. K (Sofia's kindergarden teacher). Ms. K is an avid birder, so Bella has learned a lot about birds. Her favorites are the tufted titmouse and the yellow-breasted blackbird (I think). She draws birds, she talks birds, she recognizes birds when we're oput and about. It's pretty cool. I've never had much interest in birds, or flowers, or knowing names and info about the natural world, but I'm glad she enjoys it. She has good friends in her class, and last weekend went on her first sleepover birthday party. Her improvement in reading is making it harder for us to spell things that we don't want her to know about.

Obviously, a lot more has happened than what I've written here. My Subaru is dying, if it's not dead already. I sold my motorcycle to help pay for massage school. I've been tutoring a couple of 8th grade boys on the weekends for extra money. But this post gives everyone a little taste of what's been going on, and more importantly, gets me blogging again.

Next time I think of something that would make a decent blog post, I'll try not to cop-out to Facebook.