This has been a very very very very stressful month. Did I say very enough. It began very quietly enough and pleasant. Then I went to school on the third. Since that day, between the horrors of paying bills that are still not finished, the extremely busy school schedule, and the reoccurring headaches. I hope I make it to February 1st.
Bill Paying- I spent way too much on Christmas and my taxes are eating me alive. I don’t regret the money for Christmas, but I am furious about the taxes. Of course, Steve said it’s your fault, you voted for the extra tax. Well, that was 3 years ago. This raise in cost is because the new assessor decided we were not being charged enough before. The only bright spot is that my house is old and not new. One of my friends is paying double because they assessed her house for double the price. They kept telling her, “If you moved that house to Abbeville, you could sell it for that price.” She promptly told them. I can’t move it and where it is no one would pay that much! They built it the way they did because it was in a high flood zone. Oh well, such is bureaucracy.
Next School: We were scheduled this month five different visits from people to view what we are doing in our school. We have had to go into hyperspace speed to revamp our rooms while still teaching. I really shouldn’t complain, mine was fine already. But it put a lot of stress on me to be on my toes and do even better with the kids. Of course, I am doing the best I can do, but I was worried it wasn’t good enough. Three down and two to go. We did very well with their evaluations. The state one gave me a very nice review. The other two were not person specific. They were judging the school as a whole. But they did give Sandy and I a good response for the kindergarten. They were excited to see that we were teaching guided reading already and how well the children were reading. Now the next one is next week. It will strictly be during the reading time, and in the classroom. But we will be there during part of this time. So we will be under scrutiny again. This time by the man who wrote the reading program and some people from LSU. So stress elevation time again. Did I mention in between this, we must retest the entire school. The next group will be there on February 4th.
One more thing happened. We were informed in the middle of the week that we were in corrective action. Our grades were incorrectly scored in the beginning, so they did not know we had slipped. The two supervisors who are our DAT team (in english that means our assistants to getting out of this mess) tell us we really don’t have anything to worry about, since we are doing this wonderful reading program. Of course, it means more meetings. What makes this funny is that this is almost a completely different group of kids. Except for those that failed last year.
Last but not least is the headaches. I believe it is allergies, but from what I do not know. I can make guesses, but that is all they are. I take Tylenol Sinus Daytime and I seem to make it better. But once I get off, they come back again. Hopefully, it will get better. (By the way, I am also taking an allergy pill.)
If I make it through the rest of this year, everyone says it will be better. I certainly hope so. I won’t repeat that it can’t get worse, because it could. Until another day.

Well, that’s not true. I did slow down the week before New Year’s Day, and I actually went into hibernation. I have never slept and laid around so much in a long time. It was wonderful. When I arrived back at school Monday, everyone had a wonderful holidays, but did not want to be back. One person said it perfectly. Returning from holidays are the worse, you really know what you are missing. After several weeks, it becomes more normal so that you begin to enjoy the job. Then as it gets close to the next holiday, you begin to wear down. It is definitely a vicious cycle.
We had a wonderful Christmas. It is so scary how much fun we had this year with both Thanksgiving and Christmas. But there goes my pessimistic side looking for the shoe to drop. I refuse to let it go on.
I am so happy that all of us was there. Mary added a very special touch being there also. I think she is becoming use to our crazyness.
We have some wonderful pictures, and everyone must beware. The Bennetts will be sending a picture newsletter this year.
To top off the year, we actually had snow on Christmas Day. After (50”’) years, my wish finally came true. I am so excited for the kids. There are quite a few young people that had never seen or felt snow. If they lived in Abbeville, then they missed out. But if they lived in Pecan Island and Morgan City, they really had a great time. They actually received enough snow to make snowpeople. We had enough to make snowballs. When we went to see Uncle Bud and Aunt Olga, Steve decided to make one and tried to hit me with it.
Well, school wise this year has started off with a bang. We have four scheduled visits this month alone. Our first was today. The lady from the state department came to observe the interventionist, then she went into the classroom to see the reading program in action. I do not know her overall report, but I was very excited about mine. She gave me an excellent report and it made me feel great. But the kids really did an excelent job this morning. So I was lucky that they were in a cooperative mood. Next week, we have another school coming to observe. That should be a trip. Having all those people walking through the room. I am not looking forward to that. Then on the 26th, the author of the reading program we are using will be coming through. It will be interesting to see what he has to say. Hopefully the children will be cooperative that day also. We are excited at how much the children are progressing. They are working hard and I do believe that they will do well. The only problem we have are some of the repeaters in fourth grade. They do not want to pass and could care less. Maybe if we have some motivation for them, then we will get them gung ho. There is only one for sure in my group that needs a big boost to get him serious. Another is having some bad days, but for the most part, he is doing a good job.
I found out that this summer, we may be going back to New Orleans for a refresher course…it is only three days. But the people I talked to about it with are just as excited as I am. I want to go to museums. In fact, one teacher mentioned she would like to walk down Magazine Street. We did not go there last time, but I am ready to go. It has all the art museums on it. I am going to get on the internet and be ready for some museum hopping if I can get her and some others to come. I may go by myself if I have to. I doubt anyone would steal me.

I enjoyed reading both. But I need to remind both of you of something that even I lacked growing up. I lacked the extreme closeness you two have. I am very happy about this. The one thing I never wanted to happen between you two was what your father had..a lack of family closeness. I feel I helped you suceed in not having that problem. Of course, you two are going to differ in your ideas and opinions. Of course, you two are going to disagree strongly. But if I was successful, you will be tolerant of these differences for the rest of your life. As I have grown older, I miss the closeness I had with my sisters, but I never was able to be as close as you two. That was because we did not have the freedom to choose things together. That made it so we never really knew each other. Anna and I became very close in later years, but Steve had a problem with her. I think so far, you two have been lucky that your companions seem to not feel threatened by your closeness. Please continue to keep it that way.
Remember the person who should always be there if you need to talk should be your brother. Primarily, because you two are guys. You can understand each other’s feelings better than even your significant others.
I am extremely proud of both of you. I could not write a letter when you were born telling you what I wanted you to be, because I did not know what life would throw in our way. I also wanted you to choose what you enjoyed and wanted for yourself. I do know, that you have both grown up to be exactly what I wanted. Compassionate, independent, strong mentally, and hopefully non-judgemental.
You two are also my best friends! I feel I can talk to you about anything and be able to express my disappointments and happiness without feeling you dismiss them. This is a rare quality and I hope we will have this bond until I am no longer around to be a pest…hehehe. I had this with your grandmother. Even though I had to assume the mother role at the end.
I love both of you and take pride in your differences and in your similarities.

This is going to be a Thankgiving that will be remember for many reasons. I tried to get on to Trey’s site, but he must be working on it, because I could not get on. I did not realize it, but we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow and guess what! It would have been Grandma’s (Mom’s) birthday. I do miss her, but still feel she is with me in spirit. It will also be my little secret.
I spent the first three days of my vacation cleaning and getting my house ready for company. Steve and I finally have curtains in the bedrooms. “hallelujah” Took 11 years, but who’s counting…me
Our first round of visitors came in a 9:30pm Tuesday night. Vernon and Sherry stopped at the truck stop on University and we met them. It was great to see Ashley. It had been so long. Her little boy is precious. We wisked Vernon away and brought him to the house. I got him to look at my pictures and see if he could find one that he would like. I had wanted to send them one, but was not sure what he would like or not. We went to bed late and slept very well. We talked to Trey and David and decided that we would meet them at Cracker Barrell for breakfast. It was a very good visit with the boys. Vernon met Mary.
Vernon is planning to write up a story of his mother and father as he remembers them. He asked that we insert a chapter from our experiences. I will have to hog tie Steve and get him to do his part. I plan to start on mine Saturday. With Frank doing the genealogy, I will be so excited to have that and a story.
Michelle Saga
On Sunday (I think), I broke down and called Michelle hoping I would not be catching her on the road. Well, in a sense I didn’t and I did. She was stuck in a small town in Arizona. She had left her friends and started out. About 90 miles outside of a small town, she broke down. Through info I hope to find out later, she had her car towed into the town. They supposedly fixed it. She started out again, and broke down again…approximately the same distance. So back to the little town. That was where she had been for a least one day…after I get statistics I will correct this. Well, that began my worry. When I talked to her, she said they had ordered the part, and it would be in on Monday. I asked her to call me and she didn’t. I waited until Tuesday, and began to get worried. When I called she did not answer. I assumed she was on the road and in an area that she could not get through. When I finally got a message from her, it was Wednesday. She was still stuck in that small town. She mentioned that her friend’s husband did fly a small plane. I thought to myself, wouldn’t that be wonderful if she could find someone to take care of her animals and get a flight to Houston. Well, Wednesday morning things looked fairly dim. I called Terri and asked what she knew. She knew almost as little as i did. There was a possible plan with Bill to go meet her and tow her and her vehicle to Santa Fe, New Mexico where Michelle is going to live next. Finally last night at 8:00pm Terri called me back. It seems that she will fly with her friend to Hobby Airport and Bill will pick her up. Terri is going to try to get a car and maybe they will be able to come this way. I am just Thankful that she will be with them and not stuck in a small town alone with her animals.
We took Vernon back to Baton Rouge last night. It really turned cold and I was glad to get back home to a warm bed. I had a headache all day yesterday. Do not know if it was stress or I was coming down with something. I hope I am not getting sick. I will up date this when I have a chance to finish. The story continues….

I received an email yesterday that made me angry. It was sent by a friend whom I had responded once before with a type of sarcastic remark, but I did not seem to get through to her about what I felt. Well, I have now. Steve said I should have let it go. Probably…but I could not stand to receive any more garbage and she seems to be the major source of it. I will copy it and my reply and let you be the judge.

Her forwarded email…she has problems with writing her own, all I usually get from her is forwarded.

If I were president my Inaugural speech would be as follows:

WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR GEORGE W. BUSH GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH’

My Fellow Americans:

As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed. Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.

This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning.

Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain, Bulgaria, Australia, and Poland are some of the countries listed there.

The other list contains everyone not on the first list. Most of the worlds nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.

Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war.

The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world countries and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.

Need help with a famine’ Wrestling with an epidemic’ Call France.

In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home.

On that note, a word to terrorist organizations: Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth. Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize’ Try France, or maybe China.

To Israel and the Palestinian Authority: Yo, boys. Work out a peace deal NOW. Just note that Camp David is closed. Maybe all of you can go to Russia for negotiations. They have some great palaces there. Big tables, too. I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France, Germany, and Russia. Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bon chance, mes amis.

I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don’t care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers, and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York.

A special note to our neighbors: Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change. Mexico is also on List 2. President Fox and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra tank and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put em’ Yep, border security. So start doing something with your oil. Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty — starting now.

We are tired of the one-way highway.

It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them be saying, “darn tootin.”

Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America. It is time to eliminate homelessness in America. It is time to eliminate World Cup Soccer from America.

To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thanks guys. We owe you and we won’t forget. To the nations on List 2, a final
thought. Drop dead.

God bless America.

Thank you and good night.

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

My response: This is a typical republican response.
My response to her is as follows:

Sherrell,
I love you very much, but the election of Bush in my eyes is an affront to
christianity. Jesus taught us to love thy neighbor as ourselves. He never
once preached war. Granted he did die for our sins, but his death seems to have been for naught when educated people continue to think that the first way to keep you safe is to bomb and kill people in other countries. It
distresses me to think because a woman chooses to have an abortion it is
more dangerous than to send the children we raised and protected all their lives to a country to be killed, degraded and possibly tortured. Please do not send me any more letters in reference to him.
It is hard for me to understand how the people in my generation can approve of the war in Iraq. But who am I to judge those that do. But my feelings have been formed by my religious beliefs. War should be the last resort. People should be allowed to choose how they live as long as they do not threaten our life. But we take those individuals to task, not an entire group of individuals just because they have the same religion.
I have friends that are homosexual. It is not my place to change them.
I have friends that were killed in Vietnam, or came back ill and died from
something received over there, or even worse came back unable to lead a
productive life. Did we truly solve the problem. No. Is Korea solved’ No.
Are we solving the problem in Iraq’ NO All I pray for now is that, God will
intervene and help us out of the turmoil.
I thank the soldiers that make a committment and stand by it. It takes
integrity to do so, even when you do not believe in the cause. (And I knew
quite a few of them in Vietnam and some in this war.) As a mother, I pray
every night that they will all come back safely and soon.
No, I am not happy that Bush was elected. I am in fact extremely depressed.
I dread the things that he will do in the next four years. Hopefully, he
will not have the power that I feel he has now to do any more damage than what he has done already.
I want to hear from you, but if you can not accept my beliefs, then I am
deeply sorry. I love you and respect your right to believe differently, but
I know I can not change you and will not try.
Love, Claudia

I also had a letter from one of my classmates that I had saw at the reunion. This is a very good letter to let people know from the source what it is like….

Nam was a meat grinder. I quit Pharmacy School at UT after my 4th year (of 6) to be a Marine grunt. Altho I was against the war, I felt obligated as an American to earn my right to protest. Besides, I felt bulletproof. I had the confidence to survive. Better me than someone who couldn’t handle himself. If I saved even one kid’s life, that justifys it for me.
To go from a war protester to a marine SGT running 3-man assassination teams was not exactly what I had in mind when I volunteered. But I gave it my best shot, literally. I did that for 11 months and 27 days. Six days after leaving Nam, I was discharged into a lion’s den. No shrink, no
decompression. Just pot and alcohol to get me through. Looking back, I think surviving Nam was the worst part of the war. I was diagnosed with PTSD seven yrs ago and am now in therapy. The sad part is that I killed better people than the folks I live among. I’ve lost all respect for the average American, and there’s no therapy for that. I came to despise the pampered flag wavers who contributed no more to this country than a vote to send poor kids to war. And it’s happening again.

I returned to protest the war, but from first-hand experience. Of the 3.5
million who served in the SE Asia theater, only about 15% of us saw combat on a regular basis. I earned my right to bitch.

When I returned, I wanted to talk about my experiences, but no one cared to listen. My girlfriend at the time was like you. She preferred to know nothing. So for 15 yrs, I never spoke of my experiences except with those who knew.

My Scout Sniper Platoon was a secretive bastard unit that was pretty much treated like a crazy aunt in the basement. We were misfits who did stuff few people wanted to do. If you get the chance, see the movie SNIPER with Tom Beringer. It’s about Scout Snipers, but after VN and with a lot of hollywood. Still, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Even other Marines shied away from us. But now, we’re infamous. Because we did so well in VN, America now maintains a permanent sniper force. Prior to Nam, all American sniper units were disbanned between wars. Because snipers aim at what they kill, they were viewed as premeditated murderers. Duh!

I now give talks to school kids from Jr High to college. I’m also Austin
Chapter President of the Tx Assn of Vietnam Veterans, as well as State
President. Pictures of me appear in several sniper books, and I operate a
veteran related business so that I won’t have to deal with regular people.
Life ain’t great, but I’m working with it.

Unfortunately for those who hung onto my friendship, my anger will never go away. I’ve learned to manage it for the most part, but I’ll never be BEST ALL AROUND again. I lost a lot of time and some wonderful ladies who never understood. There is no healing for combat stress, Claudia, only a bandaide to cover a sucking chest wound.

And for the rush and the power to deal life and death…..I’d do it all over
again. How’s that for a sick puppy’

Don

This is what I heard from many soldiers, but most did not say they would go back. He is more than likely not the only one that feels that way. They just do not fit back into our society. I hope for his sake that he will find peace. But I am afraid this will not happen.

The world continues to go around. No matter what you think, things will continue even in a state of depression. 🙁 But life does truly go on.
David asked me how things were going in school. It was the end of a day that was not the best, but not the worst.
Once again we will be testing on Monday. This is just progress monitoring, but it causes a problem with the groups. Once again, we are facing changes. The strangest thing is that we will be monitored on the 17 thru 19, so I do hope that the new change will not cause problems.
I find that I need to find a way to assist specific children so that they can catch up with the others. Two of mine are having difficulty and need extra assistance. I just can not figure out how to find them more time.
I had a good visit with both my boys today. That always lift my spirits. It was great to see Mary.
I talked to Michelle later and found out that everything is the same and they are coming on Friday after Thanksgiving!!! Hurray!!!

Well, I did take a trip back into the past. The minute I saw one person I was happy. I had debated and debated about staying more than one night. It took seeing some people and realizing, I would like to see more. The first night was at a very small restaurant, but there were people there that made me glad I had come.
The second night was at Lamar University. This was very interesting. I was able to see some that I had really wanted to see. It is strange how talking to people from your childhood can make you feel young even when they are as old as you are.
I was also very proud of Steve, he let me flirt and did not even get mad. Boy, did I flirt. He only commented about one, but I was hugging and flirting with quite a few.
It is strange that even though I did not date in high school and was probably more aloof than I should be because of not wanting to encourage anyone. I found out that I had been popular with some of the guys. Boy was that a shock. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I was friendly. I would talk with lots of people and felt comfortable talking with almost anyone. But I was on the shy side.
Needless to say, my entire trip back to the past was excellent. I do hope that I can stay in touch with those I care about.

I feel like ranting, and realized this is the place to do it. Since there doesn’t seem to be anyone out there except my loved ones reading, I will exercise my freedom to rant !
This has been an extremely emotional year for me. I have ventured out and tried many different things. But my emotions have been on a seesaw all year. I credit the election to be one primary reason.
As a baby boomer, I sit back and look at the some in my generation and can not understand them at all. I spent my teenage years watching the war on my television set at supper time. It was the roots of the “reality television” we have today. Granted, it was mild and antiseptic compared to the reality of the war itself. I watched the protesters and even joined them in my college career in North Texas. But my group was mild mannered and therefore, I was still in my safe cocoon. I was disturbed especially when I realized that young men I had grown up with were being killed. I met young men that had been able to come back that were sick physically or even worse spiritually and mentally. Some of those that appeared well, were facing illness and death later in life because of their exposure during the war. Because of the protesters and people who were brave enough to risk censure, we finally were able to get out of the war. For that, I have great respect for Kerry. His words may have been hard to listen to then and now. But the war was atrocious. It was also fought for financial reasons. Therefore, did we learn any lessons’ It appears we did not. Today, I still find that people think that if our country goes to war, we MUST remain steadfastly patriotic to the president. Even when the war is proven to be ill founded. Vietnam is occurring all over again. This time though it is in an extremely dangerous area. An area we have had trouble in since the dawn of civilization. I was blessed to not have my husband lost, but now I must worry about my sons. The drums are beginning to beat for the draft. Funny how those that beat them the loudest, do not have children old enough for the draft or young enough. Even if my sons should prove to sucessfully avoid the war, I abhor the idea that young men and women will be forced once again to fight in a war. I would like to hear from a mother who has a son/daughter eligible to fight that would say “God Bless you, President Bush for fighting in Iraq.” All I hear from those that must endure this trauma, is I love my son/daughter and I pray that he/she will return safely. Yes, 9-11 was an attack against us, and going to war in Afghanistan was probably a necessity. Did we finish it’ No. The “dogs of war” had been let lose. For those, that seem to think that war with Iraq is justified. Well, you have what you want. If it progresses for 10 more years, will you be satisfied. Will it take that long and many more deaths for you to be satisfied’ The only thing I look forward to, if Bush wins the election. He cannot run again in 2008!

I was informed this week, that I was very lax on writing. It was nice to know that I was missed. Things have been very interesting, but extremely taxing on this poor ole soul.
We tested the entire week Sept. 13 thru 17. The first three days, we tested, then we spent the rest if the week, looking at results, and re-grouping accordingly. I now have a different schedule and roughly different groups. My groups are as follows:
K- This is a cute group of kids. Two of them are in there because they just did not understand how to take the test. I feel they will progress well and will not be left behind. The other three will benefit dramatically with extra assistance. One may have problems, because he has missed too much school already.
1st grade- In this group, I had four children that were performing moderately low. (One was special ed.) One child should not have been with this group. She did not know her letters at all. We moved her to another group where she could be worked with more independently. I received another student who will perform better with this group.
2nd grade- This is a very diverse group. (Their commonality is that they are all in special ed. with learning disabilities.) I have one child in 2nd that is performing on the first grade level in some respects especially in reading. One is possibly performing on his level. I will try to put him in a new book and see how he does. The third is a child in fourth grade. I put him in here so that I could work with him as much as possible at the third grade level and allow him to have some success, by being my helper.
3rd grade- I have three very distinct children here. One is silly and could perform very well if he would listen. One is a young lady that is shy. She is doing very well and I have even received positive comments from the classroom teacher. The latter has the ability. Her main problem is that she has small seizures. This causes her to miss out on things in the group. She is on a new medicine, and she seems to be doing better.
Now for the final portion of my day. Ms. Moss has requested that I work with some children that need as much reading as they can get, so that they will perform better on the leap test. I have two groups of fourth graders. We read a book each week and dissect it and reread it and work on fluency. One group I worked with before and enjoyed. I added a fifth child and she can be a problem, but I think we can get along. I think she is beginning to enjoy being with us in a small group. The second group has been a “thorn in my side”. It contained two young boys that have a great deal of difficulty behaving without being silly. I also have one that has problems because he wants to be silly, too and he allows the others to distract him. Well, I am hoping that the problem has been solved. I was able to drop one of my “thorns” if I took on another child who needed extra help. This will enable me to monitor the other and keep him on task. I will keep you updated on this group. The new student and one other are really a pleasure to teach. So I would not want to quit teaching this group because of the “thorns”.
Well, I am definitely working for my money. I still enjoy this type of teaching. I love going into the two classrooms. I am in a different kindergarten class, because my teacher had trouble with the other interventionist. Since I know the teacher very well, I can deal with any problems she has with ease. In fact, I do respect her and enjoy my time in her classroom. My first grade teacher is still doing very well, except she is pregnant. I feel like her mother, because she is constantly asking me motherly questions. It amuses me. I guess I finally have the daughter I always wanted without the headaches.
We had to stop teaching one day last week to “progress monitor”. I felt it was too soon, but of course I am not the boss. This is what happens when the federal government is involved. Until the next time.

We have now realized that this will not be a year of things remaining the same. :’ Mitzi, our reading coach, came back from her first meeting with anxiety. The federal government and state had changed things again. What are we suppose to do. The only reassurance is that we are going through “transition” (remember I said they love to label things in education) this year so they will be nice unless we flagrantly do not follow the rules. This, of course, is not what we will do.

We have four teachers including myself. Regina is a young lady that taught in headstart and she is finishing her education degree. She was hired as a paraprofessional. But she does do tutoring with some 2nd and 3rd graders. She is the youngest of the four of us. She is always amused at the things I do that show my age. I told her shame on you for laughing at an old lady. X-D Ms. Beverly was a retired teacher/supervisor. She said she was coming back to save her marriage. X-D Boy, did I understand what she was saying. Steve and I wonder some times if we can spend every day together forever. Not!!! Elaine is a retired teacher that said “Never say Never”. She is divorced and she was going crazy at home. Frankly, I think she liked the extra money. She and I are hoping that this will help us be able to work a little longer!!

We are a very compatible group of ladies. Thank Heavens!!!! I enjoy working with all of them.

I was able to rearrange my children so that they were more compatible with ability. I do have one group that I think will pass the test. (If they don’t freeze) This week is my last week with them before the testing, so I plan to work hard at being more prepared.
I like my first grade teacher that I go into the room with. She is new at this age level, so she has had a few problems, but she is a good teacher. She also goes to Indian Bayou Church so I feel close to her. My kindergarten teacher is also new at this age level and she is having a great deal of problems. She is also having health problems, so I hope she is able to get them straight for her own sanity. I like her, but I worry about her. She is trying very hard.

I am still enjoying my room and being able to relax in there. I have not been able to walk, but I do a lot of walking during the day and I eat light. After I heard what the classroom teachers are having to do, I am thrilled that I am where I am. It took my first grade teacher four hours to write her lesson plans. She has 8 pages and she did them on the computer. She knows that if she should have to take off, she will need to write a different set of lesson plans for the substitute. The substitute could never read them. I couldn’t read them that’s for sure. Then it would take too long to read them. As it goes, things are going along fine now. I do stay after school, sometimes, but I think it will get better.

Trey is teaching grammar in community college. I truly can not believe it. My Grandmother Morgan is probably singing a glory song in heaven. I know she would have her prayers answered if she could see Trey and David. My mother was so thrilled with them, before she died. I think even Hazel would be impressed. 😉 If there is anyone out, I would love to hear from you.