Well, last week was one of those you would call a whirlwind week. I received notice on Tuesday that I would need to appear as a witness in a court case in Cheyenne, Wy. on Friday. Stress!!!! Not only was it short notice but now I had to develop and write up lesson plans for a sub. Unless you have ever taught elementary school you can't appreciate the time and energy it takes to write a script for a sub to be you for the day. The whole day is planned out in 15 or 30 minute increments with papers pulled and pages assigned and textbooks bookmarked for the sub to use. In a fourth grade classroom the sub needs to know if she/he has crosswalk duty, recess duty, what to do at lunch, pages to be taught, any games to be played, incentives and management rules (bathroom, discipline etc.)It goes on and on. Anyway, I alerted my school secretary that I would need a sub for Fri.and so she made arrangments for that. Then on Wed. morning I got word that I would be needed in WY on Thurs. as well as Fri. STRESS!!! Now I had to create plans for Thurs. Luckily, I didn't have to make the airline reservations. The US Government did that. They say that I got to fly for free, but you and I know that that is where part of our tax dollars goes.I did fly Frontier and it was a nice airline. The seats were comfortable and there were little TV screens on the back of the seat in front of you. For $5 I could watch cable TV and for $8 I could have watched a movie. First run no less! To top the trip off I rode a puddle jumper plane to Cheyenne from Denver and didn't have to hassle renting a car and driving it to Chey.
Being a witness is a scary thing. Thank goodness there was a pitcher of water and cups by the witness stand.(The chair was comfy.)My mouth got so dry I could hardly talk. It is also very hard to remember what you have just said. Thank goodness the court reporter is sitting directly in front of you and you can have your previous words read back. Man, she writes down everything: coughs, sneezes, and yes, the judge did fall asleep a few times.
While there, Matt and I got to visit Chuck's grave. Neither he nor I had seen the headstone after it was placed on his grave. That happened last summer and neither one of us could be there for that occasion.
Lastly, in spite of the stress I had a wonderful reunion with many nieces and nephews whom I hadn't seen in quite a few years. We also went out to eat at a place called "Twin Dragon". It has to have the best Chinese food on the planet. The trip was worth it to just be able to go there and eat. The company of 18 members of the family helped too.
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