Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Sick and Tired, 24, and Shoes!

Well here I am again. I tend to not post for a long time than I do...yeah, anyways. I've done alot since I last posted a "real" post, you know one of those long posts that tell about everything I've done...well you know what I mean.

Well I had my 24th birthday finally. It was good. I had a few days of celebration. It was on a Thurs. 26th of Jan.-had family presents that morning-before my dad left for work. My parents gave me this really lovely comforter. It's a deep red, it's stripped kinda, I think you could call it a sateen material. There's a sheen to it. I like the thinkness of it. I also got an ivory matelasse coverlet, wich is kinda thin but it's heavy, it's woven thickly, make sense. My brains not working the best today:) Also I got a bed skirt in ivory like the material of the comforter. Haven't gotten around to putting it on my bed yet. I want to iron it first.

Krista gave me this wicked cute little trunk made out of wood and some girly stuff inside.

Friday night my family and alot of my friends and some kids from youth group all converged at the Theather in Winchester, the one not at the mall and watched "The End of the Spear." THe story about Jim Elliot and Nate Saint and the other guys that were killed trying to reach a primative tribe in the jungle of Ecuador... It's a tear jerker. Yes I cried, a couple times. I'd recommend going to see it or at least waiting till it comes out on Video. It's a special story.

After the movie we herded to Cold Stone's-this really nifty ice cream shop. You choose the flavor of Ice cream and then you choose the goodies to go in the ice cream and than they mix it up on a "cold-stone"-marble slab right there in front of you. It kinda looks like big kids with big spoons playing with the ice cream as they mash and mix...and flip it over and mash and mix...etc...
My choice was a "like it" size one of the smaller sizes with half coffee and half banana ice cream with Heath Bar, in a waffle cone(these aren't those wimpy cones you get at the grocery store, these are daddies to those little baby cones). I really like heath bar! It was good... I wouldn't mind some of that today...yum...I enjoyed and was able to eat the whole thing without discomfort, which doesn't always happen. It kinda surprised me:)

I didn't mention that we had to wait in line like 30-40 mins. It was a friday night and the store had actually recently opened. They've gotten tons of business like too much business. It was fun waiting though, cause I was with friends.

After we got the ice cream, we sat around and talked and laughed...we laughed alot. One of my friends is Angela. She's in her thirties... (definately young at heart married) with twins. She was making us laugh and we were making her laugh. We were trying to remember the name of the guy that was from the tribe... it's like Micanani...you know like macaroni...anyways...:)

Than a friend came home with me and spent the night...and the next morning, Saturday, Myleen Sweet came over to have brunch with us. I had a "fruit pizza" as my birthday cake. It was kinda differnt but good. It's like "pizza" made with croisant bread, (from the can) and the "sauce" is this cream cheese frosting like stuff and than the goodies on top were grapes, kiwi, strawberries...definately differnt than cake or pie:)

Than Sunday another friend of mine brought a cake to church with Happy Birthday Marie on it. It was a special sunday, called celebration Sunday, not cause of my birthday but becuase we were celebrating our church, what GOd had done in the church and who He's used to make it happen. Also Angela gave me my b-day present there at church at the pot luck. She gave me this bright red skinny scrarf that's like 8 feet long. I have to wrap it around my neck like 3 times to get it the length I want it:)

Even this Sunday at church I got another b-day present.:) I like presents, in case you were wondering.

Now to totally change the subject... let's talk about my substitued work....

I have been doing alot of Subbing. I worked everyday last week. Which is a blessing but it is tiring. I worked yesterday-MOnday. I was a 2nd grade teacher. It was a rough day. There were 3 boys that made it especially rough. The whole class added to the stress too. But if the boys hadn't been in class it definalty would've been easier. One of the boys, lets call him Joe, just talks and talks. He won't shut up, cept at times... and he's really smart. We were studying George Washington and he mentioned something that George had been, that wasn't even mentioned in what we as a class had read. He also mentioned Ulysses Grant another time... he's probably a walking encyclopedia.
If i ever get that class again hopefully I only have like one of those boys. Maybe the others could be at a family reunion or a doc's appointment!

Another boy, lets call him George, was really annoying too, I actually made him cry. I was a little mean. Felt kinda bad... ah man he just needs self-control. I was mean closer to the end of the day... he was just bad and bad and bad...pushes you...

Man this type of behavior out of 2nd graders. When You think 2nd grade- you think they should maybe be sweet and innocent...yikes not all of them that's for sure.

I did get three hugs and one was a side hug from "Joe." It's easier to love him after the fact of yesterday. Distance of time. I wanted my experience with him to be differnt than what the teachers expected out of him, which was a disruptive kids. He has this chubby baby face... with dark hair and blue eyes... which don't always seem to look at you when you're talking to him...kinda weird.

Near the end of the day I took them to music class. The teacher is awesome. THe class is in another building with this room of chairs all spaced out-facing her piano. The chairs are little kid chairs... one of my kids could've stood having a bigger chair. Each kid had a hard cover music book...when opened covered their laps. The teacher had them sing "The Best Friend Song." They were great! I love it:) They did sound good... you could hear some kid off key, at times they'd belt it out at others it was quieter. It was an idealistic moment... Please music lady sure you can have my kids. This was going to be some of my down time...sigh...

I went and got some chamomile tea... straightened up the desk and then rested my head on my arms on the desk. It was the type of rest where your mind goes on screen saver cause your tired... like you don't think...I had a slight headache at that point...

Throughout the day I kept telling hte class to be quiet. As I got closer to the end of the day my voice was feeling worse. I've had a really bad cold recently. It's not a good experience feeling like your voice isn't that stable, or strong and you want to get the kids quiet... I would clap my hands sometimes to try and get their attention. I got to the point where I wrote in all caps, "PUT YOUR HEADS DOWN!" on the board. One kid was like you guys she's not feeling very well-you need to listen. Nice guy-bless his heart.

At the end of the day one of hte staff in the office asked how my day was "It was rough." I replied. Sigh...
Tomorrow I'm at the same school, also teaching 2nd grade, but a differnt class. I'll pray before I get to class...

I took today off cause of being sick and tired. Last evening I was couphing and couphing.... I actually slept most of last night elevated with pillows on the couch. I didn't hardly cough all night, which wasn't the same story as the night before. It was a blessed sleep:)

...ahhh, I think this cold started last week... If I took my vitamens better I think my immune system would be stronger. But it's not surprising that I'm sick cause of working in the public schools. Around so many people increases the probability that you'll catch something.

YES! On Friday I am the ART teacher at the Jr. High. At the Jr. High they have 4 blocks/periods. Making each perion one and a half hours long...which makes for long classes especially if the class isn't very obedient...which is emotionally draining...but it does mean my "planning" period is like an hour and a half:) Don't get me wrong subbing is not all bad. I'm learning ... and may need to be more bold about being in charge... there are kids that I really enjoy and moments where it's like "Wow, I'm being a teacher.":) The discipline is what drains me...fallen man...Adam and Eve...look what you started:)

Another random bit of info...I haven't been in much of a mood to do my laundry so I had a mini everest of dirty clothes in my room...that was growing daily... finally I'm working on them today. It's going to take 2 loads to topple that mountain. The 2nd load is actually in the machine now. I still have alot of clothes that are clean but am short on items like socks, and nylons...and also my more favorite clothes...

I really like the direct answers to prayer that God gives. The other day I was going to shop at one of my favorite stores in town, The Salvation Army, and before I went in I prayed that God would help me to find something special. I came out with 2 pairs of boots and a really cute pair of strappy heels. I actually got a pair of cow boy boots...they are really nice quality, real leather with alot of designs all over the top part... I wear them alot, they were made in spain. The other pair of boots are "tight"-they are real leather-in black, short boots, with quite a heel. I wear them sometimes when I sub. at the Jr. High cause I don't have to walk as much. They are my power boots:) by the way they were made in Italy. Did I mention price, each pair of boots were $2 bucks each and the shoes were $1, and every pair is in excellent condition... it's cool when God answers prayer like that. Yeah!

Ok... keep droppin' by to check out my blog. You never know when I'm going to post next and you never know what I'm going to post.

There's more I could write about but I'm gonna sign off. Keep with God. Amen:)

3 comments:

lis said...

Whew, discipline! You have my sympathy, Marie. (Even three little brothers can be a challenge to teach!)

Don't forget that you are doing those kids a favor by being firm...and that you have a right to command their respect, because God wants them to respect authority!

I don't know if that makes sense, but it's what I'd tell myself when I was standing in front of a bunch of unruly 2nd graders and shaking in my boots. Do you think they have a sixth sense that tells them when you are feeling confident? Methinks yes! ;O)

Hooray for getting to be an art teacher! Sounds like God was listening to the desires of your heart, as well as your prayers. I love it when He does that.

Keep up the good work!

melrandall said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIE!!! Argh... I'm SO sorry I didn't send you something on your birthday; I KNEW it was the day after my dad's... grrr at myself. But I'm so glad it was such a good, fun-filled, extendo-birthday (that's the best kind, when it gets dragged out like that)! Happy 24! (man we're getting old, huh? :)

Thanks for all the details about your teaching job; that sounds like a great fit for you, even if it's draining at times. And yay for ART! You'll have to let me know how that goes.

Oh, and by the way, that niece and nephew of yours are crazy cute.

Love you!

CKS said...

Thanks for a new post, Marie! I kept checking and checking...so don't think no one's paying attention.