So, I’m falling into that pattern of neglect again in terms of posting, and for that I apologize.
I’ve had a handful of things happen over the course of the past two weeks that have really impacted my life and my future. I can’t yet go into too many details about all of them, but here’s the basic gist.
Changes are coming my way over the course of this next year, professionally, and probably by extension, personally. It’s a little scary to not know what’s coming, but at the same time, kind of exciting to know that I have a lot of possibilities at my fingertips.
In other news, I unfortunately lost my dear Grandpa Bourey this past week. It was surprising, but not a major shock as he’s been sick for quite some time. But losing someone you love is always hard, and it was definitely rough…I was fortunate to be able to fly up with my parents (and even more fortunate that they purchased my tickets) and spend a good few days with my family. It’s always interesting when a lot of family members gather together in one place for whatever reason…I met a lot of people who I’ve only heard about or perhaps been Facebook friends with. It was great to see so many people, although not necessarily the best circumstances.
The beauty to be found in the tragedy of losing someone who was more or less the cornerstone of a family is that when people come together, though sad, they celebrate the life of the person who has passed. They mourn, of course, but in truth we can’t spend too much time mourning before we begin recounting tales of how the person touched our lives, or a funny anecdote. And that part is truly beautiful to witness and be a part of.
So, to wrap up this quick update into what’s been keeping me otherwise occupied, lots of things are heading my way and I’m going to be working really hard to move forward in a positive, proactive way. Be on the lookout for exciting news, which I will share as soon as I feel it’s appropriate. 🙂
Hope you’re all doing well. Have a great weekend!
I’m still here, just had a few pretty crazy days. Lots of good things happening, so let me see what I can recall since I last posted. 🙂
I went to the Transfer Fair for Wake County on Thursday, just to see what’s out there and mix and mingle with some principals. I was a little nervous, but I enjoy the interviewing part of the job hunt, so I had a good time and met some really great people. With so much being in the air about budgets and school reassignments, I have to be safe and prepared for whatever could happen at the end of this school year.
Speaking of this school year, I’m so stoked to get to track out in a couple of weeks. By the time we track out, we’ll have been in for about ten and a half weeks, which is almost two weeks longer than usual. You wouldn’t think it would make that much of a difference, but it so does.
My kids are hysterical. I have a lovely young girl in my class named Aileen, and yes, I do think of the song every time I say, write, or hear her name. She was working in a small group with some other students, and one of them tried to get her attention. Guess what he said? Can you guess?
“Come on, Aileen!”
It was fantastic.
Also, this Friday was field day and we had a great day of fun outside. We played all kinds of games, ate snow cones, watched movies, and generally had a great time. It was a great Friday.
This week has a few things going on. I have my final evaluation meeting on Tuesday, and we have a field trip and a concert rehearsal to watch on Thursday. It’ll be a fun week, I’m sure.
Anyway, sorry I’ve been absent, but I hope you had a great week! I’ll try to be better about getting something up a little more frequently next week.
Enjoy the gorgeous weather on this wonderful day of rest and I’ll catch you kids on the flipside!
Filed under: Monday
So, I survived another Monday, despite really not wanting to go into work today.
It was actually a really good day, and we got a lot of things done.
I have a good deal of preparation to finish up for a thing later this week. Lots of cutting and pasting to do.
I hope you had a great Easter; I know mine was nice and relaxing. Spent some quality time with the familia which is always lots of fun.
I’m sorry I’m a bit disconnected right now, but my brain is pretty drained from this day. I went into this day with not a ton of energy so it kind of affected me throughout the day.
Anyway, this week should be interesting, especially since we have Field Day on Friday and that takes up almost all day. It’ll be fun for sure, but part of me is hoping that maybe it’ll rain and wash some of this pollen away before we spend half a day outside inhaling it. We’ll see–there’s a slight chance of thunderstorms on Thursday night, so maybe it’ll clear some of this stuff out. It’s like it snowed pollen out here…we’re tracking it into buildings and our cars are building up ridiculous amounts of yellow. So gross. Definitely looking forward to our first real rain!
I’ve gotta bounce, so sorry this one was a little short, but I hope you had an awesome Monday. We’re over that part of the week now, anyway. One day closer to Friday!
See you guys and gals tomorrow!
So, I attended my first ever robotics competition today.
It was, in short, a really cool experience.
The teams are so talented and so pumped to be there, and there’s truly a sense of comraderie in the air. The teams cheer each other on, and as alliances are formed, they really come together and it’s pretty amazing to see.
The team names are also fantastic. “OINK OINK BOOM!” was the cheer of Exploding Bacon (by the way, they really want you to know that they have more bacon than the Baconator). “OSCAR OSCAR OSCAR, OY OY OY!” was the cheer of Oscar the Grouch (Outstanding Students Creating Awesome Robots). There were teams with names like Blue Cheese, Awkward Turtle, Robocats, Team Krunch, Flying Platypi, Clawbotz, Hawktimus Prime…the list goes on and on.
It was neat to see a different kind of competition, and I couldn’t help but think that somewhere in that room was the next Bill Gates, the next Steve Jobs…the future of our technological advances. I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
In other news, I’m heading to a hockey game tonight with some of my favorite people and that’s pretty exciting.
I also finally watched The Passion of Christ yesterday, and it was definitely an overwhelming experience. I don’t think it’s a movie one would claim to “enjoy,” but it was definitely an experience that I took a lot away from. It was neat to watch with my parents, too.
I hope that everyone had an awesome Friday. I’ll admit it felt odd not to get anything posted. But this is a busy weekend, so I hope you’ll forgive me.
Tomorrow’s posting is iffy just because I’ll be busy doing stuff with my family, but if I can hop on to say a quick hello, I will.
Some of you who’ve been with me from the start of this journey will notice that I haven’t made my “Silver Linings” lists for a few posts. That’s pretty much due to the fact that I feel able to write freely about positive happenings in my life now that I’ve had a period of disciplining myself to pull those positive things out of the day. Hopefully you don’t mind the change too much.
I’ve gotta hop off here and get ready for the game, so have a great Saturday and a blessed Easter!
Today is an interesting day in the church. It’s the day that we remember and in some ways relive the Last Supper of Christ with His apostles before His crucifixion.
The Maundy Thursday service has always been a favorite of mine for many reasons. Some of them are more logical than others.
1. It was one of my mom’s favorite services, and it makes me feel connected to her in some way. I have vivid memories, even from when I was an acolyte and was serving at the altar…of just hearing my mom sniffle through the service.
2. It’s a gorgeous service in its simplicity. There aren’t a bunch of hymns or a lot of pomp and circumstance, but it is easily one of the services that impacts me the most throughout the Christian calendar.
3. Hear our priest read the Psalms while the altar is being stripped is such a beautiful, powerful moment. I get goosebumps thinking about that part of the service.
4. After the service, we have the all-night vigil, and it’s always a beautiful set up. It’s also a very intense way to spend an hour of time with God.
So I’m excited to head to church tonight for many reasons. Part of my excitement comes from spending time with family, too. My dad has been out of town for the past few days, and I haven’t seen the lovely Linda in a good bit, either. So I’m glad to get to spend this time with them, especially with it being such a special service to be a part of.
I don’t know what or if you believe, but regardless, I hope you have a blessed Easter weekend. Depending on what’s going on for me over the next couple of days, I may not get to post, but I promise I’ll try my best. Worst case scenario, I’ll be back on Sunday or maybe Monday with some catch-up news.
Enjoy the beautiful weather!
Filed under: Wednesday
That’s what one of my students said today when I nabbed a big stack of Pokemon cards from one of my boys. He meant to say “June Box,” so it thoroughly tickled me. My June Box is where students’ toys and trading cards go for the rest of the school year to sit, especially if I’ve already spoken to the student before.
Among other things that are tickling me today…there’s a part in the movie, The Hangover, where one of the characters is sitting at a piano playing a song while they wait for the drugs they’ve given a tiger in their bathroom to kick in. Did you follow that? Chances are if you haven’t seen the movie, you didn’t. But it’s okay. Here are the lovely lyrics to that song:
What do tigers dream of when they take a little tiger snooze?
Do they dream of mauling zebras, or Haley Berry in her Cat Woman suit?
Don’t you worry your pretty striped head,
We’re gonna get you back to Tyson and your cozy tiger bed.
And then we’re gonna find our best friend Doug,
And then we’re gonna give him a best friend hug.
Doug, Doug, Doug, Doug, Doug, Dougy, Doug, Doug…
But if he’s been murdered by crystal meth tweakers…
…well then we’re sh*t outta luck.
Pardon the, um, language there at the end, but that might be one of my favorite parts of that entire movie. And this morning on the radio show I listen to they were discussing this part and they played a sound bit from it.
And, well, since then…it’s been stuck in my head.
All. Day.
And I keep on laughing every time it starts up because it’s so random.
Anyway, gotta hop off here and do some quick things before I pick up the kids in about 7ish minutes. Hope your day is going well! And look up “Tiger Snooze” online if you want a good laugh, just remember that the end of the song isn’t necessary safe for work.
Later taters!
That’s how one of my kids described the sugar cookies in the cafeteria today. I thought it was funny, and so I share it with you now!
Today was actually a pretty awesome day. We continued working hard, we used our clock buddies again, and overall I feel like it was a successful day. Let’s put a few silver linings up, though.
Today’s Silver Linings:
1. Two more days. I’m just sayin’.
2. This weekend is the robotics competition here at the Dorton Arena and I’m pretty stoked to see how these events come together. It should be pretty awesome, so come check it out on Saturday if you have some free time–no cost to get in! 🙂
3. I was able to call that special boy of mine and chat for all of 4.65 minutes at lunch today, but it definitely was a bright spot of the day.
4. I mean, it’s flipping beautiful outside.
5. Today is my coworker’s birthday! I’m very glad you were born, Shirley. You certainly know how to keep us all laughing. 🙂
6. He had a horrid morning today, and it turned out he didn’t get meds. Sent him to the office to take care of it, and the rest of the day was fine. I even checked in with him for a sec today at recess and I said, “Hey, buddy, do you realize what you did? You took a bad morning, and you made it into a…” And he knew just where I was going. He said, “a good day.” Hallelujah.
I think I’m going to leave it there for today, since I don’t want to feel like I’m forcing things or pulling things from nowhere.
Today was a good day, tomorrow can be better. I’ve got a new mindset about the rest of this school year and I’m determined to make the most of it. My job is way stressful, but so is every other elementary school teachers, so I’m learning to find coping mechanisms and make it through the chaos.
I hope you all had a great Tuesday, and I’ll see you here tomorrow.
So I did it.
A 40-day journey of looking for the silver linings even when they’re pencil-thin. I’m pretty proud of myself, really. This was a pretty big commitment, and I wanted to go all in for sure.
So thank you to those of you who have been with me through this journey from beginning to end. Thank you also to those who may have just discovered this whole thing recently. Your involvement only pushes me to keep it up.
So here we go, for day number 40. Let’s see what we’ve got.
Today’s Silver Linings:
1. We tried some new things today in our reading block, and I feel like it was a really productive period. We worked independently, I worked with small groups, and the kids had writing conferences with each other all at one time. Pretty cool.
2. My kids are getting so much better at hallway behavior. I feel like I’m walking with a different group of students at times with how much they’ve improved.
3. We got to go outside today, and I really didn’t think we would. And toward the end of recess, the sky opened up and we saw sun and blue skies.
4. Praise the Lord; this week is only four days long.
5. Have you seen the new Harry Potter website? It’s incredible.
6. I had such an awesome phone conversation with one of my favorite people last night. It’s always nice to catch up with good friends.
7. I could be homeless, but I’m not.
8. I could be jobless, but I’m not.
(I know those seem like trivial things, but really, they’re a pretty big deal.)
9. On a less socially-conscious note, there’s a new Gossip Girl on tonight that I am all over.
10. It’s been an interesting Monday, but I’ve survived it (I think). And hopefully tomorrow will only be better, right?
So, starting tomorrow I’ll probably stop numbering my posts. Each day will probably have its own title. My goal will be to keep this up as often as I have been, so continue to look back each day.
If doing this has affected you in any way, I hope that it’s made you open your eyes a little wider. There’s a lot in life that’s broken. But that doesn’t diminish the beautiful things.
And believe me, there’s a lot of beauty to be seen.
So there’s one more “day” of Lent, I guess, but we’re right on up to Holy Week. I’m making it a priority to try to attend all of the church services Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I don’t think I’ve done that before. Kind of excited, actually.
Today’s Silver Linings:
1. Today is Palm Sunday, and I had kind of forgotten how this service goes. It was nice to enjoy it with two of the leading men in my life.
2. I forgot how awesome Life Savers are. I mean, for serious, they’re delicious. (Thanks, Sarah!)
3. I had a fabulous time last night watching great (though weird) movies with some of my favorite ladies, even though I was dog tired this morning because of staying up so late.
4. We sang one of my favorite hymns, “Were You There?” That hymn is so beautiful!!
5. I’m wearing a top today that was given to me by the lovely Linda, and every time I wear this top I’m given many compliments on how pretty it is. 🙂
6. I’m planning on going to bed early, and I’m kind of excited about that.
7. So, guess who’s tied for first in their bracket pool? THAT WOULD BE ME. (Insane!)
8. Even though tomorrow is Monday, it’s a four day week, which is kind of exciting. It also makes Monday a little easier to handle.
9. This is sort of after the fact, but the meeting that I mentioned on Friday turned out to be very enlightening. I’m excited to see some steps being taken to hopefully help a group of women who definitely deserve help. The cryptic stuff is sadly necessary at the time.
10. And I guess that wraps up today’s list. I hope you have a great day of rest, and I know it doesn’t seem likely, but tomorrow (despite being a Monday) could be even better than today.
Happy Sunday! See you guys tomorrow!
Holy week is almost here! That means our 40 day journey is coming to a close.
However…
I’ve quite enjoyed this process. I have to admit, I didn’t think that I would follow through with it (as I’ve been prone to abandon similar projects in the past), but I’ve found the whole journey to be extraordinarily rewarding. So I’m thinking that I’ll keep on numbering up to Lent, and then afterward, I’ll continue, but rather than count the days, I’ll give each day its own title.
My goal will be to continue updating this thing daily, as I find that it really has become an integral part of my day. It’s almost like self-therapy. Kind of cool, really.
So there you go.
Let’s get this day’s list going!
Today’s Silver Linings:
1. It is a beautiful Saturday in my neighborhood. I hope it is where you are, too.
2. I totally spent some time watching ABC Kids this morning…I mean, That’s So Raven!? Seriously.
3. I get to spend this day with some of my favorite people. Just hanging out.
4. This evening, I get to have breakfast for dinner!
5. I get to have said breakfast with even more of my favorite people!!
6. We’re going to watch movies and have an awesome slumber party. For serious. So what if we’re in our 20’s?
7. I came to library to post today and check out a few things…and there’s a kid with the coolest ‘fro ever sitting across from me. I mean, his hair is red and curly and EVERYWHERE. I wish I could rock hair like that.
8. I keep discovering more people who are enjoying this journey with me, and it’s so cool to think that something I really started for myself is becoming something that other people can enjoy.
9. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday! It’s a way pretty service, and I’m excited about it, really. It’s also sort of the start of Holy Week, which always gets me excited. This is possibly one of my favorite parts of the church calendar.
10. Check it out! 10 before noon! I can tell this is going to be an awesome day, can’t you? But no worries if today doesn’t turn out quite as awesome as you hoped–tomorrow can be even better! 🙂
Happy Saturday, loves. Hope it’s a great one for you!
The Positivity Project 