Summer's almost here!!!!

Although tomorrow is the official last day of classes, today is my last day. I am collecting my last set of research papers at 2:40 this afternoon (if you hear a big yell of joy around that time, you'll know why), and then I'll take the next couple of weeks to grade them. My grades are due on May 8 at 9:00, and at 9:05, I'll be officially on Summer break until sometime in late August.

Did I ever mention that I love being a teacher?

Got Insomnia? Try Prayer

When I go to bed at night, I fall asleep almost immediately and rarely have trouble sleeping through the night. Sometimes, though, I'll wake up and have trouble falling back asleep. Although I hate to admit it, if I start to pray, I'll usually fall back asleep pretty quickly. I feel sort of bad about it; I mean, here I am talking to God, and I fall asleep mid-sentence. But then again, maybe it's not such a bad thing; talking to God brings me the comfort and rest that I need.

Last night, my cell phone rang, waking me up at 10:35 (yes, I go to bed quite early). Now, it's rather unusual that my phone rings at home because we don't have a good signal out where I live. I knew that it had to be a student because everyone else that knows my number would be in bed asleep. I thought about just letting it ring, but I got up and answered anyway. Indeed, it was a student calling to inform me that he wouldn't be in class the following morning. The cellular signal was pretty bad, and the call was cut off pretty quickly, but before losing the signal completely, my student was able to tell me that he was in jail and would be there for three days. He mentioned his girlfriend (the mother of his baby son), and I heard the word "frustrated" and that was all. From what I could gather, some sort of domestic disturbance occured, and he's going to jail for it.

I know that this kid has been through a lot. His mom left when he was a baby because she was addicted to drugs; he just found his dad using cocaine; his relationship with his son's mother has been on the rocks, and he told me that he suspects that she's also using drugs. He works a regular job in addition to attending school so that he can provide good support for his son, and he's been a very good student--he writes very intelligent papers. He's a good kid, it seems, who is going through a really terrible time.

So last night's phone call was a little unsettling. I knew there was nothing I could do for him, so I got back into bed and tried to fall back asleep, realizing finally that I really needed to pray for this kid. It took nearly an hour of intermittent praying and dozing before I finally fell back into a sound and restful sleep. I guess he really needed somebody to pray for him last night, and God wouldn't let me sleep until it got done.

Thank Goodness the Sun is Shining Today

Today I completed my tax return and sent it along with a fat check to the IRS.

Today I am compiling business info in order to purchase additional insurance that the company we contract with is now requiring us to carry and that the insurance agent who is selling it to us says is a complete waste of money and entirely unnecessary. Another fat check to be written later this afternoon.

Somebody please say something that will make me feel good about wasting all this money today.

We're Still Here!

The weather did not get all that bad in my neck of the woods yesterday. We experienced some rain and lightning, but the wind didn't blow all that hard at our house. In fact, Husband and I spent some time joking about all the TV meteorologists getting the chance to play all day with their high-tech gear. The local CBS station had three meteorologists doing tag team storm tracking. Husband and I noticed, however, that none of them took off their jackets and loosened their ties during their marathon tornado-forcasting session. It was comforting to see them maintain a sense of decorum and professionality at the sacrifice of their own comfort in order to help viewers feel that the situation was endurable. Actually, I think they were having so much fun that they forgot they were wearing suits and ties.

All joking aside, we did have some family-by-marriage who lost their home yesterday. They were to have come to stay with my MIL last night, but as of 8:30 last night, they still had not arrived. I'm sure with all the roads closed coming out of the south side of their town, they had a difficult time getting here. Husband and I are still waiting to see if there's anything we can do to help. Several people died in their neighborhood yesterday, so we're thankful that they are OK.

More Readin' and Writin'

Wisdom from Festus Haggen:

"Supposin' I was to go to work and learn how to... to read writin'. Well, how'd I know that the feller that... that wrote the writin' was a writin' the writin' right? See it could be that he wrote the writin' all wrong. Here I'd be just a readin' wrong writin', don't ya see? You probably been doin' it your whole life, just a readin' wrong writin' and not even knowin' it."

Sometimes as I read my students' writing, I wonder why I bothered learning to read.