189 to go

I teach! This was day one of 190 days of working and it was a good start to the new year. This is the last year that I will be teaching at this high school as we will be moving to a new facility in 2009. All of my children went to high school here and I have worked here for 17 years so it is a sadness to this start as it is also an ending.
Special Education is my field and it really gets more special every year. This year is no different as I am going to be teaching math to students with cognitive issues. I have done this for years but now it is harder as the state and federal government are pushing for the impossible. I will give it my best shot but the kids will be the ones to suffer if we cannot help them learn what they need. My ahha moment today was realizing that even after 22 years of teaching a person can be scared of failure. We are never to old to have a moment that reminds us we are human. I hope that I can do a good job this year and help as many students as I can achieve the most they are able. I also hope it is something that will actually have an impact on their lives in a positive way. Hmmmm we shall see.

Never say never!

There was a time when I was sure that the only way to be a good mother was to say what I mean and mean what I say. Well, I am older now and while that really does sound good it is not always the way life works. I use to say nobody should lay down with their kids to put them to sleep. Boy have I learned a lesson!
This is not a current picture of my grandaughter ( one of 3!! ) but the sentiment is the same. I just put her to bed and that means I layed down with her while she dozed off. ( I love that word doze.) When she stays here she sleeps next to me and I usually put her to bed. We say prayers...God bless Mommy, Daddy, Eli, Jodi, Judy, Sophia, Josh, Jennifer, Freddie, Emily, Matt and sooooo on. She likes to repeat some names and that seem perfectly fine to me! Then a quick Jesus Loves me and maybe I'v been working on the railroad, just depends on how sleepy she is. Tonight we got through the song and still had some time left to discuss the day. She enjoyed visiting a nursery with a little friend and she had a great time "riding" on the cement animals. I think she will have pleasant dreams tonight. She fell asleep in my arms with her fingers twisted in my hair. LIFE is good! Ahha!

In the beginning...

I read my daughters blog today and she is really good at it. She is a young mother and it is fasinating to read her insights into being a mother. I wonder if I was anything like her when I was her age we seem so different now! I digress... but she is the reason I decided to start a blog of ahha moments. Life is one continuous ahha moment for me so I thought I would journal mine.
I live in a small town in Georgia and today it is HOT and gnatty. If you live anywhere but here you may not know what the heck that means. Gnats are annoying creatures sent here by an evil spirit...or mother nature on a bad day. They cause much unhappiness on hot muggy days when the yard still has to be cut. Today was just such a day for me. The ahha moment for me was realizing that after 3 weeks up north the gnats had NO trouble locating me immediately! Life is good...even the gnats were glad to have me home!