The Week from Hell

This week started off pretty crappy. I woke up early Sunday morning (at about 2:00) and didn't feel so good. Apparently, it was either a relapse of the stomach virus I had a few days ago, or something I ate didn't agree with me. Anyway, I ended up staying up most of the night in excruciating pain. (In fact, I'm up at 1:30am writing this now with the same exact symptoms.)

Skip to Monday...We had Teacher Inservice on Presidents Day. (What's that all about? We've never had to work on a federal holiday...can't say that anymore!) It ended up being a pretty productive day, because I chose to work in my classroom. I filed a mound of paperwork, dusted and sanitized the surfaces, and straightened the room. I was pretty pleased with the day. I even had enough energy (and sanity!) to do some scrapbooking when I got home.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had a SACS Review Team in our school. I don't know why, but I really stress over things like this. (And I'm embarrassed to say that it's my first SACS review in the 11 years that I've been teaching. I was sick during the last one!) I know I'm not doing anything wrong or against the rules, but simple mistakes can ruin a school's reputation.

To add to the stress, on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, we lost Tony, our beagle mix. He was actually the oldest of all our dogs. We're not really sure of his age, because he was from the pound, but we got him after Guiedo. Tony was a difficult dog, and we never really bonded with him like we did Guied. Tony preferred to be outside chasing birds and barking at the neighbor's horses. Tony liked the company of Guiedo more than he liked being with us. So, once Guiedo died, Tony went down pretty fast. It was like he was heartbroken over Guied.

On Thursday, we had yet another visit from the Alabama Reading Initiative. This visit was a complete bomb, which has never happened to us. We're usually really on our game. The visitors happened to show up during a transitional time, so all of the classrooms were finishing up whole group and getting ready to move into small groups. Without going into all the details about how I run my classroom, I'll just say that the kids were really thrown for a loop. They were so confused. So, we had to shake it off and get back to work.

Today, we didn't do too much around school. All of us were mentally exhausted and ready for the weekend. I gave the kids some extra recess and fun activities, and I was able to get some housekeeping things done around the room. 

I'm glad this week is almost over, and I'm looking forward to just chillin' around the house!

Wow!

This cover of Single Ladies is awesome!

Believer or Follower?

Note: I'm sorry that this post rambles on, but this has really been weighing pretty heavily on mind lately.

This morning on my way to work, I was listening to Rick and Bubba like I always do. It usually irritates me when they have guest speakers on, but this morning was different. This morning's speaker was Don Davis, a former NFL football player. Don played for the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, and lastly the New England Patriots. He was also one of the assistant coaches for the Patriots until last year.

Don was raised to be a believer of Jesus Christ. He went to church, Bible school, etc. He followed the rules and played sports, and as he put it, did all the "right" things. When he went to college, however, his beliefs were put to the test, and he did a lot of things he knew weren't right. It wasn't until later, he said, that he became a follower of Jesus Christ.

I was kind of confused about the difference until he explained it this way: Everyone knows who Tom Brady is. He's a quarterback for the Patriots. He is dating/engaged to a supermodel. He is in the news quite often. We know who Tom Brady is. Don, on the other hand, really knows who Tom Brady is. He has played with Tom and coached him. He knows him personally. They have a relationship.

It made me think...Am I a Believer or a Follower? I honestly have to say that I think that I'm a believer. I was raised in the Church, raised knowing who Jesus is, raised to know about the Bible, raised to do what is right. However, I don't think that I always follow in Christ's footsteps. I don't think that I really know Him.

Sometimes I'm jealous of the relationship that my husband, Marc, has with the Lord. He was raised in Catholicism and had very little understanding of the Bible. Yet, a few years ago, he was baptized in Christ. His story is different from mine, but I think his is better. He has a love for God that I don't think I've ever had. And I'm ashamed to admit that. And I want to change that.

I grew up in a church that taught if you did what was right, you would be blessed. If you did wrong, you would be punished. Through my childhood and teen years, I did what was right. I didn't drink, I didn't smoke, I didn't party, I didn't curse. I didn't do all the things that kids do. I tried to treat others like I wanted to be treated, I was kind, I was compassionate. 

And while I do have many blessings in life, like a wonderful husband, a career, a place to live, a car to drive, I don't have the one thing that I have always wanted: children. And for some reason I can't get it out of my head that maybe I did something wrong along the way. Maybe I did something that made me not worthy of that blessing. Don't people always say that children are a blessing from God? I think that is my roadblock to really trusting Jesus. 

I'm going to try to work harder at trying to understand God's plan for me might not be what I had planned. I want to be closer to God and become more of a servant and follower than just a believer. 

10 Questions

I was sitting at my desk this afternoon about ready to pull my hair out, and the following 10 questions that I would never miss came to mind:

1. Can we use markers?

2. When is lunch time?

3. Are we having recess today?

4. How much longer until we leave?

5. How many more days until (insert holiday here).

6. What are we having for lunch?

7. Do we have homework today?

8. Can I use your (insert school supply here).

9. Are we getting a grade on this?

10. Will you tell (insert child's name here) to stop looking at me?

I'll leave my sarcastic comments to myself, but let's just say that I hear these same 10 questions over, and over, and over, and over on a daily basis. Ahhh...Is it Spring Break yet? (Which, by the way, is the question my students hear me repeat several times a day. Payback...Gotta love it!