Teaching Does Have An Impact

I never really thought that as a substitute I would have any sort of lasting impact on my students. I mean, I called them my kids, often took them snacks, helped them out with their work, put up with their antics, often got into arguments with them, and even on occasion cried b/c of them...but I never thought I would get through.

Today, I realized I did get through. It made me smile and laugh. How? Well, since you asked so nicely, I shall let you know. Comfy? Here we go.

I went into town to the only cafe there to get lunch for myself and my mom. I thought I'd do something nice for her that she wasn't expecting. As I was leaving, a car pulled up beside me and these boys started yelling my name. I looked up, and there sitting in that car were 4 smiling faces, 3 of which were former students of mine. They had gotten out of school early b/c of final exams, and were no doubtedly on there way to find some type of trouble to get into. Having taught the majority of them, I can say that they most likely found it not to far from where we were conversing.

Even though it was a short conversation, we laughed, said how we were doing, and how they were happy to see me. One even made a point to remind me of his name just in case I'd forgotten it. I had to gently remind them that they were holding up traffic. Not that the boy in the big truck behind them couldn't have turned up the little street by the grocery store right by the cafe, but still, they were in the middle of the street. There response was they didn't care and would love to sit there all day if only to make a point. Like I said, these boys were former students of mine. Trouble should have been their middle names or at least written on their underwear.

While these boys may have gotten into trouble at school and ended up with me at the alternative school, they were still my kids. I'll see them around town. They'll probably find out where my parents live and drive by in hopes of embarrassing me.

But after today, I knew that if I hadn't been the type to care and had just been an overall bitch and hateful person to those boys, then they would have passed by without saying a word. Instead, they stopped to say hello. I guess southern manners haven't died out after all.

Mississippi Tornado - A Little Too Close For Comfort

If you've listened to the news or the weather channel in past 16 hours or so, you've probably heard about the devastating tornado that cut a path in the Mississippi landscape. We don't know how big it was. Or how fast it was moving. We really don't care. What we care about are the results and the impact it had on our community.

That's right. Our community. That tornado destroyed my hometown. My stomping grounds. My people and friends and neighbors.

At 1:30pm on Saturday, April 24, 2010, the tornado sirens went off in Weir, a little town 2 miles from my house. It was a quiet afternoon, which is the only reason we could hear it. I was inside eating lunch when I felt a huge gust of wind come through the air conditioner that wasn't even on. I went to the door and looked out towards the pond that is in front of my house. The water was literally blowing straight up. Almost like someone had taken a fan and set it on high to make it blow.

Then i heard the rumbling, then I felt the house shake, then I heard the train above me and saw the trees outside bend almost in half. Then it was just rain. I didn't know until later what had happened. A tornado had gone over, but touched down just 2 miles down the road.

In all, 6 people were killed. Two teenage girls, a 3 month old baby, and an older gentleman were among those lost to the tornado. It took out a gas station, a church, a barn, many homes, pine trees, and who knows what else.

During the recovery, the ambulance crews couldn't even get into the area b/c of the traffic. People with no sense were just driving past, gawking at the scene. The state patrol had to be called in to prevent any further disturbances. Even channel 4 news had an alert - if you have no extremely important business in choctaw county, stay out. They're not listening, of course. I'm tempted to toss thumbtacks into the road in front of the house. Maybe then it'll knock some sense into people. Plus, it would be funny. But I won't. That would be un-christian-like. It is Sunday, after all.

So please, pray for those who were injured, killed, or just damaged. If you live near here, call the sheriff's office and volunteer to help. We need it.

Update: here's a video that shows some damage.

the itsy bitsy spider...

in exactly 2 weeks i'll be 29.

i'm so special apparently, that in the past 6 months, weird stuff = or should i say weirder stuff than normal has been occurring in my life.

i have had matching spider bites. one on each upper arm on the inside. strangely enough they were in the same place on each arm.

i stopped caring exactly what my students thought about me. whether or not i'm mean. if they don't follow the rules, i no longer yell. just find a pen and write them up. plus, i found that it's more fun to push their buttons instead of them pushing mine. apparently - teaching them manners makes them not talk. who knew? lol.

i haven't found the urge to color my hair another eye-popping color nor have i had to fight the urge to reach for the nearest sharp object to cut it. it's now shoulder length and an amazing array of colors. if someone doesn't like me growing back my natural color, they can pay for the hair stylist to color it. i'm sure not.

i've figured out people can just be plain bitchy and that most of the time it's just not my fault. now i've got to train myself not to care so much and we'll be golden.

and finally - my mother is obsessed with me getting married and having kids. in no particular order. she's using words like "he's cute, he could probably knock you up." and phrases like - "i sure could use another grandbaby to spoil." yeah right! keep on dreaming granny. just b/c you're living in la la land, doesn't mean i want to flag down the stork and give him my wish list.

just when i thought my parents had forgotten i was single and childless...

Noah - Send Him A Card Please

I cried as i emailed this to a few people. I cried when i watched the news report. I will probably cry as I send out the christmas card. If I can, I'm going to try and send him a small christmas ornament or present too. You do what you're pulled to do. I just hope you send him at least a card. He enjoys them so much.

Diana Harrison Biorkman has a 5-yr old son in his last stages of a 2 1/2 year battle with Neuroblastoma cancer. They are celebrating Christmas next weekend and Noah loves Christmas cards. Please take a minute everyone to send a card....PLEASE do it right away!!!!!

To : Noah Biorkman, 1141 Fountain View Circle, South Lyon MI 48178.

He received an angel ornament from someone and he said it was his favorite b/c it reminded him that soon he'll be an angel too! i really cried at that one. he reminds me so much of my own nephew, too. he can't even walk, he has to use a walker to get around. the doctor says that he doubts noah will make it to christmas, so the whole family is spending christmas with noah over the next few weeks. he's excited to see santa.

so please, send this sweet angel a postcard or a christmas card, or just a note saying merry christmas. it is his last request. i'm making sure i send him one first thing in the morning. please include him in your prayers as well.

**for those who have known me for a while or read this blog, i've been searching for a job for forever. i've been praying really hard and feeling like crap b/c i can't seem to find one, even though i go on interview after interview. after learning about noah, i felt bad b/c i've been spending so much time on me, i haven't thought much about anyone else. while his mother and father have accepted it and are holding it together well, i'm falling apart and i don't even know this child. my heart is breaking. i'm wishing i could change fate and it would be me. b/c i feel as if he has his whole life ahead of him, and i've wasted mine. friviled it away. he was happy just to get an angel ornament. he's already a better person than i am. please keep him in your prayers. if it be God's will, a miracle will happen and cure this sweet angel.**