January 27, 2007

At the Crossroads


In a scene from The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy first meets Scarecrow at a crossroad on the yellow brick road to Oz. Dorothy needs to choose the best way to go and of course Scarecrow, who doesn't have a brain, is of no help. As we all remember, though, Scarecrow becomes her supportive friend who encourages her decisions and accompanies her along the yellow brick road.

Unlike Dorothy’s Scarecrow, my supportive companion is very intelligent. Kim encourages me to do what will make me happy. He went with me to Austin when I needed to talk to the Texas Retirement System about my retirement. We are on this road together and my decision will affect both of us. I want to make the right decision for our future. I know that Kim is going to support and encourage me on whatever path I choose. I'm lucky to have him, but the decision is up to me.

I find myself at the crossroads of “Do I retire?” or “Do I keep teaching school?” I look back at the long distance I've come from my first day teaching kindergarten in a small West Texas town. My journey took me from kindergarten to primary grades to intermediate grades. I'm presently teaching third grade where it is my task to prepare my students to take two state mandated tests. For 32 years I taught the children of Texas. That is more than half of my life spent in an elementary school classroom. Many demands and pressures from the state have made my field of expertise a more difficult job than it was in 1975. My growing desire to get away from the stresses of the classroom has brought me to this crossroad in my life.

Most retired schoolteachers turn to substitute teaching. That doesn't appeal to me because I'm retiring to get out of the classroom. My hope is to find a job that pays enough to supplement a retirement check and won’t be so strenuous with work to take home every evening. If such a job were to surface, my decision might be easier. I have taught school for so long, I hardly know what jobs are available for a person such as myself.

So, here I am standing at the crossroads of my career wondering what to do next. Should I retire, taking a financial risk, and move on to another career? Or should I stay in my present teaching job, knowing that my income will remain secure? Is it worth being unhappy to stay with teaching? I don't know, but I’m at the crossroads contemplating which way to turn.

January 20, 2007

My Son, the Doctor


Last Friday, our oldest son, Jason,
flew back to Michigan to defend his doctoral dissertation at Michigan State University. I am proud to say that the committee accepted it and he is now fully vested as a Ph.D. in Family and Child Ecology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy.

This comes on the cusp of his 30th birthday. It's hard to believe that my oldest son is 3 decades old. My goodness I was young when he was born!

Yes, Kim and I are two proud parents.
Congratulations, Dr. Martin.

January 15, 2007

Arise And Call Her Blessed

Our church family paid tribute and our last respects to a Christian woman today. A mom of the charmed '50's, she made sure her family's needs were met. Those evening meals were homemade and on the table each night. All of her children's spouses spoke about how much this Godly woman loved her family and how cooking for them was so much a loving part of that. Not only that, but her love for her family was never a question. She and her husband made each of their children and grandchildren know that they were special and loved.

That funeral and what was said, has made me think about my own life all day. It's not unusual to reflect on one's life after attending a funeral. We wonder what will be said about us when our time comes. We feel the tug at our heartstrings to emulate the qualities of a good person. We feel our lives have not been what it should have been and want to improve.

As I said, its normal. However, the next thought should be "what will I do with my life now?"

God be with all who remain to go on with life. Their wife, mother, grandmother, relative and friend will be missed. Goodbye, Ruth.

"Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Proverbs 30:31

January 14, 2007

Busy Lives Make Busy People

The play my son kyle
directed, "Sordid Lives", competed at the Texas NonProfit Theater festival this past Saturday. At the Quad level two theater troupes advance to compete at the state level. Kyle's cast gave an excellent performance and I was very proud of all of them. They won one of the slots that advanced their play to State. They will perform "Sordid Lives" at the State Competetion this March in Fort Worth. My husband, our son, Ryan and his wife, Amy, were among the ten cast members that performed in the play.

My busyness, however, continues to be with school. Since school started back after the holiday break, I have a self contained class. the first semester of this year, I was teaching language arts and science. Now, since one of my partners resigned, I no longer partner teach. Instead I teach all academic subjects. While I have been self contained before, finding the time to set up my classroom for it has been hard to find. I have tried to stay late and go up to the building when it is open on the weekends. The problem with staying after school is I am just too tired from the day to do a lot of work. Then when the weekend gets here, my personal life seems to be just as busy. I wanted to work for a couple of hours at school last Saturday, but of course there was the theater festival which I wasn't about to miss. I went to school today and got some things done, unfortunately a few of them had nothing to do with what I really needed to finish for this next week. I get so distracted!

My goal for 2007 is to get better organized. It is a goal of mine every year. If I continue to teach next year, that classroom has got to find better organization or I won't be able to function in it. Wish me luck.

Oh and if you see a member of my family around town, tell them to "break a leg" at festival in March.

January 1, 2007

Resolutions, 2007

Ha! I'd love to see the number of blog posts with that same title today. I'd bet there are a million.

Resolutions: "A firm decision to do, or not to do something." (source: My computer dashboard dictionary widget.)

A firm decision, heartfelt, or said, written, proclaimed even typed with profound conviction on January 1st. Some will follow through for the entire 365 days making their resolution a solid habit. I say, "Good for you. Way to go! That is quite an accomplishment." Then, there are the rest of us well-meaning, firm decision making NORMAL people that go about our everyday activities forgetting about resolutions.

When I'm in a hurry to complete a project, focused on a job, or just trying to make it through the day, I forget things.
- I forget about the decision I so firmly made to quit drinking caffeinated coffee and switch to decaf, when I still can't wake up at 10:00 in the morning and my principal just changed me from departmentalized to self contained.
-I forget about cutting back on sweets when there is a loving box of fresh doughnuts waiting, for free, next to that coffee in the teacher's lounge.

Habits are hard for a weak person to form and bad habits are hard to break. Just deciding firmly to quit whatever, doesn't make it happen. I'm not sure where I'm going with this blog, but I know that resolutions are meant to be broken because we are flawed human beings. We forget. We slip. We fall. Aren't we glad that God isn't that way?
" You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:36
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