The end of an era is almost upon us...well, the end of a decade. A decade of teaching French to high school students. An additional decade at the exact same place where I graduated from several years ago. A decade of definite highs and lows. There have been some years where I have had the most wonderful classes, and some years where I literally felt like beating my head against the wall EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
It's hard to imagine what life will be like when I come back to work in August. Totally new building, totally new faces (both staff and students), totally new schedule. There are definitely lots of positives to the beginning of this new era. First, and most important, I finally get to put my $50,000 Master's degree to use, as well as my counselor license. My counselor license has been sitting collecting dust for the last 4 years (well, it did get quite a workout when I was applying for every counseling job within 50 miles of where I live and I had to make photocopies of it or scan it). I am very excited that I will no longer have to wake up at the ungodly hour of 4:50 A.M. and have to be showered, dressed, and ready to leave my house by 6 A.M. so that I can beat all of the drop off traffic at work. I am greatly looking forward to learning how to do something new and making my mind work in new and different ways.
There are several negatives that come along with this end of the current era (decade). I will be leaving the only place that I have ever truly worked as a professional, since I got hired here in December 2000 right after I finished my student teaching. I have grown very accustomed to having my own classroom (I have actually been in 3 different classrooms in the 10+ years I have been teaching here, having been in my current classroom for the past 6 of those years). I will have to fit all of my "stuff" into an office versus a roomy classroom. I will truly miss the staff where I currently work. Several of these people are like family to me, and I will really miss talking/socializing/commiserating with them. I will also miss the relationships that I have built with my students and their parents. Through the years I have had many siblings/relatives of different families and I feel that I have strong rapport with them.
As we all know, change is an inevitable part of life. I am ready for this next change, but it is a touch bittersweet. As I am counting down the days (8 not including the rest of today, and only 3 of those are actual "school days" without exams) I find myself happy to be wrapping up this era of teaching but a bit sad at the same time. Perhaps one day I will make a return to the classroom (I plan on keeping my French license up to date, as it is more expensive to let it lapse, and as we all know, it is good to have a backup plan) but for now I am looking forward to starting this new era of my career as an elementary school counselor.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
The Light and the Heat
"Oh, I see the light and the heat."
-Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes"
With the above song quote, I am not making reference to Lloyd Dobler holding a boom box over his head outside of Diane Court's house (although "Say Anything" is one of my favorite movies ever, but I digress). I am talking about the light and the heat in the lovely main bathroom of our house. Granted, we don't live in a huge house by any means of the imagination (I wouldn't consider a 1900 square foot ranch with a full basement huge) so it makes sense that our main bathroom isn't that huge either. If I had to guesstimate, I would say that our main bathroom is maybe 10 feet by 12 feet (if not smaller). When you look in from the hallway, on your immediate left is the vanity with sink, large mirror, and light fixture, which holds 4-60 watt bulbs. On your right is a very teeny tiny laundry chute (behind the bathroom door) and right after that the bathtub/shower. That's it. No room for anything else.
I am a person who takes her shower in the morning. I absolutely hate going to bed with wet hair and even if I do shower before bed, I still wake up feeling "dirty" and have to shower in the morning anyhow. For as long as I can remember, I have always had these "hot flashes" (although I am way too young to be going through "the change") where I wake up in the middle of the night, bathed in sweat, roasting. I throw the covers off and fall back asleep, only to wake up again a short time later, freezing. When I was pregnant with McKenna last year I was miserable with these "hot flashes" and even though McKenna is now 6 months old, I still get them. Maybe it's a hormonal thing, even though it's not "the change."
Anyhow, back to me showering in the morning. Other than making me feel clean, it helps wake me up and start my day. I don't like hot showers. I prefer them on the cooler side. I don't take hot showers, I run the exhaust fan in the bathroom (I keep the door closed when I am showering because the main bathroom is right across the hall from McKenna's bedroom and she is still sleeping when I am up at the crazy hour of 4:50 A.M.) and the bathroom looks like I have stepped into hell itself when I have finished showering. The mirror is so steamed up that I can't see my reflection at all. Not necessarily a bad thing when I have just gotten out of the shower and still have a lovely postpartum body. I dry myself off and immediately feel beads of sweat forming on my upper lip and forehead because it is so damn hot in there. Once I have dried off I turn off the exhaust fan and open the door (the light must not bother McKenna) and finish getting ready (body lotion, makeup, comb out hair). At this point the only thing I am wearing is my underwear because I am still roasting, even with the bathroom door wide open. As I take cool showers, what is the culprit for all of this heat? Is it our light fixture with its 240 watts of power? Is it that our exhaust fan doesn't work properly? Is it a combination of the lights, the exhaust fan not working, and the door being shut? I wish I knew so that I could stop dealing with the light and the heat. I hate showering and then feeling like I didn't shower just 5 minutes after said shower because I am so hot and sticky.
Any suggestions on how to deal with the light and the heat? I do my hair (blow dry, flatiron) in the small half bath off our bedroom and don't have the light and the heat issue in there. Please let me know if you have any tips or tricks to help prevent this.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
Sorry, I did forget to mention that our main bathroom also has a toilet (left hand side of bathroom if you are looking in from the hallway, right next to the vanity. DUH.
-Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes"
With the above song quote, I am not making reference to Lloyd Dobler holding a boom box over his head outside of Diane Court's house (although "Say Anything" is one of my favorite movies ever, but I digress). I am talking about the light and the heat in the lovely main bathroom of our house. Granted, we don't live in a huge house by any means of the imagination (I wouldn't consider a 1900 square foot ranch with a full basement huge) so it makes sense that our main bathroom isn't that huge either. If I had to guesstimate, I would say that our main bathroom is maybe 10 feet by 12 feet (if not smaller). When you look in from the hallway, on your immediate left is the vanity with sink, large mirror, and light fixture, which holds 4-60 watt bulbs. On your right is a very teeny tiny laundry chute (behind the bathroom door) and right after that the bathtub/shower. That's it. No room for anything else.
I am a person who takes her shower in the morning. I absolutely hate going to bed with wet hair and even if I do shower before bed, I still wake up feeling "dirty" and have to shower in the morning anyhow. For as long as I can remember, I have always had these "hot flashes" (although I am way too young to be going through "the change") where I wake up in the middle of the night, bathed in sweat, roasting. I throw the covers off and fall back asleep, only to wake up again a short time later, freezing. When I was pregnant with McKenna last year I was miserable with these "hot flashes" and even though McKenna is now 6 months old, I still get them. Maybe it's a hormonal thing, even though it's not "the change."
Anyhow, back to me showering in the morning. Other than making me feel clean, it helps wake me up and start my day. I don't like hot showers. I prefer them on the cooler side. I don't take hot showers, I run the exhaust fan in the bathroom (I keep the door closed when I am showering because the main bathroom is right across the hall from McKenna's bedroom and she is still sleeping when I am up at the crazy hour of 4:50 A.M.) and the bathroom looks like I have stepped into hell itself when I have finished showering. The mirror is so steamed up that I can't see my reflection at all. Not necessarily a bad thing when I have just gotten out of the shower and still have a lovely postpartum body. I dry myself off and immediately feel beads of sweat forming on my upper lip and forehead because it is so damn hot in there. Once I have dried off I turn off the exhaust fan and open the door (the light must not bother McKenna) and finish getting ready (body lotion, makeup, comb out hair). At this point the only thing I am wearing is my underwear because I am still roasting, even with the bathroom door wide open. As I take cool showers, what is the culprit for all of this heat? Is it our light fixture with its 240 watts of power? Is it that our exhaust fan doesn't work properly? Is it a combination of the lights, the exhaust fan not working, and the door being shut? I wish I knew so that I could stop dealing with the light and the heat. I hate showering and then feeling like I didn't shower just 5 minutes after said shower because I am so hot and sticky.
Any suggestions on how to deal with the light and the heat? I do my hair (blow dry, flatiron) in the small half bath off our bedroom and don't have the light and the heat issue in there. Please let me know if you have any tips or tricks to help prevent this.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
Sorry, I did forget to mention that our main bathroom also has a toilet (left hand side of bathroom if you are looking in from the hallway, right next to the vanity. DUH.
Monday, May 16, 2011
This is One Club You Don't Want to Join
The club that I am referring to is the DP Club. No, it doesn't refer to displaced people. I am talking about the dead parent club. The reason that this has come to my attention is that Mother's Day has recently occurred, and Father's Day will be taking place in less than a month now. I know several (actually, way too many, in my opinion) that belong to the DP Club. Most people that I know in this club have lost only one parent, but there are a few that unfortunately have lost both parents. Included in this club are my Mom (my Grandfather on my Mom's side has been gone since I was 5 or 6), my Aunt and Uncle on my Mom's side, and all of my Dad's brothers and sisters who are still living (my Grandfather on my Dad's side passed away in 2004), some of my cousins on my Dad's side, my husband (his Mom died from lymphoma in 2001), my brother and sister-in-law on my husband's side, etc. The list goes on and on. Of course my sister and I are also members of the DP Club, having lost our Dad to liver cancer in December of 2007.
My sister and I and our families went out to lunch with our Mom for Mother's Day just this past year. On the way home I asked my husband how he was feeling, if he was doing OK. He told me that he was sad and that you just can't help but feel that way when everyone and their mother (sorry, bad pun here) is posting about Mother's Day on Facebook and that everyone is out celebrating their mothers.
I find that I feel the same way regarding the impending approach of Father's Day. I am sure that people will go all gung-ho crazy posting on Facebook just as they did for Mother's Day. I am sure that people will be taking their Dads out to lunch or dinner or doing other fun things with their Dads to celebrate. When I think of the approach of Father's Day it makes me sad that I cannot participate in that particular occasion to celebrate my Dad, since he is gone.
I guess that my point here is that you should keep in mind that while you may be fortunate enough to not be a member of the DP Club, some of your relatives/friends/neighbors may be members of the club and may not want to be reminded 235 times on Facebook that it is Mother's or Father's Day. You may talk to people who are members of the DP Club about your plans for the day, but don't brag or exaggerate what you plan to do on that particular day. Also, you may want to keep in mind that some of us who are members of the DP Club don't want to hear your constant complaining about what horrible thing your mother or father did to you and/or what a horrible person your mother or father may be. At least you still have them here on this Earth. Some of us would give anything to have our mother or father (or both) back here. All I'm saying is be respectful, have some empathy and some sympathy. You may not know someone's whole story, and that person may be a member of the DP Club.
My sister and I and our families went out to lunch with our Mom for Mother's Day just this past year. On the way home I asked my husband how he was feeling, if he was doing OK. He told me that he was sad and that you just can't help but feel that way when everyone and their mother (sorry, bad pun here) is posting about Mother's Day on Facebook and that everyone is out celebrating their mothers.
I find that I feel the same way regarding the impending approach of Father's Day. I am sure that people will go all gung-ho crazy posting on Facebook just as they did for Mother's Day. I am sure that people will be taking their Dads out to lunch or dinner or doing other fun things with their Dads to celebrate. When I think of the approach of Father's Day it makes me sad that I cannot participate in that particular occasion to celebrate my Dad, since he is gone.
I guess that my point here is that you should keep in mind that while you may be fortunate enough to not be a member of the DP Club, some of your relatives/friends/neighbors may be members of the club and may not want to be reminded 235 times on Facebook that it is Mother's or Father's Day. You may talk to people who are members of the DP Club about your plans for the day, but don't brag or exaggerate what you plan to do on that particular day. Also, you may want to keep in mind that some of us who are members of the DP Club don't want to hear your constant complaining about what horrible thing your mother or father did to you and/or what a horrible person your mother or father may be. At least you still have them here on this Earth. Some of us would give anything to have our mother or father (or both) back here. All I'm saying is be respectful, have some empathy and some sympathy. You may not know someone's whole story, and that person may be a member of the DP Club.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Let's Have a Little Respect Here, People
So...one of the lovely duties that we have as teachers is receiving and responding to parent e-mails. The majority of e-mails from parents that I get are polite, asking where and when their child can get extra help, what he/she should be doing to help improve their grade, etc. Every now and again though, we get those lovely e-mails where you can tell that Bobby or Sally went home, maybe even broke down into tears, and told Mom and/or Dad how Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. so-and-so was oh so cruel, wanted them to do something that said student didn't want to do, etc. I have been the recipient of 2 such e-mails this week alone, from totally different parents of students in totally different classes. I can tell you for a fact that both of these e-mails were written in the heat of the moment, parents frustrated because their kids were melting down and that I had either done or said something that was construed as "unfair" or "unjust" to these students. In both situations I e-mailed each parent back, apologized for the misunderstandings, and said that we would work it out. I know if I had been in this situation as a parent, I would feel like a real jackass when I got that nice, polite e-mail back from my child's teacher. I would think that I had WAY overreacted. So here are some tips for you parents that may fly off the handle from time to time and a more acceptable way of dealing with your child's teacher:
1. Check your facts. Before you go all batshit crazy on your child's teacher, call or e-mail said teacher and go off on their ass, cross-check what little Bobby or Sally told you happened. Not that little Bobby or Sally would ever twist, exaggerate, or misconstrue what another adult said to them...just saying. I would hope that as a parent you would take the word of a professional adult into consideration. Pull your heads out of the sand...kids lie from time to time, or exaggerate, or misconstrue situations.
2. Have your child fight his/her own battles (where appropriate). Now remember that this blog is coming from the perspective of a high school teacher, where students should be able to talk with their teachers about certain issues (performance in class, study skills, etc.). If there are larger issues going on, then as a parent, you should definitely intervene. If it is something that can be handled by your child, let them try and reason and talk it out with said teacher. If the child talks to the teacher and this does not have the desired effect, once again parental involvement is appropriate.
3. When you do call or e-mail your child's teacher, make sure that the call or e-mail is polite. If you call us (as teachers) nasty names, tell us what horrible people/teachers we are, etc. we probably aren't going to be too overly impressed with your call or e-mail. We will still be polite when replying to you and will talk with your child about your/our concerns. Just remember, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
4. Of course we are concerned about your child's welfare and school performance. That is what we are here for. Please don't make us the enemy. All you have to do is contact us, be polite, and we will help you try and figure out your issue(s) with your child. That is what teachers do. We don't just teach course material, we are there to be advocates, counselors, nurses, etc. We have chosen this profession because we care about children. We want what is best for them.
REMEMBER...these are just some small suggestions that may help you from getting pissed off at your child's teacher(s) and may help keep the peace between you as a parent and said teacher(s). Feel free to disagree with me and to keep solving all of Bobby and Sally's issues though. I am sure that they will grow up to be very productive, independent adults who can solve all of their problems on their own. (Note heavy sarcasm here).
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
1. Check your facts. Before you go all batshit crazy on your child's teacher, call or e-mail said teacher and go off on their ass, cross-check what little Bobby or Sally told you happened. Not that little Bobby or Sally would ever twist, exaggerate, or misconstrue what another adult said to them...just saying. I would hope that as a parent you would take the word of a professional adult into consideration. Pull your heads out of the sand...kids lie from time to time, or exaggerate, or misconstrue situations.
2. Have your child fight his/her own battles (where appropriate). Now remember that this blog is coming from the perspective of a high school teacher, where students should be able to talk with their teachers about certain issues (performance in class, study skills, etc.). If there are larger issues going on, then as a parent, you should definitely intervene. If it is something that can be handled by your child, let them try and reason and talk it out with said teacher. If the child talks to the teacher and this does not have the desired effect, once again parental involvement is appropriate.
3. When you do call or e-mail your child's teacher, make sure that the call or e-mail is polite. If you call us (as teachers) nasty names, tell us what horrible people/teachers we are, etc. we probably aren't going to be too overly impressed with your call or e-mail. We will still be polite when replying to you and will talk with your child about your/our concerns. Just remember, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
4. Of course we are concerned about your child's welfare and school performance. That is what we are here for. Please don't make us the enemy. All you have to do is contact us, be polite, and we will help you try and figure out your issue(s) with your child. That is what teachers do. We don't just teach course material, we are there to be advocates, counselors, nurses, etc. We have chosen this profession because we care about children. We want what is best for them.
REMEMBER...these are just some small suggestions that may help you from getting pissed off at your child's teacher(s) and may help keep the peace between you as a parent and said teacher(s). Feel free to disagree with me and to keep solving all of Bobby and Sally's issues though. I am sure that they will grow up to be very productive, independent adults who can solve all of their problems on their own. (Note heavy sarcasm here).
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
Monday, May 9, 2011
Once Upon a Time, I had a Waistline
Ah, those lovely last few pregnancy pounds that just won't go away. I've still got about 12 to go before I reach my pre-pregnancy weight, and being totally honest here, I could still stand to lose quite a bit more. I've always had a rather short waist, not much room between the bottom of my ribcage and the top of my hipbones. I used to have a waistline though, not just a straight line torso with curves in all the wrong places now.
Several years ago (probably 2004 I would guess) I did a "Dump Your Plump" challenge with my Mom, my Aunt, my cousin's now ex-wife, and a few other people. At that time I definitely needed to lose weight, as I was overeating, not exercising enough, and was unhappy with the way I looked. My now ex-husband could have told me that I needed to lose weight until he was blue in the face (believe me, he pretty much did) but I had to make the decision myself FOR myself that it was time to lose weight. My Mom, Aunt, and cousin's wife would e-mail each other every day about what we ate and what type of exercise we did. I worked out at least once a day 5 or 6 days a week, usually some type of low-impact aerobics or a nice, long, brisk walk with the dog. I eventually kicked my pop drinking habit, weaning myself down to carbonated flavored water, to just flat flavored water, to water. I managed to only consume about 1200 calories a day, being pretty strict with myself about what I ate. I learned the calorie contents of many foods and beverages quickly. I wouldn't say that I was obsessed with losing weight, because I was in no way unhealthy about it, but I did follow quite the regimen for awhile. After the end of the program (I can't remember how long we did it exactly; it was either 6 months or a year) I had managed to lose 50 pounds. I looked good, I felt great. Even at my lowest weight, it still wasn't good enough for my ex-husband. I remember I was so excited that I fit into size 8 clothing and I even had a couple of size 6 items. I told my ex this and he said, "Keep working at it, you can get down to a size 4." Asshole. Nothing was ever good enough for him, now I know why his Mom nicknamed him "One More." If you know me and know my body build there is no chance that I would ever drop down to a size 4. At my lowest weight ever I was 151.
Now I find myself unhappy with my body and my weight. Granted, I did just have a baby 5 and a half months ago. I put on 40 pounds by the end of my pregnancy, most of which was gained in the last 4-6 weeks. I am happy that I have lost 28 of those 40 pounds. I had McKenna in perhaps one of the crappiest winters ever in Northeast Ohio, so we didn't get out too much. We have also had one of the rainiest Aprils on record as well. Needless to say we haven't had the time to go out and walk much, which I would love to do. Add to that teaching full time, working a part-time job at a country club golf course, trying to keep up with laundry and other chores, and spend time with McKenna and Justin. There just aren't that many hours in a day. Unfortunately, the excess weight is falling by the wayside for the time being. Maybe over the summer I will have some extra time so that I can exercise more. Eat better as well. Cook more at home and not eat takeout so much (or eat at restaurants). I also find myself not caring about the weight as much since we are still planning on having at least one more baby...not anytime in the immediate future, but sometime in the next couple of years. I figure that I'm just going to put weight on again when I am pregnant so who cares?
Oh well, maybe all this is justification for me being fat and lazy. If that is the case, then screw you waistline.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
Several years ago (probably 2004 I would guess) I did a "Dump Your Plump" challenge with my Mom, my Aunt, my cousin's now ex-wife, and a few other people. At that time I definitely needed to lose weight, as I was overeating, not exercising enough, and was unhappy with the way I looked. My now ex-husband could have told me that I needed to lose weight until he was blue in the face (believe me, he pretty much did) but I had to make the decision myself FOR myself that it was time to lose weight. My Mom, Aunt, and cousin's wife would e-mail each other every day about what we ate and what type of exercise we did. I worked out at least once a day 5 or 6 days a week, usually some type of low-impact aerobics or a nice, long, brisk walk with the dog. I eventually kicked my pop drinking habit, weaning myself down to carbonated flavored water, to just flat flavored water, to water. I managed to only consume about 1200 calories a day, being pretty strict with myself about what I ate. I learned the calorie contents of many foods and beverages quickly. I wouldn't say that I was obsessed with losing weight, because I was in no way unhealthy about it, but I did follow quite the regimen for awhile. After the end of the program (I can't remember how long we did it exactly; it was either 6 months or a year) I had managed to lose 50 pounds. I looked good, I felt great. Even at my lowest weight, it still wasn't good enough for my ex-husband. I remember I was so excited that I fit into size 8 clothing and I even had a couple of size 6 items. I told my ex this and he said, "Keep working at it, you can get down to a size 4." Asshole. Nothing was ever good enough for him, now I know why his Mom nicknamed him "One More." If you know me and know my body build there is no chance that I would ever drop down to a size 4. At my lowest weight ever I was 151.
Now I find myself unhappy with my body and my weight. Granted, I did just have a baby 5 and a half months ago. I put on 40 pounds by the end of my pregnancy, most of which was gained in the last 4-6 weeks. I am happy that I have lost 28 of those 40 pounds. I had McKenna in perhaps one of the crappiest winters ever in Northeast Ohio, so we didn't get out too much. We have also had one of the rainiest Aprils on record as well. Needless to say we haven't had the time to go out and walk much, which I would love to do. Add to that teaching full time, working a part-time job at a country club golf course, trying to keep up with laundry and other chores, and spend time with McKenna and Justin. There just aren't that many hours in a day. Unfortunately, the excess weight is falling by the wayside for the time being. Maybe over the summer I will have some extra time so that I can exercise more. Eat better as well. Cook more at home and not eat takeout so much (or eat at restaurants). I also find myself not caring about the weight as much since we are still planning on having at least one more baby...not anytime in the immediate future, but sometime in the next couple of years. I figure that I'm just going to put weight on again when I am pregnant so who cares?
Oh well, maybe all this is justification for me being fat and lazy. If that is the case, then screw you waistline.
Until next time, I remain,
Jenuinely Yours
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