Yada Yada at 2AM

At least someone's sleeping like a baby tonight! Okay, this picture as actually from last week, but was just so precious, I had to post it!

2AM and I'm feeling restless, but not too stressed out about it since tomorrow is (another) make-up exam day. I am really looking forward to "getting back to normal" next week as we finally roll into another semester.

I noticed that it's staying light a little later each evening- the sun set tonight at around 4:50PM, which means it's not really dark until close to 5:30PM. This should be enough to get me off my duff and start exercising, I feel like I have been such a slug lately. -20 degrees might keep us indoors, but I don't really have an excuse to be so inactive, since there's a beautiful gym at school as well as our exercise bike here at home...

Next week the girls and I begin a half-marathon training class on Thursday nights, so I am hoping that will get me excited about running again-- maybe it will be just what I need!

This past weekend, we really started pushing the potty training thing with Elijah. On Saturday we went to Osh Kosh so he could pick out his own "big boy" underwear. On Sunday morning, he wore them from breakfast until after lunch with a couple successful pees on the potty and 3 clothing changes. On Monday morning (day off due to extreme cold temps), he went from breakfast to lunch without a single accident and lots of pees on the potty. So we're getting there! Today he really resisted underwear at daycare so we didn't push it because he was getting pretty upset. Riveting stuff, huh? This is the kind of babble you get at 2AM.

Folks are doing pretty well at school as more and more time passes, just as you might expect. You should see the show of love and support we've gotten from other schools- in the form of cards and lots and lots of yummy food. I got to see a bunch of students today to make up their exams, and expect to see many more tomorrow. They are a pretty resilient bunch, and I can only pray that some very valuable lessons have been learned from this suicide and its impacts on our community as whole.

Well, that's all for tonight. Hope everyone is well.

The Indescribable Week

A huge thing happened last week...

Last week, a 15-year-old student brought a gun into our school and killed himself in the bathroom.

Last week, my sense of safety in school was shattered. There was a gun in the school and as a result, someone is dead.

Last week, many of my students had to deal with death- and suicide- up close and personal.

Last week, I sat in a group counseling session with my colleagues- my friends- and we shared our feelings about the suicide. While I was not involved in the incident whatsoever, I learned that several of my colleagues were quite involved.


The last adult to speak to the victim. Just a casual, "Hello" in the hallway.
Holding up a sheet of plywood to block students' view of the bathroom as the paramedics removed the victim.
Hearing the gun shot from the computer lab that the student walked right by on the way to the bathroom.
The first person to enter the bathroom and find the student.
Bringing medical supplies to help administer care until the paramedics arrived

And others...


I cried for my friends...for my students...for the family of this kid...and for the kid himself. How could anything be that bad? Why didn't he feel like he could ask for help? His actions caused so much sadness and fear in our community. Why? WHY?


Then I felt angry. Angry that the actions of one person could have such a wide-ranging impact on so many people. Angry at how incredibly insensitive the media can be. Angry that some people feel that they have the right to criticize our school and our administration...I'm not sure anyone knows exactly how horrific that day must have been for them. It's just not fair that we are having to deal with this.

You know what other things aren't fair?

That this boy lost himself in his depression.

That his parents lost their youngest son, that his siblings lost their little brother.

That our students lost a friend, a teammate, one of them.

That our administration has to defend their actions to the public, some of who claim we didn't handle the situation appropriately.


And finally, it's not fair that in a couple of weeks, a lot of people will be back to relative normal. I wonder now what "normal" even is.


I don't understand suicide, and likely never will. None of it seems fair.

...And I Thought I was Busy FIRST Semester!

In the words of SkippyJon Jones, "Holy Guacamole!"

My student teacher Gabe, who has been with me for the entire first semester, is nearing the end of his time at MMU. He has done such an amazing job that I have viewed him more as a co-teacher than a student teacher...

Whatever in the WORLD am I going to do second semester?

First, I'll miss having someone to bounce ideas off of. I have actually learned so much from HIM this semester. Just having him around with his fresh-out-of-college perspective has given me a much-needed boost and forced me to criticize my own practices. You get kinda stale after 10 years of teaching the same thing.

Second, Gabe really has been an extension of me this past semester. This particular group of 10th graders needs a lot of individual motivation and one-on-one contact, made possible by the fact that there were two of us in the room.

Finally, it's just going to be plain LONELY in my classroom without the omnipresent adult to talk to. I wondered if it might feel strange to share my space with someone else full-time, but in fact I now think it's going to be weirder when Gabe's NOT there.

I feel thankful for the honor of mentoring someone who really will bring wonderful things to the profession. His future students, whoever they might be, have no idea how lucky they are!

Ay, caramba!

Snowy Sunday

Just a regular old snowy Sunday...Here are 3 videos of some serious sledding fun. Sorry I'm so out of breath from running up and down the hill :-) Don't watch them if you suffer from vertigo- there's a lot of laughing, running and (sometimes just barely) stopping the sled from going down over the bank- so the videos are pretty choppy and bumpy!

Space-Aged Laundry

Our newest additions-

A high-efficiency washer A steam dryer You have to work for NASA to figure out what all the control knobs do, and I'm certain that these machines MUST do so much more than laundry.

Like maybe beam you into outer space...Or at least do your taxes.

I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll be using the "normal" setting for both, almost 100% of the time! The good news is that they DO use a lot less energy, and 1/2 (or even less) of the water of a traditional top-loading washing machine.

Maybe we'll get a couple more years out of our septic system after all? We'll see...

Firsts....

First smile, first tooth, first word, first steps...There are so many anxiously-awaited milestones when you have a new baby.

Then- poof! Suddenly there is this other little person in the house. A preschooler...who can walk and talk and try to boss us around. He can (and does) tell us what he wants, needs, likes and dislikes. He has a sense of humor. And an opinion. When did this happen?

"Mama, I don't like your hair like that." (he prefers ponytails)

"No, Daddy- you be the ____ truck, I'll be the ____truck." (fill in ANY truck types here)

"I want to write my name," Elijah said, in reference to the ritual we always follow before bringing a new book to daycare.

For once, I wasn't running 10 minutes late and desperate to just get out the door. So I handed him a marker, and he actually DID write his name in the book. The letters were all over the page, the "L" was backwards and the "A" was laying on its side...But for all intents and purposes, it pretty much was his name.

I was nothing short of astounded.

I know it's not unusual for a 3-year-old to begin learning to make letters, but when did this happen to MY 3-year old?

Tonight we worked a little on placement, "L's" and "A's," and before long, this is what Elijah had written:

Just another "first" I'll probably forget all about when...poof! Elijah turns sixteen and gets his driver's license next week!

Our Merry Christmas

There's nothing like Christmas, especially with a 3-year-old at home! The past couple of days have been magical. Thursday, Ed needed to do some shopping so Elijah and I went sledding and then to the bakery. That night, I did some baking and a whole lot of wrapping!

Friday, we were treated to a lovely and delicious Christmas Eve dinner at Tyler and Aimee's house. Later that night, Elijah and I cuddled up to watch "Dora's Christmas Special" before bed:

After Elijah went to bed, Ed and I decorated the tree and brought down all the gifts.
We were all up and moving around by about 6:30AM this morning. Elijah was very excited to see what Santa brought him! Thank goodness, he hasn't forgotten how to unwrap presents in the month since his birthday!

The cutest thing about this Christmas was how excited Elijah was about every single gift. It was sweet that he wanted to play with each toy for a while before getting back to the unwrapping.

Even Zoe the Horrible got a few new toys for Christmas! Obviously, Santa didn't cross-check his "naughty" list against his "nice" list...

Finally, here are some pictures of Elijah trying out his new snowshoes from Santa. He did pretty well for his first time out!

In the afternoon, I went for a ski with Zoe and then we made a fantastic, humongous Christmas feast.

After such an amazing day, I then found out that sadly, southern New England is expecting a pretty big blizzard beginning tomorrow. This storm looks like it's going to sabotage my family's gathering down in R.I. I am soooo bummed, but still kind of holding out hope that the storm won't pan out. Fingers crossed!

Merry Christmas to All!