Yay! It’s Wednesday, which means that it’s time for Joyce’s Hodgepodge! Hop on over to her blog, link up, and do some visiting!
With this being Spring Break, you can BET I’ll be making my rounds! I’m psyched that I’ll finally have the time to check in with my hodgepodging friends, and I apologize that I haven’t been as faithful in recent weeks. Blame it on my overachieving teaching self. 🙂
1. St. Patrick’s Day will be celebrated this coming Saturday…what’s a favorite article of clothing you own that contains a touch o’ the green?
My children attended a high school that had green as one of its colors, so I spent six years wearing green! I actually do like the color, even though I wear different colors now that I teach at a high school across town (and the colors are WAY different). What would be my favorite green item? Hmmm…maybe my green cargo pants? They’re light and fun to wear. I pair them up with shiny sandals and a cute top.
2. What’s a favorite ‘green space’ in the town, state, or province where you live?
If by “green,” you mean environmental, then I’d have to say that my city is famous for its beach. North Florida is famous for its white sandy beaches…beaches that are free from rocks, shells, and other debris that permeates the sand on the other side of the state. It’s fun to eat at a restaurant on the beach. Nothing beats the ocean breeze and salty smell of the water. I drove to my favorite yarn store yesterday, and I could not have picked a better day. I have to cross several bridges to get to this store, and I was transfixed by the shallow, bright blue water. It’s one of the prettiest pieces of scenery I know of (and I’ve lived in several different kinds).
3. Do you wish you were taller, shorter, or think you’re just about right in the height department?
Hands down, I wish I was taller. I love wearing my high heels and the ease with which I can reach things. I also like being eye-to-eye with my students instead of having to look up at EVERY one of them!! Rooster is about six feet tall, and we’re still trying to figure out how we managed to produce a giant of a child when I’m 5’3″ if I stand on my tip toes and the Mr. isn’t much taller than 5’7″.
4. What’s the surest way for someone to pick a fight with you?
I think the surest way to pick a fight with me is to put me on the defensive. Nothing makes me madder than being called lazy or whatnot. I have confidence issues, and making me feel inadequate puts me in a defensive stance and is sure to stir my wrath.
5. Broccoli-Spinach-String Beans-Peas…of the four, your favorite green veg? (Or the one you dislike the least if that first option’s too hard. I just know there’s some veggie haters out there.)
Honestly, I can tolerate all of the above; however, if I could choose to leave something off of my plate, I’d pick the peas. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a good split pea soup; however, eating peas on a plate…well, it’s not really my thing.
6. March is National Women’s History Month…besides friends, neighbors and the women you’re related to, who’s a woman in history you admire and why?
I admire Corrie ten Boom, the wonderful saint of a lady who was held in a concentration camp during WWII. She was a Christian whose family helped hide Jews. They were ousted by a friend-turned-traitor. Though her sister and father died in the camp, she never lost her faith. When she was let go (due to a clerical error), she helped establish a home for others who had been in prison camps. What endears her to me, though, is the way she forgive one of her guards when she came face-to-face with him after one of her speeches. In one of her books, she wrote about actually choosing, in the moment he held out his hand to her, to forgive.
When I get to heaven, I first want to meet Jesus, and then I want to meet Corrie. She completely inspired me when I first read her story when I was a teenager, and her legacy inspires me even today.
7. Keep Calm and _KNIT_on.
Speaking of knitting…I went yarn shopping yesterday and picked up these glorious skeins…
Did I need them? Nope. Did I enjoy splurging? You bet!
8. My Random Thought
On Monday, I called a friend of mine who I taught with last year. She and I usually phone one another at least once a week to stay in touch. She’s 61…a solid twenty years older than me, but you’d never know it. It’s her second year teaching, just like me, so we have a lot in common.
I know that God brought us together last year for many reasons, one of which was because she’d gone through the alternative teaching certification program the year before I did. Without her empathy and support, I don’t know what I would have done.
Well, Jane is near the tail end of the Reading Endorsement certification program that I started in January.
Folks, I thought the other certification program was hard.
This reading program is a bear.
The first two classes aren’t bad, from what I hear. I just finished the first one, and it was pretty easy. I only had to redo one assignment. The third one, Assessment, nearly does everyone in. I’d never heard that much about the next one, Differentiation, except that Jane had mentioned that it was challenging. The fifth one, though, is something else, and Jane was eager to share her angst with me after completing her first assignment.
As I listened to her tell me the assignments were worse than any EPI (the other program) assignment, my heart fell, and I started feeling sick.
That’s what lies ahead for me, and I am dreading it.
It was so bad that I had to nap after we hung up, that’s how stressed I became.
I’ve been in school, almost non-stop, since 2006, and quite honestly, I am burned out. My brain is fried from all of the thinking I am constantly required to do.
And now, with this new program, I have to do that on top of create lesson plans for my own classes. It’s no wonder that I sometimes boo hoo from exhaustion.
You could say that I had myself a grand old pity party, oh yes I did.
When I woke up from my nap, I made a decision.
I am not going to worry about the classes.
I’m an overachiever, yes I am, and I demand perfection from myself, yes I do.
However, God is going to be there for me WHEN I REACH THAT POINT. I had stupidly allowed myself to wallow around in stress over something that’s not even here yet!!
So, not only will I stress when my turn comes to do these assignments, but I’m WASTING time right now stressing over the future.
For a teacher, I can be pretty stupid sometimes.
So, I’m leaning on God’s promises and letting today worry about itself.
He brought me into this profession; I know that for certain.
He led me to the disadvantaged students who walk through my door each day. I also know this for certain.
He will strengthen my brain when the time comes and provide the assistance I need…WHEN I NEED IT.
Random thoughts? Yes. Deep? Yep. More life lessons for Nathalie though.
Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Wednesday Hodgepodge | 7 Comments »
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