My son brought home a syllabus for his freshman PE class. In it the teacher clearly laid out his grading method. Daily grades were based on a 4-3-2-1-0 scale: 4 Exceeds request and requirements of instructor. Participates without being watched. 3 Participates in class activities. Meets the requirements. 2 Cruises in neutral. Participates only while being watched. 1 Not prepared for… Read More
When the Day Is Hard before the Alarm Sounds
On Wednesday I woke up at my normal 3:00 a.m. Wrote a blog post. And then stretched out on the couch downstairs to go back to sleep for a few hours, like I do most nights of the week. Except I could not go back to sleep. And on this particular Wednesday I was going to be making the first… Read More
When the Happy Days Seem To Be Behind You
I will beg my tech-smart brother not to mock me here when I say that I finally got the hang of how to upload pictures from CD to my computer. My kids have been all like, Mom, why haven’t you put your pictures on your computer? And I’m all like, Guys. It wasn’t that long ago that I put actual… Read More
In Between Today and Not Quite Perfect
Do you know what I’m afraid of the most? I said, as I slipped on socks before bed. (Keepin’ the romance alive.) What? he said. Knowing when school starts I’m going to mess up something with someone, I said. Yes you are, he said. And you’ll be in a school full of other teachers who are going to mess up… Read More
Big Sigh Monday
You know, TBT (Throw-Back Thursday) is all the thing on social media. But every time I sit down to write for a Monday I often do a shoulder-raising inhale followed by a slump, so how about Big Sigh Monday as a new trend? I sit at my computer this Sunday evening. We just finished burgers followed by brownies at my… Read More
The Reason for a Succession of Difficulties
Something you may not know about me –I despise summer heat. We only have a little AC unit in our window upstairs, so before bed I put box fans in the windows to pull in the evening cool air, and I close up the east side curtains. In the morning I frantically pull the fans out of the windows and… Read More
Look for Tailored Encouragement
It was a lovely Saturday morning, and my husband agreed emphatically that my mom and I should visit the farmer’s market where our friend’s BBQ trailer was set up. When Texans have had pork in the smoker all night, you get out your wallet. So after I executed a magnificent parallel parking job in the congested farmer’s market entry, mom… Read More
What’s All This Stress and Pain Gonna Get Ya
Every so often I get enough of a leisurely day to pull out the Fleischmann’s. I’m undisciplined in the kitchen (although I’m hoping to grow out of that), but I do love to make a good yeast bread. Cinnamon rolls, homemade tortillas, or cinnamon rolls. Bread is like a garden except 69 hours less work. You plant some yeast (which… Read More
When Rest Isn’t Yet
I knew I was in trouble yesterday about 10 minutes into class. Students are weather, and I could see they were a low pressure system. Low: An area where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. They looked like I felt, except I get a paycheck for being enthusiastic about working on Spanish every day. We’re all… Read More
Smoosh a Bunch of Bad Stuff Together And Whatavya Got?
It makes my husband crazy that I recycle. (Possibly related to the number of times he has tripped over empty milk jugs in the garage?) I think if it were not for me he would throw old mail and plastic containers in the garbage. You heard me right. So I do not have the nerve to even mention to him… Read More