Robotics??

Yeah, robotics. I am now the robotics faculty sponsor at the high school I teach at.

I have been so busy lately. I am not getting home much before 8 every night and am working on Saturdays as well. Today was one of the first days in two weeks that I haven't talked a great deal about robotics. Most days, even while I am at school trying to teach the actual subjects I am responsible for, I am surrounded by robotics stuff.

Please do not get me wrong, I am really interested in it and I enjoy it, but I need more time. There is not enough time in the day to do everything this huge project requires.

What to do

My father has had a heart attack. At this point we are not sure how serious. Thankfully it wasn't a massive heart attack. He is currently in the hospital in ICU. The have run one test, an ultrasound, to see if they could see the damage.

Tomorrow they are going to run a series of tests beginning at 6:30 am. They should have the results in the afternoon sometime.

We are short on funds. I don't know what to do.

My week as a single mom

Seems I have a lot to learn about running a house with four kids in it alone. I am hoping NEVER EVER to have to do it again, for any long period of time beyond what I did.

While K was away I thought I would be able to handle things. Well, there were no hospital visits, no one committed any crimes, and no one got sick. I didn't stay on top of things for as well as i should have though.

C had a project due at school, it got neglected. He kept saying it was being done at school. I believed him. I was up with him Wed night finishing it with him. trying to make it right.

I wasn't able to stay on top of things the way K can when she is home. It pointed out how hard it is to be a good parent while trying to work full time. Especially with a career that doesn't end when you leave you work place. While K was away I didn't do much grading or lesson planning, which gave me tons of things to do after K returned.

Single parents need a great support system in order to make it work. Raising children takes a great deal of energy and when a parent is put in a situation where they are completely alone in looking after the children, they need help.

I don't not know what the solution is, but there needs to support for them.

I thank K for everything she does that she doesn't get recognized for. She is the support system our children need. I wouldn't be able to do this alone.

She's coming home!

My lovely wife has been away for the past 6 days. A month ago, when we had some extra money, I purchased her a round trip ticket to Rhode Island - where her family is.
She hasn't been able to ever go back and visit family without having kids in toe, and I honestly felt she deserved the chance to get away for a bit.

The other reason she was going to be away was to finish getting her name changed on her drivers license. We finally have the same name, throughout. For a while now she has been wanting to get her identity issues fixed. So during her trip east she was able to take care of it.

During this past week, I have missed her terribly. Its been hectic, trying to remember to pick things up from the store, check to make sure everyone has their meds, and at the same time making sure I have my school stuff in order. Some things have slacked, I admit. However, we've done good. I didn't have us eating out every night. In fact, we really didn't eat out much at all.

No one was hurt, no doctor visits, and I haven't wanted to kill anyone. Now I will admit, I haven't been able to focus much attention on my class stuff, but I can catch up.

Being apart has given me a moment of pause to appreciate having a two parent home for our kids. It has also reminded me how much I love that woman! I am looking forward to everything about her.

Thanks for everything you do to keep the house running! I love you!!!!

Confusion

School has been back in session for three weeks now. Three weeks in and I am still feeling like I am trying to find my sea legs. I am trying to figure out how to get my students to read the text book. Any suggestions? Wait I have to have readers to give suggestions first. LOL

Life took a funny turn for me recently. My best friend from high school flew down to spend a week with us before we all drove back together. Being we hadn't spent much time together since reconnecting, I think the visit went really well. I thought she was comfortable around us.

About a week ago, we were on the phone and she told me able a dinner date her and her hubby went on with another couple. Then proceeds to tell me about the conversation. That her hubby opened it with the comment that she had just spent a week with two lesbians. Then the questions began. Did you switch sides, did you join in, did...
Things that should have never been asked, but were. She didn't say anything. In my opinion, she wasn't a friend. She should have stopped the conversation, walked away if that is what it took. Am I wrong?
I am hurt and upset. Knowing she would allow those conversations to take place really disappoints me. I don't know how to handle it. I have sent her a message telling her it hurt, that I don't know what to do with this. That I feel like she disrespected me and allowed others to disrespect me by not saying anything. By allowing it to happen, she approved of it.
Am I going to lose a friend? is she a true friend if she is only a friend when she is in my presence?

Summer is over, school is beginning...

tomorrow.

Classes begin full time tomorrow. I do not feel ready. I was in my classroom, no where near as much as I would like to have been. I finally got it presentable on Saturday. Yes, I said Saturday. I took the younger three with me and spent several hours there putting the finishing touches on it. The classroom is ready for students to walk in, I am not so sure I am though.

I do not have the lesson plans set out and ready, not yet. I have them, just need to post them and prep for them. Make sure I have read up on the topic of the day, made power points, copied off things, etc ect.

I know I am harder on myself, than anyone else is, but if I am not tough on me, I will slack off.

I am looking forward to the school year and dreading it all at the same time. I have three subjects I have to prep for, what if I can't do it? What if I can't keep them straight? I know I am going to have good days and bad days. My hope is I have more good than bad. That I find my sea legs, so to speak, that I am able to find the time to do everything I need to get done. To remember to make the calls home, to document, document, document. Make sure I don't let things slip too far.

I wish for patience, knowledge, and peace to be able to reach each student that walks into my room and educate them all to the very best of my abilities and to challenge them to reach their full potential, yet not challenging to the point where they shut down.

Back to work

I am in the business of saving lives!

This is what we were informed of today. Once I thought about it, I could see it. I not only teach my students about my content area, I teach them about life. I do everything I can to introduce them to the many different options out there. Many students think that they are stuck in a mold that has been preset for them. They need to know they have choices. The only thing holding them back is themselves. They need to have the drive to succeed.

I am now teaching three different subjects this year. I have less than a week to prepare. I am worried I won't be, but I will do everything I can to be ready. We have trainings all this week and will only have Friday and Saturday to prepare my classroom. The new classroom where I only currently have one full bin unpacked. A bin of books. Maybe more tomorrow can be squeezed in, maybe.