Politics

I am not a big political voice~but I learned from my Dad a simple rule about voting! My Dad and I use to stay up late and talk about everything! I would have said that he was my best friend and when I lost him I feel like I lost a lot! But for those that didn't know him they missed out on a large funny man that could teach you something without realizing he did it and you not realizing you learned until later on down the line in time. I always get on a soapbox but not usually about voting. My story is quick but I hope it makes you think down the line. One night we were discussing someone that was in the government. As I vented to why I liked/didn't like this person my Dad listened. After my ramblings ~ my dad asked me did I vote for him. I said I didn't vote in that election because i knew that my vote wouldn't matter. My Dad stopped me right there and said to me~"Well Since you didn't vote~your opinion doesn't count!" When asked what he meant, he explained he didn't care if my voted counted against his person or was for his person. What mattered is that I voted and put forth my effort to help make a decision. If I wanted to fuss about the government than it was my job to educate myself as best I could to learn who might or might not do a good job and sometimes you vote for the lesser of two evils~just as long as I voted for someone. He didn't care if my vote counted against his vote just as long as I voted! He said if I was going to take the time to complain than at least if I voted my complaint was acceptable~he might not agree with it~but at lest I took the effort to take part! Well it is Super Tuesday and I made sure my family had voted. We voted early last Friday! So I do not care who you voted for and if your vote counts against me just do what you need to do! So I hope you voted! Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Stamping Projects

I promised to post my pictures from stamping~ So I hope you enjoyed. The birthday calendar is cool~Use a business card holder, roll white cardstock and cut. Use labels to put names and birthdays~put labels on the card. My friends suggested using labels to put their address on the back so that it is handy when you get ready to send a card!The bugs and kisses was an idea we found off of splitcoast stampers. I got with my friend Nadine and we made these for our classes and children's friends. We made 75 of these cute things in a couple of hours on Sat. afternoon. Hope you like them! Have a great beginning to a very Smurfy Week!!

Therapy

Well I got a wonderful large dose of therapy last night! Thanks to all of my stamping buddies! It is nice to laugh, laugh some more, almost wet your pants and cry with a group that gets together about once a month. WE gather in the name of stamping~we really do stamp and create things but...we also discuss topics that can make your nose hairs curl! I love it~you can be yourself and those around you accept you for who you are and love you despite it! We made a PMS Survival kit, a cute card and a small business card sized birthday calendar. But the best part is being with friends and enjoying each others getting the chance to socialize not worry about your kids and have fun! These women are quite amazing~we come from many areas and walks of life. We discuss many issues from education to waxing things that I never would have dreamed of waxing! But it provides each of us a chance to let our hair down, vent, laugh, and even cry if we need to cry. I haven't taken pictures~but I promise I will. I just got home from stamping Valentine surprises for my class and Sara Michael's class. I will take a picture of it all and post them tomorrow! Have a great evening!

TGIF

I am in a funk and no matter how hard I try I can not escape so.....sorry for you I am hoping if I spit it out on this page maybe it will help my feelings and release me from their bindings. I am in a frustrating job~I am not going to rehash why~if you teach have taught you know. But I have been trying to talk to my husband to explain the frustration and to let him know that I am not happy at the moment with the positon that not only pays my salary but that allows us as a family to have insurance. He being male~hears I had a crappy day! Even though I am trying to say I need a change in my life. He hears sometimes when I talk but he is not listening ~I know that not all men really listen and to give him the benefit of the doubt he has had a lot going on in his world for 1 1/2 years. In under a 2 day cliff note version~My husband was litte4rally nailed in his eye by his former boss and for two years we have been fighting to get this man to pay for his eye surgery, loss of wages for being out of work and for future medical bills which will hopefully but probably come because of the severity of the eye injury. I have supported him going out on his own and through all the legal mumbo jumbo that goes along with this very involved issue. All I want is for him to listen to me be frustrated and be a sounding board. Not to toot my own horn but with the exception of a couple of times I have kept myself strong sometimes too strong through this fight for justice~but right now I don't want to be the strong, positive, and everything is going to be happily everafter person. I want to be the ofther person that I am usually not. I know this too shall pass and my disposition will adjust for the good. But every now and again I don't want to be the grown up~I just want to be a 5 year old who is mad because somone took their sticker. Oh well~ sorry for the hum drum post~I am going for my saw dust therapy tonight~I have a stamping night!!! So I will post my therapy crafts later! I hope that you have had a magical week but even more I hope that you have a funfilled weekend!

I am in a Funk!

Will I am in a funk~I am frustrated as a teacher! I teach for many reasons. I love children, I love that smile and sparkle they get when they understand something for the very first time, and I love to teach! BUT......I am so frustrated angry with all the new paper work my state/system is adding and I am being taken away from the teaching part of my job. I loved teaching Special education~challenging but Oh so worth it. I left Sp.Ed. because the paper work began to become the larger portion of the job and teaching was not as important to the powers that be. Please don't get me wrong I know for purposes of CYA~covering your assets, paperwork is necessary. But with new standards and requirements our regular ed classrooms have individual education expectations for each of the 19 children in all subjects that I have on roll. Now I have written IEP's (Individual Education Plans) for my SpEd students and the difference between the two~In SpEd my numbers were much lower. I believe in making teachers accountable and make them take classes to keep them up to date in new things that are effective~but just because there are some poor teachers out there~don't punish us all! I believe in documentation and accountability and being able to show evidence of a student's level of abiity. But I also believe parents need to be accountable for showing that their child is important by taking an ACTIVE role in their school work. I believe in assessment~not so much for grading but to see what a child can and cannot do~but it should be there to help in my planning on the next move. No two children learn the same, start at the same starting point or progress at the same rate. Good teachers are always monitoring to see where children are and if there is progress or problems. As a teacher I want to go in my room and teach, explore, inspire, excite, intrique and encourage but I don't think that those things are as easy to do as they once were~I miss those days! I don't like to sit down and write plan after plan after plan of things that might help this child or could work with that child. I want to go into my room and reach each child where they are right this moment and take them as far as we can possibly go. Instead of making things look good on paper I want to work the magic. I know I have prbably contradicted myself in this entry~I am frustrated so forgive! Bottom Line instead of talking a good talk I like to walk the walk~the walk is where you are getting the job done instead of just making it sound good! Oh well~thanks for letting me get this off my chest. I hope that everyone has had a Great Wednesday and an even better Thursday!!

What else can happen Wow what a day!

Well I stayed home today! My sweet daughter was running fever agin. Not to complain I am frustrated since this is the 5th time since September that she has been on medicine. We have had allergies, ears, throat, upper respirtory~over and over and over. I hate it for her because I am out of magic tricks and answers as to why she is still not well! Anyway~I just needed to vent~We will be home again tomorrow~as she was running fever again tonight! So if you don't mind~please send some prayers for her healing. Thanks because I know tomorrow is going to be a much better day!

Cards

Dot asked me if I had any of the cards I have made and she made me so excited! My dearest friend Nadine is a Stampin Up Demonstrator and we have classes once a month to make cards/projects. Whatever we create I try to always keep~so that I can have something to look at when I try to make cards when I am home alone! So all of the pictures that you see today are cards I made while at a Stampers 10 meeting. Or I made them after I went for a day of stamping at her house~Talk about therapy! It gets no better than 2-3 friends getting together to create projects for the Holidays or just make cards to have on hand. I always say a day filled with stamping is a very good day. I can not take credit for any of the ideas~they belong to many other people. Hope you like!