Senior Moment

Yesterday I got up and got ready for my yearly trip for a well woman check and mammogram. My appointment was for 8:30 am, and I had to leave 45 minutes before that to make sure I got through rush hour traffic. I sashayed into the office and signed in, and the clerk says, "I don't show you having an appointment today." "What?" I say. She begins looking and my appointment is for May 18 at 8:30! I didn't really believe that I would be having senior moments quite yet. Guess that is what I get for thinking.

Teaching Rewards

Eighteen years ago, I began teaching ESL in a small school district in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex. That year I had 22 students who spoke little or no English, but thankfully, who all spoke Spanish. I quickly discovered that my High School and College Spanish were quite different from their TexMex, and that my paperback Spanish/English dictionary was good for only about 3/4 of the vocabulary I needed.

In that first group of students I had three siblings, two girls and a boy. These children were so excited to be in school, and had (and still have) such supportive parents. Eventually, I would have the other two boys in class as well. Anyway, they all are exceptional young men and women. The youngest is still in high school, but I am confident that he will continue the family tradition of excellence.

The oldest son called me about two weeks ago. When I answered the phone, he asked me if I knew who he was. I didn't recognize the number on the caller ID, so I truthfully said I did not. He identified himself and told me he wanted to come out to my home to see me. I said, "Sure!" We talked again today to firm up our time and he told me that often people don't believe he hasn't always spoken English. He credits me with that. Oh my, how amazing it is to have a former student give you such an accolade. I personally always thought that all of my students did the hardest part...learning to speak, read and write in English.

Teachers, I know none of us ever got into education to become wealthy, but today I feel very rewarded. I only hope I had a positive effect on many more over the years I spent in the classroom.

The carpets are dry! The furniture is back in place, all's right with the world.

Now if I could just get my closets, kitchen, bathrooms and garage organized I'd be set...for a while. Being a packrat is a heavy burden to bear, but two packrats cohabiting is almost too much. I do have hope of one day parking my car in the garage overnight, especially now that my youngest son has his own home. Can you say take your junk, NOW? Really, two of my sons have their own homes, I am seriously contemplating a trip north hauling a trailerful of odds and ends of their treasures to their respective homes. The third son is living in Florida in a way too small apartment to house his stuff...as soon as he has his own home...

Perhaps later this weekend I will begin to pack up some things...

Hello!

I just decided that since I enjoy reading other people's blogs so much, I should join the fun.

I am married (for over 32 years) to a wonderful guy. We have three children, two daughters-in-law, and at present, three grandchildren, one more to be added in August. We are also blessed with many other children and grandchildren of the heart and faith.

We live in a very nice suburban neighborhood sort of out in the country...we often say we are homeless, or we don't know where we live. We have an address in one city, pay school taxes in another, have fire service from another, and can't get a library card from any of these places. But it is a quiet place and we enjoy it.

All of our children are out of the nest now, but we are graced with the presence of the unofficial Queen of the Circle, aka Sweet Pea, our 15 year old Yorkie. She came to live with us about three years ago, and has enriched our lives immeasurably. Weighing in at a hefty five pounds, she has pretty well got this little corner under her control. Miss Pea is very territorial and has all the dogs, cats, birds, joggers and horses in our immediate area under control. Although she doesn't see all that well anymore, there is nothing wrong with her sense of smell. If you've never been growled at by a Yorkie, you haven't lived!

The past couple of days have been a tad unusual. As I was heading for bed on Monday night, I sloshed into about two inches of water in our patio entry. Plumbing in our master bathroom had overflowed. It was clean water, thankfully. As we were to have left the next morning on a 3 day trip, I was also glad it happened when it did. Needless to say, I have been sucking up water, changing fans and generally trying to dry out.

Life on the circle is pretty mundane, and I'm not sure I'd change a bit of it.