Life lesson #2

Ok. It is time yet again for another life lesson. So here goes. Life lesson #2: If you are going to be out in the sun, always put on sunscreen. You know, I have a really hard time tanning. I can lay in a tanning bed for hours on end and get hardly any color. But when I am not trying to get a tan, I always end up burning and at the most inopportune time. Yesterday we had a party for my students that are moving on to new programs in the fall and are participating in Graduation on Sunday. after we ate we went outside since it was such a beautiful day. It was on the windy side but nice none the less. As my students rollicked in the sun and played my assistants and I sat in beach chairs and lounged. We were out maybe an hour give or take. I could tell I had some slight color over top the faded tan I had gotten while in florida earlier in the year. It would be much later in the evening when Iwould discover just how much sun I got. I have the funkiest "farmer's burn" on record. My face is red, my chest and neck are red but it is in the shape of my shirt front. Both of my arms are red on the inside of my elbows up to my shoulders part way. To top it off, the shirt I am wearing for graduation is shaped differently in the front and it shows more skin than the other shirt I had on. at least my black gown will cover it and you shouldn't be able to tell. Can we say liquid coverup makeup? Needless to say I got a lecture from my sister. She's such a mom.

challenge

Here's a challenge to all of you out there. Should you choose to except this challenge lord only knows what the results will be. How dependent are you on your dominate hand? Are you ambidextrous? Can you do with one as well as you can with the other? Well, I am about to find out. In the immediate future I am going to be having surgery on my dominent hand and elbow. I am going to have to be very careful for 4-6 weeks with it. I for one can tell you that I am not as good with my left hand as I am with my right. Several of my friends/coworkers have asked me if I will be able to manage for that long without the use of my dominent hand, especially when it comes to the bathroom. My answer is that I don't have a choice. I need this surgery and I will do anything. So the challenge, to use only my left hand to do daily activities for 24 hours in preparation for my surgery. My guess is I am going to have to bind my right arm somehow. But I am going to do this. So, for you adventurous folks out there, I challenge you to do the same thing. I also think that this experience will help me grow as a teacher. It will give me some insight into what a few of my students deal with on a daily basis. One of my students doesn't have much use of her one hand due to cerebral palsy. She accomodates for herself on a daily basis. Can we handle it for 24 hours? The challenge is on. Can you handle it?

I don't understand

All right I will admit it. I caught myself watching a show on E called Keeping up with the Kardashians. For those of you who do not know, the Kardashians are a family in LA. The mom, Kris is married to Bruce Jenner. There are times that I think certain reality shows are scripted and this is one. I mean they are so crazy at times. Anyway, Kim, the middle daughter, is dating Reggie Bush who plays for the New Orleans Saints football team. Reggie has been very involved in raising money for those effected by hurricane Katrina. As they were filming this particular episode, Kim and her siblings met a local family and befriended them. This family was living in a FEMA trailer next door to their condemed house. They have been in this trailer for 2 years. How can this be? It has been 3 years since the hurricane. How can it be that this family's house has not been rebuilt? I realize that there was wide spread destruction, and the response time to assist those in need afterwards was bad. But how can it be taking this long? I hear of so many helping out in the recovery efforts. I am just baffled. I am sure however though that after appearing on this show the family has since been helped. The Kardashians bought them all new furniture to be stored until their house was ready. Extreme Home Makeover can go into a place, tear down the house, rebuild and decorate the house all in a week but our country can't rebuild as quickly. I just keep shaking my head. Maybe there is something I am missing but I can't help but feel that our country is self-destructing.

My own "DUH" moment

Ok. So I have a tendancy to pick on my sister and her "duh" moments. How could you resist? She tends to be suck an easy target. Well today folks I will admit the ultimate "Duh" moment for me. Yes, even those of us with generally above average IQ's have them. We arrived back to school to discover that the Seniors had painted the windows of every vehicle with says like "Seniors 08" or "'I'll Miss the Seniors". Well my vehicle had "Seniors 08" across my back windshield. I'm in my car driving home and I look in the rearview mirror to discover that I can read it perfectly. So I grab my cell phone and call Glenna and say "Gee, those kids were smart. I am looking at the writing on my back window and I can read it perfectly. They wrote it backwards on the outside." Glenna says to me how can that be because I could read it. My smart brain says well we saw it and automatically our brain made us read it the right way. She's like no that can't be. And I'm like but I'm looking at it in the mirror. She says right and I read it perfectly when I drove by your car. At this point I am at a stop light and I take a quick look back to discover that yes it was right on the outside. I was seeing the revrse of how it looked on the inside. That's why it was correct in the mirror. Glenna just laughed her ass off. See Laura, even I have "Duh" moments.

And FIERCE it was

Those kids of mine had their "A Game" on today. We had a few minor glitches but all in all the fashion show was a hit. The kids felt so proud to walk the runway we made and listen to the residents cheering for them. What also made it even more special was a few of the parents showed up. The residents were clapping and yelling out their names. They were very impressed with how well they did. Some of the staff even helped direct my visually impaired students in the right direction their first time out. The best was Vince. After he made his first trip down the runway he stood at the end to watch instead of heading to the room to get changed into his next outfit. Of course there is always one "ham" in the bunch. That would be Kyle. He was our poser. He was loving every minute of it. Each pass of the runway he would just stop and strike a pose. The residents didn't even mind that we had to take a brief break to help them get changed. As a reward for a job well down we surprised them and took them out to lunch at Wendy's. What a big day they had. The one parent couldn't get over what her daughter had picked out and how wonderful she looked and did. This is what we wanted to accomplish. We wanted the parents to see what their kids could do. A few of them still pick out and shop for their kids clothes. But, today we proved that each one is fully capable of doing it on their own. Patricia, my other assistant, (whom I hope becomes full time in the fall) is all ready coming up with ideas for next year. I don't know what I worried for. Everything was fine.

What have I gotten myself into?????

I love my job. Who wouldn't? I get my summers off, definite perk. Plus I get to take my students places and do things with them. Take today for instance. We went to an area mall and played indoor putt-putt at a glow in the dark course. We then ate in the food court. We go grocery shopping, bowling, and many other activities. Every trip is to work on skills they need to function independently in the world. Many of these things are things we take for granted. Who would have known that my most athletic student had never played putt-putt before? Would you also believe that most of them did not know how to pick out clothes that were their appropriate size? My assistant and I decided to take them clothes shopping. Where can you go shopping on a budget? Why the thrift store of course. They loved it. They each had a certain amount of money to spend and they went through the racks and picked out items they liked. It was interesting to see some of the things that they chose. My one student honed in on anything that had to do with his favorite NFL team. It didn't matter what size it was. He walked up to me to show me a sweatshirt he had found. This particular student is about 5 feet tall and still wears pants from the boys department. He is also 18 years old. The sweatshirt was a 3x. He wasn't too happy when I said he wasn't going to be able to purchase it because it was way too big for him. Once the purchases were made and taken back to school we were trying to decide what else we wanted to do. We got the bright idea that we would hold a fashion show to highlight our purchases. We also decided that instead of doing it at school, we would put it on for the residents at the assisted living facility where we volunteer. We also took the clothes to the laundro-mat and taught the kids how to do laundry. Well, the big day has arrived. Tomorrow we will be putting on our fashion show and I am a tad nervous. Glenna (my assistant) and I have showed them how to walk. We have picked out the outfits they are going to wear. We've mapped out the catwalk and we have our cue cards ready. What's left to do is up to the kids. No matter what happens I know that they are going to have a blast. This is an experience that many will never get to have. Who knows, maybe I have a future America's Next Top Model in the making. I can dream can't I? In the words of my sister and best friend, it's going to be FIERCE!

I can't believe this

I first saw the article on the internet. A chaperone taped a door shut at a hotel to keep students in the room. To my surprise I discovered that it occurred with a high school here in Ohio. As I read the article I was very surprised to see names that I actually recognized. The students were part of the high school choir. As I was flipping the channel just now it was being discussed on headline news. If this is the same student, I am not surprised that a chaperone resorted to something like this. I had the student when he was in the fifth grade. When I had him he was such a little shit. Granted that was 7 years ago but I have a feeling he hasn't matured much over the years. According to his mom, he felt he was in danger if there had been a fire. wake up Mom. It wasn't done to keep them in the room. It was to see who was going to try to sneak out after curfew. This is an old trick that has been done for years. I know of two girls that got caught on a band trip when I was in high school by the sam method. Think about duct tape. It is not going to keep a door shut when you try to open it. My advice to the mothers', your children are not as innocent as you want to believe. Especially the one I know.

On another note, I have two congratulation announcements to make. One is to my BFF Becky. She finished her last day of work today. Enjoy your summer with your children darling. The second is to my nephew. He slept in his new bedroom for the first time last night. Way to go buddy!! All it took was for my sister to tell him he could not have any of his friends sleep over until he slept in there. Guess it worked. He woke up this morning and wondered if his friend could sleep over tonight. Smart kid!!

Pet Peeves

Pet peeves. We all have them. Whether it is the way someone chews their food to how someone puts the toilet paper roll on. There is always something that drives us crazy. My biggest pet peeve is about toilet paper. There is nothing worse than someone using the rest of the tp and not putting a new roll on. I recently was staying at my sister's apartment. It has to be said that my sister is the biggest offender of this. But I shouldn't pick on her because she was constantly told not to squeeze the toothpaste in the middle of the tube by dipshit #2. This same stay she said to me that she enjoyed the fact that she could squeeze the tube wherever she wanted. All I can say to all of you out there is this, please, just get a new roll out. And don't just set it atop the empty roll. Take the time to change it. That would be my other pet peeve. Nobody likes to go to the bathroom at 2:00 in the morning to discover there is no paper, especially women. We are not like men, we can't drip dry.

In honor of my parents

The year was 1968. A young man is attending Bowling Green State University. On day his friend comes to his room and asks for his assistance with some work on his car. He informs the young man that he would be heading home to do it. The young man says yes but on one condition, he has to find them a couple of girls to go out with on Saturday night. The friend agrees and they are off to his hometown. The young man helps his friend with the car and then proceeds to ask about the girl he would be going out with. The friend tells him he has just the girl for him. She lives across the street from him and they had gone to school together. She was studying to be a nurse. She had two sisters and her dad was a cop in town. The young man was fine with everything until the word cop came out of his friend's mouth. He stated that in no way was he going to go out with a cop's daughter. The friend did some fancy talking until the young man finally agreed. Across the street the young lady was home for the weekend from nurse's training. She didn't have any plans for the evening and when her childhood friend came over and asked if she wanted to double date she decided why not. The foursome headed out to the drive-in and the two soon began talking it up and getting to know each other. Years later the young lady would be asked what movie was showing and she would reply that she really wasn't sure. She hadn't been paying that much attention. The young lady and young man would soon start seeing each other whenever they could. By December of 1968 the couple would be engaged to be married. The two wed on November 22, 1969. They would have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Little did they know on that infamous date in 1968 that 40 years later, on May 18, 2008, they would be not only celebrating the anniversary of their first date, but also the 5th birthday of their only grandson. So, as I end this blog, not only do I want to wish my nephew Hunter a happy 5th birthday, but I want to wish my parents a happy 40th anniversary. I love you both and am very glad that dad gave mom a chance even though Grandpa was a cop.

tooting my own horn

Tonight I attended our end of the year celebration banquet that the educational service center holds every year. This is a time for all of the employees to get together and celebrate the achievements of our staff and students. I found out tonight that one of my guys was accepted into our Community Transition Based program for post secondary options. He will be attending classes on one of the local college campuses in the fall. When the list of accepted students first came out , he was wait listed. We were told that as the applicants that were accepted make their decisions, he would move into one of the first available slots. I am so happy for him yet sad. I have worked with this particular individual during his entire 4 years of high school. I have watched him bloom into the young man he is today. I trully believe this is the best thing for him. He will be joined by one of my other students in the fall. A third student of mine has been accepted into an employability prep program through the local career center. Her dream is to one day be a chef in her own restaurant. A fourth student of mine will be accepting his high school diploma on June 6th. He has had a tough road to haul but I think things are finally looking up for him. My supervisor and I were talking and she said I should be very proud, which I am. I have a 92% acceptance rate for my classroom into post secondary options for students with disabilities. I told her I couldn't do it without my super group of team members that work day in and day out with these guys. I think this is partly why I went into special education. When a student with a disability reaches an achievement like this it has so much more meaning. So, on June 1st I will don my black robe and sit amongst the faculty and watch 3 of my students walk across the stage to participate in graduation. It is only a social graduation. They will receive their actual diplomas after they finish the programs they have been accepted into. But non the less I will be cheering for each one as their name is called and will most likely need a tissue to dry my eyes.

Life lesson #1

I entitled this blog lessons in life but I haven't really talked about any lessons yet I don't think. So I have decided to start today. Lesson #1. Even on a budget, there are some things you just can't go cheap on. take for instance my sister. She recntly learned this lesson very well. As stated in previous blogs, I have mentioned that my sister recently moved into a place of her own with her son. She has been unpacking stuff from my parents' house and our best friend's house. At one time in her life my sister was a clothes and shoes horse. This was before her son and both excuses of a husband. It was her first night in the apartment by herself due to an overnight my nephew had with his dad. I am down here and my parents had come to visit and also pick up a lazyboy I was giving her. I get a text message from her stating to "never buy cheap trash bags" to which I responded"why, do you have S--T everywhere." I guess Laura finally decided to downsize on her clothes and shoes. She put stuff in the trashbags and was heading out to the dumpster when the bag ripped and went everywhere. So here she is outside in shorts and a tanktop(minus a bra) bent over trying to pick this stuff up. From the sounds of it, she could have been giving the neighbors a good show. So the moral to this Life's Lesson: Hefty is the only way to go. Oh and always make sure you're decent when you step outside, even if it is to take out the garbage.

Spring is in the air

Or shall I say spring has sprung. I now remember why I had always wanted to teach elementary age kids. You don't have to deal with hormones and teenage angst. The students in my class get along very well with each other. But I guess they are getting along a little too well in the cafeteria at lunch. What follows is a conversation I had with the school principal. The names have been changed to protect the innocent and to not break confidentiality. My class had just returned from the cafeteria and were taking care of their grooming tasks. This involves them heading down to the bathrooms to check themselves and brush their teeth. For some this is the only time the teeth get brushed. I was at the computer typing up a note to send home to parents about an activity we are going to be participating in on Friday. I heard the kids acknowledge that Mr. Landis had come into the room. Now before I go any farther let me tell you about Mr. Landis. The students call him Mario because they feel he resembles Mario from the Super Mario Brothers game. I however call him Napolean. I think you can guess why. Now, it is not very often that Napolean graces our room with his presence so I knew something had to have happened in the cafeteria. He says to me "We have a budding romance in your room." I acknowledged that yes we had a few love interests going on. I was not however prepared for whom he was about to inform me of. He said that "John" and "Mary" were getting a little too close for comfort. Apparently this had been going on for the past few days and that the day before John and another student were making a "Mary sandwich" at the table. My assistant knew something bad had to be going on because I put my hands to my face and it was turning beet red. I replied that had notice John was getting a little touchy feely with Mary and us. Napolean said that he had a talk with John and explained to him that what he had been doing was inappropriate for school. I talked with John also and I really don't think he understood. You have to remember that physically and chronologically these kids are 19 and 20 years old but mentally and emotionally they are functioning for the most part at about a first grade level. That's about 6 or 7 years old. I don't think he meant anything sexual by what he was doing but yet at the same time he has to know that we don't behave in public like that. I felt so bad when I talked to him because he just kind of hung his head and leaned on my shoulder. I talked with Mary and said that next time he got touchy feely like that she was to tell him that she didn't want him doing that and would rather high five him. I haven't talked to his Mom yet. That should be an interesting conversation. when I told my supervisor she just chuckled and said that Spring was in the air.

School's out.....

It's that time of year again. The time that we educators look most forward to. School's almost out for the year. In some ways it is hard to believe that the end of May is quickly approaching and with it Graduation. End of the year preparations are under way. You know it is fast approaching when you get the end of the year checkout packet. Students as well as teachers can hardly wait for that last bell to ring to signal the start of summer. I am one that is anxiously awaiting it, however, it will be a sad moment for me also. Four of my students will be spreading their proverbial wings and venturing into a new phase of their lives. It is somehow gratifying to know that I played a role in getting them to where they are today. They are wonderful students and I wish them nothing but the best in the future. For the few that will remain with me another year, I wish them a well deserved vacation and look forward to the many adventures we will embark on in the fall. I am strongly hoping that the change to the curriculum of my classroom goes through. It would be an opportunity for me to develop my own program and pilot it. Who knows what the fall will bring. All I know is that like the famed Alice Cooper song, "School's out for summer!"

Some days I hate being me

I haven't really focused much on me as I have been writing this blog. I guess I tell more anecdotal stories that deal more with people in my life and how I fit in to it. But today is all about me. For those of you reading this that do not know me, I have been dealing with a variety of health issues. It all started in the fall of 2006. I was working part time as a nursing assistant at a local Assisted living facility. I really liked the job and the extra cash was a bonus. I soon started having problems with my left shoulder and I was waking up with numbness and tingling in the hand. Several years prior, I had similar symptoms but in my right arm. I assumed that I had tendonitis like before. But then things changed and I was having trouble gripping and holding on to things, not only with my right hand but my left also. I had insurance issues so I couldn't go to the doctor at the time. I finally saw a doctor for it in July of 07. It was at that visit that the doctor discovered I had an irregular heartbeat. Was news to me. I wasn't even feeling it. I had also found a lump on my neck because I had also started having neck pain as well. So, in a span of two weeks I had a Cat Scan of my neck, a stress test and an echocardiogram. I was also starting to have pain in my joints from head to foot. There were days that I felt like I was going to shatter apart from the pain. Was I going crazy? The stress test came back fine all though I was still having PVC's. I was told that I had a slight heart murmur. My cat scan came back that I had an enlarged lymph node that was reactive to something. What we don 't know. I was then sent to physical therapy for two months. I had an MRI of my neck in October. The cardiologist is stumped as to why I am having the PVC's. In the mean time I am taking medication to help with it. I am now also taking Paxil to help with my anxiety. The docotr wrote me a prescription for a muscle relaxer to help with the pain. In February she sent me to have an EMG. It showed that I have moderate-severe carpal tunnel in both wrists. So I was then sent to a nuerosurgeon. He talked with me and listed to all of my symptoms and for the first time I feel like someone is listening to me. He is going to do surgery on my right arm first. He is going to take care of the wrist and elbow because he feels that there is pinched nerves in both areas. If this helps we will proceed with the other arm. If not, we are going to start looking at the neck and spine. The pain is just about constant in my arms and wrists. My fingers hurt so bad that some days I can't even bend them. I have lost the feeling in the fingertips and I am afraid to do everyday activities that involve sharp utensils or hot items. To top it off he want s to make sure I don't have any sleeping issues like sleep apnea. Yes I wake up during the night but I am waking up because the pain is so intense in one of my arms. This is a totally different kind of pain that I have ever felt before. It is like a burning pain. I also get it in my fingers. But because of some other factors, I am going to ahve a sleep study tonight. I have a prescription for sleeping pills I need to pick up before heading over there. I am not looking forward to this. Am I going to get a decent nights sleep? Plus I am going into work following it tomorrow morning. I just want to have surgery to see if we can eleviate some of my pain.

What do you do for fun on Saturday night?

As I grow older I realize that there is nothing my sister and I won't do on the spur of the moment. Saturday dawned a beautiful day in Northwest Ohio. Laura had to cover a shift were she works. Once she was done we were going to get out and have fun. Our parents brought over some more boxes of my sister's. We soon discovered a cache of cd's from our early days of adulthood. And yes, a few had been confiscated from dipshit #1 when we packed her up and moved her out of the place they had shared. So, off we went. No specific destination in mind. We had a few things we needed to get so soon the car was heading towards the lake. We made a stop to get some supplies to make a bouquet to put on our Aunt Rose's grave for Mother's Day. By this time we were hungry so we made a beeline for a restaurant and fueled up. Next stop the cemetary. As we are heading into the town we are from my sister looks at me and says with a wicked look in her eye, "Want to take a detour?" Why not. So the next thing I know we are heading over to where she had lived with dipshit #2. I'll admit, I was a little nervous. I think she was hoping to catch him with his latest flavor of the month. As we come around the curve we discover that he is not home. Laura decides she is going to pull in. She spies her grill that my dad gave her sitting by the front steps. She decides she is going to hop out and get it. I get out with her and head around back to see if I can find the 2x4's that my dad wanted back. No such luck. Laura put the grill in her trunk and we headed out. As we are heading to the cemetary, Laura informs me that she dumped the coals and ashes in the front yard. It is then decided that she should have taken the trash can also to give to our friend Becky. She figures she paid for it all, she might as well have it. I mean technically they are still married. It is a marital asset. I don't know. This item might have to go in front of the judge. Can you get visitation for a trash can? How about a plasma tv? She paid for that also. After we left the cemetary we stopped at our other aunt's house for a few minutes. We then headed back towards her place with a stop to get a few necessities for the evening. Once back to her apartment it was time to unwind, have a few margaritas,make some jiffy pop, and watch the food network. Nothing like a Saturday night with my sister, dipshit free.

Giving back

For the first time in my career I was able to give back to the teaching profession. I was asked to be a cooperating teacher for a young lady in her junior year at Ohio Dominican University. I felt honored to be chosen for this. I remember my days as a student teacher and the various teachers I had the privilege to work under. I feel I learned quite a bit from them, each in a different way. Caitlin is an exceptional young lady. She shows compassion for the profession. From the first moment she stepped foot in my classroom, she had my students wrapped around her little finger and vice versa. Caitlin has an understanding for the diversity in a special needs classroom. I believe this compassion and understanding comes from her family. Her sister was born at 23 weeks and her parents were told that she wouldn't live very long. Needless to say, she beat the odds and is 23 years old now. Regardless of that though, I feel that she would still have those same characteristics. If she had been finishing up her Senior year, I feel she could of walked out of my room with a job with the county. That's how impressed everyone has been. Today was her last day with the class. Instead of our usual schedule, we took her out to brunch. We made her a scrapbook so that she can always remember us. She left me a thank you card and I almost cried. I love what I do and I know that my students are happy in my room. They are blossoming and becoming adults. It is a joy to see this take place. It is also great to have someone else take notice and thank you for allowing them to take part in the process. I wanted her to walk away from this experience feeling that I showed her what it trully meant to be a special education teacher. everyone talks about no child left behind and hold students with special needs accountable for the general education curriculum. What they don't realize is that with this population you have to look at what is more important, having them know what started World War I or what their personal information is. I hope she walks away from this experience with the skills and knowledge to help prepare young adults with cognitive delays be successful, independent participants in society.

Sweet surprises

My family recently lost a loved one rather suddenly. I had just gotten home from work and my cell phone rang. It was my Dad. Right away I knew something was wrong. By the end of the conversation I was in tears to discover that my aunt (mom's youngest sister) had passed away earlier that day. I was just numb. I couldn't believe she was gone. She was only 51. I still find myself reaching for the phone to call her or drop by her house when I am in the area. My cousin has been having a rough time of it. At first he didn't want any of the stuff from the house. My sister was really close to our aunt and she wanted her good china so David said she could have it. She gets a phone call from my mom last week and she says that David wants the china back. She was just devastated. This was the last link she had to our aunt. The items that were left to us in her will have mysteriously disappeared. My other aunt told him that he was going to have to call Laura himself. He did on Saturday on the pretense that he was asking how her move was going. He then says, "Why was I calling you? Oh yeah, I want Mom's china back. There is a pattern of Granadma's that you can have." Laura informed him that the china was at our mom's house and he would have to contact her.
With all of the drama, it made me sad to realize that I didn't have anything of hers except for a few clothing items. I then remembered a figurine that she had gotten me for my birthday one year but I hadn't seen it since I moved from my apartment that I shared with a friend back into my parents house. As we were moving my sister into her place yesterday my mom brought a box that had been in the storage unit that said Bedroom. Laura opened it and said that it was mine. I asked to see it and in that box was the figurine that my aunt had gotten me. It is a Boyd's Bear teacher and pupils. I kept it on my classroom desk for awhile. Now I have it again and can proudly display it in my home and remember her everytime I look at it.

BFFs

People come and go in our lives. Everytime we start a new adventure, we have the opportunity to meet new friends. Some will stand the test of time, while others will float in and out. It is the ones that stand the test of time that you know are your true friends. How many people can say that they are still in constant, close contact with their friends from high school? Not many I bet. And of those that can say they are still friends with their best friend from high school how many can say that they share said BF with another BF. I would surmise that the number is even smaller. I feel truly blessed to have just that situation. My sister and I may have fought like cats and dogs growing up. What siblings haven't? But as we have grown in age, so have we grown in friendship. My sister is my confidant. There isn't anything she doesn't know about me and vice versa. We also share everything with each other. When either of us is going through a rough patch and we feel like things are spinning out of control, we know that the other is just a phone call away. There might be 120 miles between us, but one would drop everything to get to the other. That is just what family does. They rally around each other. I met Becky the first day of freshman orientation. I was the new kid in the school. I felt like the odd man out because I didn't know anybody. The guidance Counselor walked up to talk to me as Becky was coming out of the gym. Mrs. Oxley introduced us and the rest is history. I was the maid of honor in her wedding and am the god-mother to her youngest child. When Laura, my sister, came to high school, she joined our group. Now we are a close knit trio and I am so blessed to have them in my life. Recently, my sister entered into a rough patch in her life. Being 120 miles away, there wasn't anything I could do to help with the immediate situation. That is when Becky stepped in. Laura needed a place for her and her son to stay and Becky opened her door wide open.She allowed Laura and Hunter to live with her and her children until she got back on her feet. That is the type of person Becky is. This has been a wonderful situation for them both. Laura is dealing with the end to a marriage that took everything out of her, literally. Becky and her 4 children are dealing with the deployment of her husband/father Mark on his second tour of duty to Iraq. The two have supported each other through a difficult transition period. My sister moved into her own place this weekend. Becky's kids are a little sad that they're not going to be there everyday. But Laura and Becky have been making plans to get together a few times a week to do things together. We are all planning a vacation this summer, but with rising gas prices we are not going to be able to go where we really want to. But no problem. We are still going to have a good time wherever we end up in the state. Once the kids go down for the evening, we sit around talking or watching tv. Thanks to DVR, we are able to catch up on our favorite soap. Lately we sit around Becky's laptop waiting for Mark to IM and let us know how things are going for him in Iraq. I give Becky a lot of credit. I don't know how brave I could be and carry on with day to day life with four young children while my husband was thousand of miles away. I also admire my sister. She was tired of dealing with the emotional abuse from her husband. Along with that, she was tired of being the only provider in the family, the only one to take care of the house work, the only one to do anything. And then, heaven forbid if something not be how he wanted it, he would yell at her. She finally had the courage to get out. I am proud of her for that.I imagine what the three of us will be doing years from now. We will be sitting in a living room somewhere in Ohio. We'll each be sipping a glass of our favorite wine. And we will be hashing over the latest days events on The Young and the Restless.

stupid people

Stupid people annoy me. Ok, maybe that's a little harsh. How about people that don't think before they speak annoy me? So, here's the story.
I'm sitting in my best friend's kitchen last night with my sister. The kids wanted spaghetti for dinner but that wasn't sounding good to us. Laura offered up the suggestion of KFC. For those of you that don't know, that would be Kentucky Fried Chicken. My reply was that Becky didn't care for the KFC in town. Her response was, "As long as I don't have to deal with the staff, I don't care." So I volunteered to head out and pick up what we wanted. Laura said she would go with me. This was going to be interesting. We had ben working on her new apartment most of the day and she had had 2 glasses of wine. Mistake #1 was going through the drive thru. There were several cars lined up.
We had decided on the legs and thighs bucket but I didn't see it on the menu. As I made my way to the speaker, I asked if they had the legs and thighs bucket. The chicks response was yes and I said that I would like one along with a large green beans, large mac & cheese, an order of hush puppies (Long John Silver's is connected) and 4 biscuits. The girl gave me the total and my sister said, "That doesn't sound right". So we pull around and sit for about 10 minutes. As we wait my sister begins complaining. I believe the words "What did they have to do, pluck the feathers off the chickens?" Finally we pull up to the window. The chick gives me the total which still doesn't sound right and I pay. She hands me the change and receipt and I look at it. No wonder it was low. She didn't charge me for the chicken. At this point she had closed the window and my sister is sitting in the passenger seat screaming at the top of her lungs "Hey open the window. Hey. Hey there." She was just about to reach over and blow the horn when the chick reopened the window and looked at me. I informed her nicely that I had ordered a legs and thigh bucket but she hadn't charged me for it. The chick had the audacity to look at me and say, "You wanted chicken?" To which my sister replied, "This is Kentucky Fried Chicken isn't it?"
Becky was right. Stupid people work at KFC in this town. Next time I want chicken, I'll make it myself.

Wide Open Spaces

The year was 1999. Early January to be exact. I had been at my first fulltime teaching position for a semester. My sister was getting ready to start the final semester of college in which she would be earning her associates degree. We both were driving quite a distance to work and school respectively. Around the holidays we began to discuss options to the situation. Neither of us could afford a place on our own. So, we got the bright idea to share an apartment. My parents were very leary of this. We had barely survived sharing a bedroom as children. How were we ever going to share an apartment. Determined we were to set out on our own and prove our parents wrong. we began scouring the area looking for something we could afford. Low and behold we would find just the right place. As we were walking through the apartment, we soon realized it was the second apartment that my brother and sister-in-law had rented several years before. It was meant to be. We signed the lease and packed up our belongings from our parents house. We didn't have much furniture in the place that first night. we had an old tv and vcr that our parents gave us. we didn't have cable yet so we satisfied ourselves with watching videos. I believe we about wore out Austin Powers and Overboard. Music was also big. Our two favorite songs at the time were "The apartment" by the Barenaked Ladies and of course "Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie chicks. The songs held meaning for us.
Here it is almost 10 years since we moved into that apartment. Tomorrow, I will be heading home to assist my sister in moving into her first place of her own since we rented that place so long ago. Just her and her son. Making it on their own. I have never seen her more excited. It has taken her a long time to get to this point. The road hasn't been easy but it has certainly made her stronger. For the first time since we moved into that small apartment, (and I mean small) she is standing on her own two feet. Without, I might add, the weight of a man weighing her down. I admire her for taking this step. I am proud of her for doing what is in her and her son's best interest. I wish her nothing but the best on this new endeaver.