Oh to be 13 again...

As I am sitting here watching my kids sign their yearbooks, I started thinking about the past school year. I can’t believe I have made it through three years of teaching! I’ve found that it does get easier. This year has been quite the year for me. I went from part time to full time mid way through the year. I then had to re-interview for my full time position so I could be put into an ongoing contract. I went from 65 students to 265 overnight. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. But I have loved it. They have pushed my buttons. They have made me laugh. Sometimes, they have made me cry. But most of all, they have helped me learn that my heart really does have room for all of them. Even the naughty ones.

Enough sappiness. Onto the highlights of the year…

* Teaching Creative Writing. What. A. Blast!

* Having a boy write every single one of his creative writing assignments about zombies. And another boy tie bacon into everything he wrote.

* Finding a tooth (a real, human molar) on the floor of my classroom.  Siiiiick.

* Having a student offer to set me up on a date. With her father.

* Finding a note on my desk from a student that said, “Call me maybe” followed by his phone number. Um. No. That is creepy.
* Getting plowed over by a student as he was running to lunch. We're talking a full on collision. Both feet off the ground. Me, flying through the air, landing on my side and sliding a good three feet before coming to a stop. It was epic. And incredibly painful. I'm sure I looked quite comical as I flew. The good news of all of this? While I was not able to save myself from injury, I did save my computer! My Mac is my baby. I wasn't about to let it get hurt.

* Having B8 try to bribe me every day to have class outside.

* Having three boys do their research paper on Justin Bieber.

* Having one student suspended for bringing (and using) a weapon to school, having to take one to the office for bullying, and having another run away on the way to the computer lab. All in one period. Thank you, A4 for being my “challenge” of the year.

* Reading things like, “Sometimes we don’t accept people different than us because we have heard rumors about them. Like that they are cannibals or something.”

* Or hearing a boy explain to a girl why Team Edward was way better than Team Jacob.

* Or  the one time when I heard a boy tell a girl, “You’re a wendigo.” To which she replied, “No, I’m not. But I am something similar.” (I still have no clue what a wendigo is… any ideas?)

* Aaaand, lastly, finding out  this week that there are rumors spreading through the students that I am engaged. Not sure where that one started.  :)

And that, my friends, is why I love my job. Never a dull moment.

Childhood Flashback

As I was growing up, I was surrounded by all things aviation. By the time I was ten, I could tell you how a plane worked, what its parts were, and why they were important. From a very young age, I fell in love with the complete exhilaration that comes from taking off and landing. My dad's enthusiasm for airplanes rubbed off on me. I remember my parents taking me and my sisters to airshows all throughout my childhood. Since airplanes have always been a part of me, I was excited to head up to Hill Air Force Base this weekend for their air show.
I headed up to the base with my parents and Skyler, where we met the Stone family for an adventure filled day. I knew it would be chilly and possibly rainy, but did not know it would be freeeeezing and pouring rain! And when I say pouring, I mean I haven't seen anything quite like that in a while. It was a torrential downpour. We spent over two hours huddled in a hangar with hundreds and hundreds of other people as we waited for the storm to pass. What a day!

Skyler and me on the way up

This kid sure is awesome. He's the best little brother I could ask for.

Me, mom, dad, and Skyler... this was about an hour and a half into our time in the hangar.

Aunt Melinda, me, and mom just hanging out.

Waiting for the Thunderbirds to start! :)

 

In front of a ginormous plane. Seriously, this thing was huge.

This sums up how I felt about the storm. Shortly after I took this, the wind destroyed my umbrella. It completely turned it inside out. Turns out, that makes for a very ineffective umbrella.

Last, but not least... the THUNDERBIRDS!!! These were so awesome. There's nothing that compares to the sound or feeling of these planes flying overhead. The rumble that you can feel from your head to your toes is indescribable. It's got to be one of my favorite things of all time. And the tricks they do are pretty amazing, too.