For Annette
I'm blogging again because I found out that Annette reads my blog. Annette's the coolest! She said that she's going to bring me lunch at school this week and we're going to eat in the teacher's lounge and listen to all the gossip. Oh, you want to know what kind of gossip? Well, I can't tell you too much because I'd get fired. But here's a sampling of recent topics:
1.Yogurt: It seems all the ladies who lunch have heard the commercials that eating yogurt will help you burn fat. So what I'd always considered a breakfast food has now become everyone's lunch. I brought a little container of yogurt (lemon...because it doesn't have smushed fruit in it!) but I can't bring myself to eat it for lunch. So by now, it may have gone bad.
Can yogurt go bad? Isn't it like...milk gone bad? How do they tell yogurt not to become cottage cheese or sour cream?
2. Weight Watchers: Where there are adult women, there are women who long to feel better about themselves than they already do. I have learned to keep my mouth shut during these discussions. I didn't choose to be born with a hard-working metabolism, and if I were overweight, I'd probably diet too. But I'd quit eating sugar. That's much healthier than not eating much, or just eating yogurt.
3. Big Ol' Televisions: One of the teachers' husbands got himself the mother of all television sets and now they're closing in their garage to make a special "place" for his 2,000 inch flatscreen.
4. Cursing: We all decided that it is our guilty pleasure to hear little kids say curse words. We agree that this is very wrong, but can't help but laugh when a little one unknowingly says, "Damn" ....or better yet, the F-bomb!
5. Bad classroom experiences: I won't divulge any. All I have to say is, you've got to vent sometimes, and you usually want to get loads of sympathy. Perfect audience? Other teachers.
6. Our kids and grandkids: I've thought about pretending I have kids so I'll have something to say. What do you think I should name my pretend kid? What about "Arliss"?
Things we DON'T discuss in the teacher's lounge: (Not sure why)
1. Clothes
2. Tv shows
3. Personal problems
4. Recipes
5. The latest hairstyles
This is great, huh? I've just given you an inside track into the exciting life of a teacher!
So let me ask you: What do they talk about at your lounge? Wait...don't tell me....Yogurt!
Would you rather...
Have a whole month off for Christmas, but have to work 12-hour shifts at Wal-Mart for a week afterward?
or...
Only have to work Christmas day at your current job?
Just wondering. I didn't mean to think Christmas yet, it's just been forced on me by our commercially-driven society. It's even taken over my radio. I just heard the year's debut of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
I realize now that people would rather see a picture than 1,000 words. So let me close out our weekend with a picture of this cutie. His name is Luke Wilson, and despite my best efforts to get him to be my buddy, the little guy refused to stay with me at church nursery a few weeks ago. (Sigh)
No One is Alone
The school musical this year is a combination of songs from various musicals by Stephen Sondheim. This song is not in the show, but it is by Sondheim
. It's called "No One is Alone". For reasons I can't share, it seems appropriate for some friends of mine.
Sometimes people leave you
Half-way thru the woods.
Others may deceive you.
You decide what's good
You decide alone; But no one is alone.
People make mistakes.
Fathers, mothers,
People make mistakes.
Holding to their own,
Thinking they're alone.
Honor their mistakes.
Everybody makes
One another's terrible mistakes.
Witches can be right.
Giants can be good.
You decide what's right.
You decide what's good.
Just remember: someone is on your side.
Someone else is not.
While you're seeing your side
Maybe you forgot
No one is alone. Truly, no one is alone.
Holistic Healing
Ever feel like there are a hundred roadblocks to your life?
I've had a lot of those lately.
My computer was broken, so I couldn't do lesson plans unless I stayed at the school and used my work computer. (A pea-shooter) My printer doesn't get the message that it's connected to my computer now that it's fixed, so I have to e-mail those lesson plans to my school comptuer to print them. I got sick this week, and wanted to go to the doctor. However, my doctor in Dallas won't take my PPO, so I had to ask someone for the number of a new doctor in my area. I found one. Then the insurance company had the wrong address for me, so I never got my health insurance card, so I had to call them and get a special number to use my insurance. The pharmacists scoffed at my little insurance number written on a piece of paper and said I'd have to pay out-of-pocket for the meds and then file a claim later. My apartment hasn't cut me a key to my mailbox yet, so I have to go and ask them to open up my mailbox for me to get the mail. And my nose is stopped up. I have to breathe through my mouth like Napoleon Dynmaite. This gives me chapped lips, but I can never find chapstick while at school. At least the nurse has like five sticks in her drawer.
This is not a complaint. You can see that in every case there is a way out, but it requires side-stepping what's in my way, taking a little extra time, and in most cases, asking for help. I don't like to ask for help. My anthem since August has been "Miss Independent" but everyday, something shows me that I am probably less independent now than I ever was before. Because I need people in my life. When the convenient way doesn't work, I need to look somebody in the eye and say, "I can't do this". Sometimes I don't like the answer they give me and I get sulky. Like today when my (new) doctor told me that I just need to take over-the-counter drugs to get better. She doesn't know my background of sinus infections for four months in a row! (Anyone from Skillman can vouch for this) Sometimes I don't letting anyone know that I need help. I'd like to think that my problems can be fixed without anybody's help. After all, I'm independent now. Sometimes I go down a path that I know I shouldn't because by taking that road, I can hide what is really wrong with me. Asking for help means laying your cards on the table in a vulnerable, revealing manner. It means that others could see that I'm not always what I pretend to be at school or in church.
You can see where this is going. I think analogies are my way of dealing with tough things, because I can see my spiritual self in a tangible way.
Also, I believe that the spirit and the body and the mind are inextricably connected. When my body is sick, amazingly, my spirit is usually sick too. Not that God is punishing me or anything like that, but when you're down, you're down all over.
Last year when I was at my most sick, my parents were out of town. I stayed with my cousin Billie Faye because and she gave me a copy of her Natural Remedies book. She (being the giving person that she is) also stocked me up on vitamins that I'd never heard of, like acidopholus and flaxseed oil? These vitamins, along with antibiotics, were the end of my four-month-long battle with respiratory crud. I was finally free!
Now that I have a sinus infection, I knew that it takes more than medication to get over a cold. Medication usually comes in and kills something off. Plus, it always seems like medications have these nasty side-effects that are worse than the actual illness.
Example:
"Medicine should stop congestion and runny nose. Side effects include vomiting, diarhea, and wetting your pants at inconventient moments."
But the vitamins give your body some strength to rebuild. I'm going to take those horse-pill sized vitamins, by golly! And we'll see what happens. At the same time, I'm started a more rigorous bible study program with Elasha, a friend from church. I want to be well all over. I'll let you know how it goes.
I missed out!
These pictures make me smile. They're from the Skillman Friends class halloween party. Wish I could've been there!
Christ Journey Pics
This is Heidi, my new friend from church. Note the cookies. We eat cookies at my church. Yeah, you should be jealous.
This is Heidi and Chris's daughter Torie. You can see why I love hanging out with Torie. She's just been swimming and has chocolate cake on her face. The girl knows how to have a good time!
