Last Thursday I took part in my first blizzard ever. I would have been very excited about staying inside and enjoying the view, but I had to venture out to go observe one of my UNC students in Greeley, about a 30 min. drive from the house on a good day. Knowing the drive would be a little treacherous, I left the house an hour before I needed to be there, hoping that would give me plenty of time. As it happens, my drive took almost exactly one hour and I arrived just in time. As I observed my little wanna-be teacher, I kept glancing out of the window at the swirling, falling, accumulating snow, worrying about how I was going to get out of there.
I left the school 15 minutes before the end of the period, thinking that I was going to have to drive to Ft. Collins, a normal 45 min. trip, in an hour and a half. I think God must have been smiling down on me because after battling the middle school parents in the parking lot for 15 min., I found out that my school had been closed for the afternoon and I would only have to drive home! Unfortunately, that drive turned into a one hour and 45 min. drive instead of the regular 30 min. In between Greeley and Loveland the wind picked up and I was in a complete white out. Snow blowing sideways brought visibility down to less than a 1/4 mile and ice on the road made anything over 30 miles an hour dangerous. I was almost rear-ended 3 times by a truck following to close to me, and twice by a City of Loveland bus that could not control its speed. In 4 wheel drive I slipped around on the ice more than once, not something that is easy to do. Luckily, I arrived at home safely and stayed in for the remainer of that day and the next.
John left home at 6:30 that morning to go plow snow for work. He said they received more than a foot of snow in Boulder, and he plowed from about 7:15 a.m. to about 6 p.m. He stayed overnight with his boss and then returned to work at 1 a.m. and plowed until about 9:30 a.m. When he got home Friday at around 10:30 we both took a nap! The only thing I wish we had done is play around in the snow! Maybe when John hasn't been plowing all night we can go out and enjoy the winter wonderland.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Death in the Family
This morning my phone rang at about 7 a.m. and it was my mother. She had called last night and left a message, but I didn't call her back, thinking that she was calling because it has been a few days since the last time we talked. Instead, I found out that my Aunt Beverly passed away last Monday. She had been suffering from cancer for as long as I can remember, though I do not know if the cancer she had 10 years ago is the same cancer she suffered from recently. All in all, I know that that this death was a blessing because it was quick; not the long, drawn out, painful death the family had been expecting.
This morning when I got the news I was not surprised; in fact, I am still unsure how to feel. I was not all that close to Aunt Beverly, but she was always very kind to me and Renee. She was the second wife of my favorite uncle, who passed away about 3 years ago, and she continued to be very generous to me and my sister, even after Uncle Larry died. I am definitely thankful for the fact that she was sparred the pain we were expecting, but I am sad and concerned about her only daughter, my cousin Shelia. She can definitely take care of herself. She is self-reliant and pragmatic and has been preparing herself for this for a long time. I guess the thing I am most confused about is what to do now. Aunt Beverly did not want a funeral, so there is no where to go and pay my respects. She was cremated yesterday and wants her ashes to be spread in Mississippi where she was raised. As a catholic, this throws me for a loop. When someone passes away we go to mass, we say a rosary, we send flowers... we go through the motions that allow us to feel as if we are saying good-bye to the deceased and, at the same time, doing something to show our support for the bereaved family. But in this instance, I can't do any of those things. I can't go to a mass or say a rosary because Aunt Beverly wasn't catholic. I know can send flowers to Shelia or make a donation to the American Cancer Foundation in Aunt Beverly's name, but without a funeral I feel a little weird. Renee and I are going to send flowers together, and I am going to send a sympathy card today, but it still doesn't feel like enough.
Recently (as in last week), Aunt Bevery had decided to move to Oregon to be with Shelia and her husband Mark. Shelia moved a couple of years ago and wanted Aunt Beverly to move with her then, but Aunt Beverly didn't want to go. As they were packing everything up last week Jim, Uncle Larry's oldest son, drove in from North Carolina to "help" though he did little packing. Instead he canvased the house to decide what he wanted and to ask about what kind of money he and his siblings might be receiving after Aunt Beverly passed. As a child I looked up to Jim. I thought he was fun and cool, but as I have grown up I have realized what an ass he is. All of this stuff with Aunt Beverly has really made me realize how selfish and unreliable he is. I told John that whle Jim is a fun person to go drink with or co hang out with, as a supportive, reliable, role-model, he sucks!
I know that Jim is such a small part of this situation, but my emotion towards him is something concrete that I can latch onto. I know how I feel about him, which distracts me from the ambigious way I feel about Aunt Beverly's death.
I guess thats enough ranting for now. Until next time.
This morning when I got the news I was not surprised; in fact, I am still unsure how to feel. I was not all that close to Aunt Beverly, but she was always very kind to me and Renee. She was the second wife of my favorite uncle, who passed away about 3 years ago, and she continued to be very generous to me and my sister, even after Uncle Larry died. I am definitely thankful for the fact that she was sparred the pain we were expecting, but I am sad and concerned about her only daughter, my cousin Shelia. She can definitely take care of herself. She is self-reliant and pragmatic and has been preparing herself for this for a long time. I guess the thing I am most confused about is what to do now. Aunt Beverly did not want a funeral, so there is no where to go and pay my respects. She was cremated yesterday and wants her ashes to be spread in Mississippi where she was raised. As a catholic, this throws me for a loop. When someone passes away we go to mass, we say a rosary, we send flowers... we go through the motions that allow us to feel as if we are saying good-bye to the deceased and, at the same time, doing something to show our support for the bereaved family. But in this instance, I can't do any of those things. I can't go to a mass or say a rosary because Aunt Beverly wasn't catholic. I know can send flowers to Shelia or make a donation to the American Cancer Foundation in Aunt Beverly's name, but without a funeral I feel a little weird. Renee and I are going to send flowers together, and I am going to send a sympathy card today, but it still doesn't feel like enough.
Recently (as in last week), Aunt Bevery had decided to move to Oregon to be with Shelia and her husband Mark. Shelia moved a couple of years ago and wanted Aunt Beverly to move with her then, but Aunt Beverly didn't want to go. As they were packing everything up last week Jim, Uncle Larry's oldest son, drove in from North Carolina to "help" though he did little packing. Instead he canvased the house to decide what he wanted and to ask about what kind of money he and his siblings might be receiving after Aunt Beverly passed. As a child I looked up to Jim. I thought he was fun and cool, but as I have grown up I have realized what an ass he is. All of this stuff with Aunt Beverly has really made me realize how selfish and unreliable he is. I told John that whle Jim is a fun person to go drink with or co hang out with, as a supportive, reliable, role-model, he sucks!
I know that Jim is such a small part of this situation, but my emotion towards him is something concrete that I can latch onto. I know how I feel about him, which distracts me from the ambigious way I feel about Aunt Beverly's death.
I guess thats enough ranting for now. Until next time.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Busy Life
Do you ever feel like you are running a race and people keep moving the finish line on you? As many people have learned (and come to love) about me, I am a planner. I like to know what is coming up and how I am going to accomplish said goal. Seem rigid? I know... I am a bit of a control freak, especially within my own life. I just turned 28 a week or so ago and that internal clock inside my head (the one that says "family, family, family, family") has started to sound more like a grandfather clock than a wrist watch. Poor John has started to be bombarded by talk about children and the idea of me being a stay at home mom, something I have always wanted. Unfortunately, the economy has taken a dive and it feels as if I will never get to that place I am searching for. Just the other day I had my yearly "well woman" exam and even my doctor knows its getting to be about that time; he asked what my plans were for starting a family. (Again, poor John) I told him we were thinking about "trying" in about a year and a half... wow that sounds close (but also far off). As I was leaving the appointment my doctor gave me a pamphlet called "Planning Your Pregnancy," which is full of very interesting and helpful advice about how to get ready during the months prior to getting pregnant.
But before I can run off towards my goal of being a full time mommy, we have to consider the money, or lack there of. Until this week we thought something had come along that might allow us to both be stay at home parents while building our future, but that was not to be in our cards. Instead, we are looking at a more realistic plan. ie. Show the Plan! and Be Patient! and Be Realistic! Want to help us and yourself? Buy your household goods from us instead of Target! We sell everything from toilet paper to makeup to dvd players. We also have a partnership with stores you know and shop from all the time (so do it through our website instead of just through theirs!)
www.atherton.mychoices.biz
Good products delivered right to your door! Come on! Who would you rather support, a multi million dollar corporation or your friends and family who are trying to make a better life for themselves and their future family?
Love to you all!
But before I can run off towards my goal of being a full time mommy, we have to consider the money, or lack there of. Until this week we thought something had come along that might allow us to both be stay at home parents while building our future, but that was not to be in our cards. Instead, we are looking at a more realistic plan. ie. Show the Plan! and Be Patient! and Be Realistic! Want to help us and yourself? Buy your household goods from us instead of Target! We sell everything from toilet paper to makeup to dvd players. We also have a partnership with stores you know and shop from all the time (so do it through our website instead of just through theirs!)
www.atherton.mychoices.biz
Good products delivered right to your door! Come on! Who would you rather support, a multi million dollar corporation or your friends and family who are trying to make a better life for themselves and their future family?
Love to you all!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sick Sick Sick
Until this year I considered myself to be a fairly healthy person. I am usually not sick and tend to use my "sick days" as "mental health" days or "just for fun" days. This year I have had two pretty bad colds, I think they are only colds, that have made it almost impossible to get out of bed in the morning. I am currently suffering from what I can only understand as a chest cold since my chest hurts every time I cough. In fact, I have developed a sore throat due to that terrible cough. It is almost a bit of a dry heave cough... gross and weird, I know.
They always say that when you start teaching at a new school you are sick more often because you are exposed to a whole new set of germs. I guess I never really believed that until now. And I blame the rug-rats I teach. They come into my classroom and complain about being sick, and then cough on me or my desk. My response? If you are sick, go home and don't infect the rest of us who can't take off as many days as we would like. There are no rules in the school about how many days a student MUST attend in order to receive credit for the course. In fact, I have had students miss as many as 10 days, all excused by mom and dad of course, and then expect me to catch them up. "I haven't been here for a week. Did I miss anything?" So now that I am sick I am irritable. "Nope, since you were gone we did nothing!" Sometimes I think that when I am in a bad mood I should be excused from teaching.
Morale of this post: Being sick is not fun and forces a great deal more work on the teacher (I have to grade the work I assign while I am gone). My being sick is the entire fault of my grubby, disease ridden students, who I think should be germ tested before entering the school...
Wish me health!
They always say that when you start teaching at a new school you are sick more often because you are exposed to a whole new set of germs. I guess I never really believed that until now. And I blame the rug-rats I teach. They come into my classroom and complain about being sick, and then cough on me or my desk. My response? If you are sick, go home and don't infect the rest of us who can't take off as many days as we would like. There are no rules in the school about how many days a student MUST attend in order to receive credit for the course. In fact, I have had students miss as many as 10 days, all excused by mom and dad of course, and then expect me to catch them up. "I haven't been here for a week. Did I miss anything?" So now that I am sick I am irritable. "Nope, since you were gone we did nothing!" Sometimes I think that when I am in a bad mood I should be excused from teaching.
Morale of this post: Being sick is not fun and forces a great deal more work on the teacher (I have to grade the work I assign while I am gone). My being sick is the entire fault of my grubby, disease ridden students, who I think should be germ tested before entering the school...
Wish me health!
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