Easter and Orange Blossoms

Remember: Easter is this Sunday. For those of you who have kids, don't forget to buy the eggs to color, and the dye. Also, remember the Easter Bunny comes and hides the eggs and gives baskets full of sugar.I am just reminding you because your kids will never forgive you if you forget about this part of Easter.

Remember: This Sunday is Easter. For those of you who have kids don't forget to tell them the true story of Easter. Don't forget to read it yourself and remember the real reason why Easter is the most joyous holiday we celebrate. Remember: it because of the resurrection of Christ that we can all live again and see and be with our loved ones who have had the privilege of going on before us.We can also be with Him and our Heavenly Father again.

As I walked around Target today, I was struck by all the cute Easter stuff for sale. Yes, there were the bunnies, chicks, egg dye, jelly beans, the baskets, the grass, and the chocolate. But I was also pleased to see the books about the real meaning of Easter and Bible stories placed next to those about Peter Cottontail.

When I got home, I went out into my backyard and surveyed my orange tree. There on the tips of the branches, nestled in the dark green leaves, were the white orange blossoms. They were still closed, but by the end of this week they will be open and diffusing their heavenly scent into my backyard air and into my nose. What a wonderful smell. The blossoms caused me to contemplate the true meaning of Easter and have joy, peace, hope and thankfulness in my heart for this wonderful season and what it promises to all of us.

May you enjoy both spirits of Easter. May you enjoy the smiles and wide eyes of your kids as they discover their Easter baskets and hunt for eggs. Finally, may you all smile and have your walks uplifted in the knowledge of the true reason for this season!

Matt and I at Chuck's grave in Wyoming.

A Quick Trip

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.

Cat Fight

Well, here are my two cats, Madison(no tail) and Snickers (calico), fighting over who gets to drink from the faucet first. This ritual happens every morning about 5:45 AM as I am getting ready to go to school. Now, I am not one of those old ladies who dotes on her animals and treats them as children, but I do turn on the faucet for them. The nice thing about the whole situation is that I have two sinks, so I just turn on the other one and then let the cats decide who gets to move.Remember, I am not one to dote on her cats, but I do let them take over my bed at night and turn my king size bed into a single size for me. They have the rest. Now remember, I am not one to dote on my cats, but when Snickers wants to go out at 2:20AM, I get up and let her out. Then at 3:15, when she wants back in, I get up and let her back in. No, No! You can't call me controlled by my cats!!! I wonder why I put their special canned cat food on separate plates for them each morning or buy them special evaproated milk for them to drink? Yikes! The more I reveal the more I do sound like one of those old ladies who spoils her pets.Well, at least I don't have four or five of them like others I know. That's a comforting thought, don't you think?

In With the New and Out With the Old

In my classroom I have one white board and one real blackboard. For the last 10 years I have held on to that blackboard because of what it represents. To me, a school teacher has a blackboard. I never felt I could be a very good teacher if I didn't have the chalkboard to write on. When I was a little girl I always played school. Of course, I had to be the teacher. My parents bought me a blackboard and chalk to use in my pretend classroom.

I am one of only two teachers at Burk who still has a blackboard. So the princpal asked me the other day if I wanted to replace it with a new white board. I told him I had to think about it. The only positive reason to keep it is for the sentimental value. I took a very hard look at that board from a student's persepective. One, you can't read what is written on the blackboard as well as you can on the whiteboard. Two, it way more fun to write on the whiteboard than on the chalkboard. Now from my point of view. One, I am allergic to chalk and so I get to sneezing from the dust. Two, I won't need to have my overhead screen because I can use the white board for that. Three, the white board is smaller than the chalkboard and I will gain some wall space. Four, a white board is much easier to keep clean. No chalk dust.

So, I went back to the principal and told him I would venture into the 21st century and replace the old blackboard with a new white board. Now, I am debating on whether I am going to have to take some days off for grieving when the change is made.

An Address Book?

This week I had a phone call from one of my older cousins who lives in Utah. Dolores is my Aunt Louva's daughter. (my mother's side) She is quite a bit older than I am and I don't remember when the last time was that I saw her. I think it was when I was six or so and had the measles while on vacation visiting her family in Toole,UT. Anyway, she said she was wondering about my Dad and how he was doing. She hadn't heard from him in two Christmases and was concerned. She said she was looking through her address book and came across my name and address. She googled me and got the phone number etc. We had a nice visit and I told her that my Dad was still living in Albuquerque but his short term memory was going, and so he probably had forgotten to send any Xmas cards at all. After our talk, I got to thinking about the status of my family members' addresses. They are on post- its scattered through out the house, or I have torn them off envelopes and they are in a little wooden basket by my desk, or some are on a list in my desk drawer. Bottom line is: they are not in any organized format. So one of my New Year resolutions is to take all those post-its, ripped envelopes, and the list, and compile it into a new address book. I have to admit, going to buy a new book will be fun. Not only do I get a high going into book stores, but I get high going into office supply stores as well. Go figure. I want someone to check on me at a later date to see if I have accomplished this task. If I know I will be accountable to someone, the job will most likely get done!