Making Up for Being a Slacker

Between having a cold, being worn out from work, and not sleeping very regularly, I've been remiss about posting in the last while.

I do OK during the work day, but once it is over, I just absolutely become a noodle. This week is particularly hard because I have meetings and appointments after school all week. Stay with me as I build up endurance.

Tonight I'd like to introduce you to my content teacher. His name is Jeff and he's a real mench. He is chef extrordinaire when it comes to pork barbeque, breakfast knoshes and most anything that needs cooking. He also has a rare ability to work with and keep the peace between rowdy kids and to gain the respect of cynical teens. He's quite a guy and a good catch if you're looking for a fellow in the early 40's range.

This is our classroom. Can't you just smell the dust and the damp of a concrete block building? It hasn't changed over the decades. I can't show you the room with it's smiling faces because they're minors and I'm a responsible adult and because I like my job and don't have permission from parents, etc.

The entry to our building which is used, on the whole, by only 9th graders. It's called the Freshman Academy. It help (but doesn't completely prohibit) Juniors and Seniors from "trolling the halls for fresh meat" at the beginning of the school year. I know that's a crass way to frame it but 9th graders are crass, and I've heard it spoken of in just those kinds of terms by the Juniors and Seniors.

This is the main building. Well some of it. There are about 1100 students here and about 100 or so teachers plus other staff members. The most amazing time of the day is when the buses pull up and all the students pile out of the building to get on said buses and they all go toward home all at the same time. It's especially gratifying on a Friday afternoon, I must say.

This is a picture of Bubba, Doc and Baby. Now keep in mind this is a 55 gallon tank and that the biggest fish in the forefront is about 7 inches long. The fish behind him is more like 8 - 9 inches long. These two fellows and a gal (I think Baby is a girl.) were absorbing a lot of worry this past week, but I think some water measuring and consultation with various experts has narrowed down the problem to one of pH in the tank. They've been improving and I'm working on being a better fish "mom." These are the common comet's that I bought at about 1-1-1/2 inch two years ago and are now these flowing, beautiful water ballet artists that I'm trying not to kill.

Tomorrow night is breast cancer support group meeting, so I'm planning to crash and burn late tomorrow. Wednesday I'm getting my eyes examined -- oh joy! Actually, I'm actually hopeful that they can improve the visual field with new glasses, though I'm a little anxious about moving toward graduated lenses instead of my preferred executive lenses. I'm willing to try the graduated trifocals only because (a) I can get the lenses in the Transitions lenses so they can change with the light levels, and (b) they can actually make the lenses is less time than insisting on the executive lenses that take 3 weeks to grind and glue together. So, I'm going to give it a whirl. So, forgive me if I'm a bit tardy this week; I'm going to be chasing my tail a lot this week.