Happy Canada Day

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I hope to make everyday count. It was a very long year last year, filled with stress. Yesterday was a happy day with my students as we said goodbye. Next year I will be working in a different school, teaching grade three. It should be less stressful for a number of reasons which I won't go into. But there will be different challenges. I want to make it a great year that I can be proud of and make a difference in the lives of the children that I will be teaching. If I am not happy and feel overly stressed next year, I've decided it's time to make a career change. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

Moving On

There have been a lot of changes. I lost my job in the first week of April and my mom died April 22nd. Since then I've found a new job, teaching in a school where there will be less stress. I know this because I have taught there in the past.

I am looking forward to the end of this school year. I am packing my things up slowly each day. Counting the days until summer holidays. This has been a very long year.

Farewell Mom

We buried my mother today. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a lovely service. Mom would have been so proud of her grandchildren, who read poems, tributes, sang solos, and played guitar. My brother made a slide show, set to music, that brought back many happy memories. It truly was a celebration of a beautiful life. My mom, skin as soft as silk, beautiful inside and out. She taught me so much. She will live in my heart forever. God bless you, Mom. May you be with Dad. No more tears, or pain. Free at last.

A Golden Heart Stopped Beating

My mom died on Friday morning. Although she had health issues for a number of years, it came unexpectedly, and rather quickly. We are happy that she is no longer in pain, but we will miss her dearly. I know it is a blessing to have had her to the age of 84, but it is painful to lose your mother. I pray she is dancing in heaven with my dad, and someday our family will be reunited.

Unemployed

So, on Monday I learned that there will only be one grade four class next year. That means I will be unemployed at the end of June. I have mixed emotions about this. This year was stressful, but since I dropped the art, I was enjoying this grade level. Next year would have been easier because I already have things planned from this year. I was really excited and already planning my room for next year. I had bought over $100 worth of resource materials that I can no longer return. This lay-off really took me by surprise.

I doubt that I will find another teaching job since they are very scarce. I will either work as a substitute teacher or look at another line of work, perhaps. I'm a little disappointed right now, but I also feel excited about the future. They say a change is as good as a vacation. There are definitely a lot of things I won't miss - writing report cards for one. Maybe this will end up being a blessing in disguise!

Guess those long, lazy days of summer may be a little longer this year.

Now You See It, Now You Don't

Spring visited for a blink of an eye, giving us a taste of sunshine, and then Mother Nature, once again, turned the skies gray, and filled the air with icy wind. But the promise of Spring is here, the snow is melted and parkas are packed away. My province is experiencing the second worst flooding in history, which doesn't affect me personally since I live in the city far away from the rivers. The last bad flood was in 1997, the Flood of the Century. I helped sandbag that year, but my back is in poor condition so I am not volunteering this time.

Work has been busy at school, with no end in sight, until the very last day in June. You would think it would ease up the last few months but it doesn't. There is pressure to finish the curriculum we have not yet covered, ongoing assessment, and then final report cards. I need to try to raise the grades of the struggling students, challenge the excelling students, and keep the misbehaving students entertained. I am counting the days - 51 more to go. How I long for those long, lazy days of summer. (or not so lazy, since we have plans to get things done around the house!) I'm trying not to think about holidays, just concentrating on each day.

It's been hard to get computer time around here with both my university kids writing papers and studying for exams. They are always fighting for computer time so I get a little time here and there. My son bought a computer online and it will be here next week. After that I will only have to compete with my daughter for the computer. I will love having the computer to myself in the summer when she is at work.

Well, that's it. I'm getting booted of the computer now. Talk to you soon.

Snow, Snow Go Away

Almost Spring Break, and we are in the grip of another winter storm - snow and ice pellets and blowing snow. The beauty and wonder of the dazzling white stuff has long ago faded into the endless blur that is shovelling and scraping ice off the car, running from house to car, and car to house. My energy is sapped. I don't cook supper - if someone else doesn't make it, I order in or eat toast. I crawl into bed after supper, pull the covers up and doze away the evening, until it's bedtime. Then I brush my teeth and go to bed. Please, spring, hurry up.