Along came a Spider...

Most you know I love my pool. Swimming-So-o-o-o- Last week Thursday I took a little dip at night and threw my towel on the deck chair. Getting out I wrapped the towel around me as ususal. After showering I felt this strange burning sensation. I couldn't see anything on my arm so I figured I rubbed it against the concrete side of the pool. Wrong!

During the night the burning sensations repeated and my armed itched. I figured I slept on it the wrong way.

So of to work I went. By the end of Friday every joint in my body hurt! I mean really hurt. I got home and there on my arm was what at first appeared to be a small round bruise. However it had two holes in the middle. Now I knew I had been bite-but by what?

By Saturday morning I was in real pain and off to the doctor I went. It was indeed a spider bite and I was having a nasty reaction to it. So home I went with antibiotics and pain medications. I had a horrible weekend-pain discomfort and pills bigger than the wound area. However no happy ending yet! By Tuesday my arm and hand has a huge ugly rash. The spider poison reacted badly with the antibiotics and now I allergic to both the spider and the antibiotics!

So plan B is Steriods and Claritan... apparently I am supposed to feel lucky that I caught the bite in time. Now just think of how tiny that spider was and what a small amount of poison was injected! Yet that little bug has made my life miserable. So...

Arizonia has Coyotes

Florida Alligators

and Michigan the Brown Recluse Spider!

Somehow the song the Eensy Weensy Spider is no longer cute. At least Tim found the darn thing and killed it dead.

So I have another 10 days before I can get back to normal.

VR for kids

Here are my webkinz rooms! A safe VR environment

Innocence lost at the Dentist office

Well Timmy's visit to the dentist revealed the dreaded cavity. So we had to return today to have the teeth cleaned and get a filling. We started out with the typical LONG wait in the waiting room. Finally Timmy was called into the office for the cleaning while I was left reading a 3 month old magazines, and listening to their plasma wall mounted Tv on the Home decorating channel. Yawn. Timmy in his excitemnt left his Nintendo DS on the chair next to me. I do remember making a mental note to bring it into the room when I was called.

Unfortunately I would rather suffer through childbirth than visist the dentist so when I was called in I totally forgeot about his DS. Half way through the cleaning I remembered (Like on 15 minutes) and sent Timmy out to get his DS.- It was gone---Gone---GONE-stolen-taken. Timmy was a basket case. There is nothing that means more to him than his DS and it does provide a bio feedback for his ADD. Now the darn things cost 179 dollars and then the games is 39. Tim doesn't have a job and I stood there in the waiting room in near tears myself. Timmy was so upset that he could even wait to get his tooth filled and NEVER wants to go back to the dentist.

The office was nice and did put calls into the people who were sitting in the office. One Vietnease lady that sat next to me is my prime suspect-but alas- you have to know that it is gone for good. The real tradegy-the loss of innocence. For Timmy his first taste of a world that is not fair-learning that there are indeed some people who can steal from children without even feeling bad.

Even though money is tight I could not stand his sad face-I admit I charged a brand new DS with replacemnt game for him. -A wooping $182.16. Now how to get him to go back to the dentist!

His faith, his innocence and trust, those are at present lost as well.

A taste of Summer-Finally

Timmy and Samie blowing bubbles!

The pool is finally back in business. After ther old pool heater caught on fire, arguing with the insurance company who depreciated it-and the getting it hooked up-two weeks of summer fun were lost. Add to it all the rain and storms of June-and one wondered if summer would ever come.

So to celebrate the new heater the pool temp is now around 92 degrees. It's lik swimming in a hot tub-wonderful!

This past week we enjoyed bike rides, walking the dog, and even getting ice cream from the icecream truck. The past two days we even had a bit of sun and got in some great naps- pool side. These are the days I look forward to all year. Not having to go anywhere nor do anything. Ahh summer!

Of only it would last. I refuse to count the days until I must go back to work.

It's June

Roll with the moment!

Here's to all those great memories

I can almost put an exclamation point at the end of this school year. 5 more days to go. It was a mixed bag to be sure. My summer job will be writing curriculum for Atomic Learning. I have 1 3 day inservice and another 2 day one. So there will still be some free time to enjoy the sun.

I loved the teaching and working with the kids. The amount of time the yearbook took was well-way too much. It is fun to look back at all the pod cast, movies and projects my kids created and getting publish in England was a thrill.

The difficult part- another year without a raise-and add to it a Superintendant who locked us out of the State of Schools Speech- wants us to work 12 hours more per week (on site to provide free child care) take a 180 dollar a month pay cut and contribute more to our insirance. And we are already the lowest paid in Kent County. Worse than that -the articles in the paper calling teachers names. It was to be blunt- hurtful!

I know we are an urban school district-I know we will not ever make what the "Burbs" do even though we have larger more challanging classes. But the lack of disrespect and insults are heart wrenching. No one can know the dedication of the urban teacher unless they have been one. We pay for hats and coats and mittens for their students. We buy the crayons, markers, paste, paper and glue they need for projects. Often our lunch becomes a child's who does not have one. We are the only profession where we not only have to provide our own tools but tools for all of our students as well-and we know there will be no end of the year gifts or even a thank you-BUT INSULTS. We have been compared to autoworkers and mechanics. Apparently being the lowest paid already meand we should make even less. Meanwhile the administration all got a 3% raise and the Superintendant is the highest paid in the county. He and his partner are coming to build a house in Sagituck.

So for now I am taking the advice I left my 8th graders in a song-I am going to roll with the moments